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Agenda item

Draft Annual Governance Statement

Purpose

This report provides the Audit and Governance Committee with an updated Annual Governance Statement for 2024/25 and an Annual Governance Action plan for 2025/26.

 

Recommendation

That Audit and Governance Committee resolves to:

 

  1. Approve the Annual Governance Statement for 2024 / 2025
  2. Approve the Annual Governance Action Plan for 2025 / 2026
  3. Agree to receive updates at future meetings of the Audit and Governance Committee to update on progress against the 25 / 26 Action Plan

 

Minutes:

The purpose of the report was to provide the Audit and Governance Committee with an updated Annual Governance Statement for the 2024/2025 with an Annual Governance Action plan for 2025/2026.

 

The Chair opened the discussion on the Annual Governance Statement for 2024/2025, emphasising it’s significance as part of the Council's statutory financial reporting. This statement reflected the Council's compliance with the principles outlined in the local Code of Corporate Governance, which was reviewed and adopted in January of this year.

 

The Business Manager for Governance, Risk and Business Continuity introduced the report, and the following points were made.

 

  • It was noted that the draft annual governance statement is primarily retrospective, reflecting on governance controls in place during 2024-2025. 
  • The report included an updated action plan for 2024-2025, showing progress made and carrying forward some actions marked in amber into the new action plan for 2025-2026. The new plan was organised under eight key areas outlined in the report section 2.3.
  • Regular progress updates against the action plan would be presented to the Audit and Governance Committee every six months.

 

The Chair asked the Director of Governance and Development, to comment on emerging governance risks related to potential Local Government Reorganisation or further devolution proposals.

 

The Director of Governance and Monitoring Officer responded that Local Government Reorganisation risks would be included in the Strategic Risk Register, and if LGR moved forward, a specific risk register would be created for the significant project. It was also mentioned that a forthcoming briefing on LGR for members was being held to address concerns and discuss mitigation strategies.

 

The Deputy Chief Executive and S151 Officer emphasised that while discussions surrounding LGR and devolution were ongoing, the Council remained committed to delivering services effectively until the official transition occurred.

 

Following the introduction of the report from The Business Manager for Governance, Risk and Business Continuity, Members of the Committee asked the following questions.

The Committee inquired about the timing of the transition of services from Publica to the Council. The Deputy Chief Executive and S151 Officer clarified that the latest phase of service transfers was completed on 1 July 2025, following a previous transfer in November 2024.

The Committee raised a question regarding the depth of business continuity planning, especially concerning outsourced services. The Committee expressed interest in how business continuity planning extended into the supply chain, particularly regarding the waste management services. 

The Business Manager for Governance, Risk and Business Continuity responded that while considerable work had been carried out on emergency planning, business continuity planning now held higher priority. The team would begin examining plans of service providers like Ubico.

The Chair proposed that the Committee receive biannual progress updates on the Action Plan for 2025-2026 to ensure oversight and facilitate delivery. The proposal was agreed upon with no objections from the Committee.

The Chair asked the Committee members to confirm their approval of three points:

1.    Approve the Annual Governance Statement for 2024-2025.

2.    Approve the Annual Governance Action Plan for 2025-2026.

3.    Agree to receive six-monthly progress updates on the Action Plan.

 

RESOLVED: The Audit and Governance Committee noted the Annual Governance Statement and approved the recommendations.

Voting record:

For - 5, Against - 0, Abstentions - 0, Absent/Did not vote - 0

 

Supporting documents:

 

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