Issue - meetings

To submit the report of the Head of Profession - HR and Transformation.

It was resolved to adopt the document presented as a “working draft” and to invite further consideration of its content by the Governance and Audit Committee at its meeting on 30 September 2025.

The report of the Head of Profession (HR) and Transformation incorporating the draft Self-Assessment for 2024/25 was presented for the Executive’s consideration. The self-assessment is a statutory annual exercise that evaluates how well the Council has performed, its use of resources and its governance arrangements.

Councillor Carwyn Jones, Portfolio Member for Corporate Business and Customer Experience presented the report as the culmination of several months’ work, drawing on a broad evidence base to assess how effectively the Council is delivering services, utilising its   resources and maintaining sound governance. During 2024 the Council reviewed and refined  its self-assessment approach to further streamline and strengthen the process. Working collaboratively across services, the template was revised to focus on four key areas aligned with the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act – Service Planning and Performance, Workforce Planning, Financial Planning and Governance including Risk, Audit, Procurement and Contract Management. Each service was asked to evaluate its performance against updated criteria and was subsequently challenged on its findings through service review meetings. The resulting self-assessment summarises the Council’s overall performance for 2024/25 and highlights both strengths and areas identified as opportunities for improvement.

The Chair emphasised that self-assessment is an ongoing process in the Council with  portfolio members actively engaged within their respective  areas.  A statutory Panel Performance assessment, required once in each election cycle, is scheduled for the end of the year, with the self-assessment forming a significant part of that review. He noted that the  challenge process within the self-assessment has been rigorous and thorough and is used constructively to drive improvement.

It was also noted that external feedback from partners, stakeholders and regulators such as   Care Inspectorate Wales reports on social services, is an important element of the self-assessment providing clear and robust evidence to support the findings.

It was resolved to adopt the document presented as a “working draft” and to invite further consideration of its content by the Governance and Audit Committee at its meeting on 30 September 2025.