Agenda item

To present the report of the Head of Profession (Human Resources) and Transformation.

The report of the Head of Profession (Human Resources) and Transformation incorporating the draft Annual Governance Statement for 2020/21 was presented for the Committee’s consideration. The purpose of the Annual Governance Statement (AGS) is to provide assurance that the Council’s governance arrangements are appropriate, adequate and are working effectively.

The Programme, Business Planning and Performance Manager reported that the Council is responsible for ensuring that its business is conducted in accordance with the law and proper standards and that public money is safeguarded and used economically, efficiently and effectively. The Council also has a duty under the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2009 to make arrangements to secure continuous improvement in the way in which its functions are exercised, having regard to a combination of economy, efficiency and effectiveness. In discharging this overall responsibility, the Council is also responsible for putting in place proper arrangements for the governance of its affairs, facilitating the effective exercise of its functions, which include arrangements for the management of risk together with adequate and effective financial management. The Council has approved and adopted a local code of governance that is consistent with the principles contained within the Framework for Delivering Good Governance in Local Government (CIPFA/Solace, 2016). This local code was due to be revised during 2020/21 but because of the pandemic, this work has been rescheduled to 2021/22. The AGS explains how the Council has complied with the code and also meets the requirements of the Accounts and Audit (Wales) Regulations 2014 in relation to a publication of a statement on internal control.

The AGS reports on the governance framework that has been in place at the Isle of Anglesey County Council for the year ended 31 March, 2021.Elements of that framework were highlighted as follows –

·         Political Management arrangements an overview of which is provided at page 7 of the Statement. The governance framework was substantially amended due to the emergency powers delegated to the Leader and Chief Executive as a result of the pandemic. The Coronavirus Act 2020 and the Local Authorities (Coronavirus) (Meetings) (Wales) Regulations 2020 reduced the legal obligations on local authorities in relation to meetings. Accordingly the Council reviewed its programme of committee meetings. In an effort to ensure that the Council maintained its core business, whilst ensuring democratic accountability and being realistic about the uncertainty that it faced, a strategy for committee meetings to 30 April, 2021 was approved in principle by elected members on 12 May, 2020.

·         Dealing with the Covid 19 crisis has been a significant challenge for the Council – not only in maintaining key front-line services and conducting normal business where possible, but also in ensuring that health and safety arrangements are in place to protect the Council’s staff whilst providing services. On 18 March, 2020 an Emergency Management Response Team (EMRT) comprising of the Senior Leadership Team, Heads of Services, the Council Leader and Deputy Leader and key personnel from an emergency response perspective was set up; the EMRT became the main decision making forum for Coronavirus related activities on Anglesey ensuring that decisions taken were evidence based and consistently implemented across the Council to respond effectively to key risks. The Council Leader exercised her executive decision making powers at the start of the outbreak when meetings of the Executive and Council were unable to be held. The first remote meeting of the Planning and Orders Committee was held on 20 May, 2020 and thereafter all committee meetings have been held remotely and recordings have subsequently been made available on the Council’s website. More recently, committee meetings have begun to be live streamed on the Council’s YouTube channel.

·         The Council annually reviews its governance arrangements. The key sources of assurance that inform this review are set out on Page 8 of the AGS and include the work of managers within the Council who have responsibility for the development and maintenance of the governance environment; the Head of Audit and Risk’s annual report and comments made by the external auditors and other review agencies and inspectorates. In addition, regular in-year review and monitoring takes place and involves the activities as listed.

·         The overall assessment for this report follows a self-assessment grading system where “Excellent” denotes many strengths including significant examples of sector leading practice and “Unsatisfactory” denotes that important areas for improvement outweigh strengths. As summarised in the table at page 18 of the Statement, the annual review of the effectiveness of the Council’s Governance Framework concludes that the Council’s performance against all seven core principles of the CIPFA/Solace Delivering Good Governance in Local Government is “Good” meaning that it is characterised by many strengths and that no important areas requiring significant improvement have been identified. A more detailed analysis is provided in Appendix 1 to the AGS.

·         Despite the challenges of the past twelve months the Head of Audit and Risk’s Annual Report for 2020/21 confirmed that there were no areas of significant corporate concern but that some areas required the introduction or improvement of internal control to ensure the achievement of objectives which are the subject of monitoring.

·         The AGS also reports on any key governance matters that have been identified along with a commitment to address them. Whilst no significant governance matters were identified during 2020/21, the self-assessment process did identify the governance issues set out at page 14 of the Statement which will be addressed in 2021/22.

The Committee thanked the Programme, Business Planning and Performance Manager for presenting the Annual Governance Statement for 2020/21 and for providing an overview of its content. The Committee also commented on the improved readability and layout of the Statement which was appreciated. In considering the document, the Committee noted that although the Council has made a commitment to continuous improvement, the outcome of its self-assessment has remained unchanged over the past few years and it suggested that the rationale for the evaluation should be examined. Further, the Committee queried whether there has been any external input into the Statement in terms of validating the self-assessment as a fair and accurate estimation of attainment and compliance.

The Programme, Business Planning and Performance Manager clarified that it is important to note that self-assessing as “Good” against the seven core principles of the  CIPFA/Solace Framework means that no significant areas requiring improvement have been identified; a step-up to the next level to an “Excellent” grading would require the Council to be able to demonstrate and to provide significant examples of sector leading practice which is not  deemed a fair reflection of its current position . With regard to external input, the Council’s activities across a range of services are the subject of external regulatory oversight including by Audit Wales, Estyn and CIW; it is considered that based on the findings of reviews by the external regulators the conclusion of the self-assessment is fair. 

The Director of Function (Resources) and Section 151 Officer advised that the Annual Governance Statement forms part of the Statement of the Accounts 2020/21 and as such the AGS and the evidence on which is based will be subject to external audit.

It was resolved –

·         To approve the Draft Annual Governance Statement that will form part of the 2020/21 Statement of the Accounts.

·         To delegate authority to the Chair of the Committee and the Director of Function (Resources) and Section 151 Officer to make further minor amendments to the Annual Governance Statement prior to its inclusion in the final version in the Statement of the Accounts.

ADDITIONAL ACTION: That members of the Committee be invited if they so wish to offer minor amendments to the Annual Governance Statement before it is included in the Statement of the Accounts.