Agenda item

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

The report of the Head of Profession (HR) and Transformation incorporating the Council’s annual self-assessment report for 2023/24 was presented for the Committee’s consideration.

The report was presented by Councillor Carwyn Jones, Portfolio Member for Corporate Business and Customer Experience as the third self-assessment report produced by the Council under the Local Government and Elections Act 2021. The report provides an evidential basis of how the Council has performed over the year using its available resources whilst managing and mitigating associated risks. Of the seven key areas which are the focus of the self-assessment, four areas (service planning, financial planning, workforce planning and performance management) are assessed as exceeding expectations while three areas (asset management, procurement and contract management, and risk and audit management) are assessed as meeting expectations. Additionally, the report identifies several areas as presenting opportunities for improvement and monitoring throughout 2024/25.

In considering the report, the following were points of discussion by the Committee –

·                     The action plan and timescales to ensure continued improvement with regard to asset management which is an area assessed as meeting expectations (yellow).

·                     Whether assurances can be given that the three key areas assessed as meeting expectations will continue to improve.

·                     With regard to procurement and contract management, clarification of the specialist law contract at a value of £3m was requested.

Officers responded to the points raised as follows –

·           That a new Asset Management Strategic Plan for 2024 to 2029 was approved by the Council in May 2024 which focuses on four key priority areas in relation to the suitability of the Council’s assets, the sustainability of its assets, collaboration in planning and managing assets as a corporate resource, and asset planning that is data driven. These identify numerous steps to be taken to improve the Council’s asset management arrangements. Implementation of the Plan which spans the medium term, is in its infancy and timescales for the identified actions are being determined with the priority being to establish a sound asset information database which will drive subsequent actions in the other priority areas.

·           That an external procurement specialist has been engaged to look at the Council’s current procurement arrangements and its readiness for the significant changes to be introduced to public sector procurement in October 2024 by the new Procurement Act which will also apply in Wales. They have developed a two-year action plan for improvements focused on creating a new procurement strategy and its integration into service plans, governance, and the incorporation of the new regulations within the Council’s Constitution, the creation of a procurement handbook for staff, definition of roles and responsibilities, the structure and skillset of the Procurement team, data collection and performance reporting of procurement activity. The external procurement specialist has also been re-engaged to provide support in delivering the action plan.

·               That risk management which is currently located within the Internal Audit Service includes arrangements for reviewing corporate and service risk registers and ensuring they are kept up to date as well as regular reporting to the Governance and Audit Committee by the Head of Audit and Risk. The Risk Manager post is currently vacant following the departure of the post holder to another post in the Council and the vacancy has provided an opportunity to review where the risk management responsibility sits within the Council structure.

The Chief Executive advised that integrating budget review work, demand monitoring and performance management with the Council’s risk management processes as a naturally occurring part of day-to-day operational activity is essential as circumstances can change rapidly as a result of legislation or funding conditions. Integrating those processes will require further work but will pay dividend in better and more timely decision making.

The Committee requested that it be provided in six months’ time with the action plans for the three key areas assessed as meeting expectations to see the extent of progress made and that the Corporate Self-Assessment for 2024/25 demonstrate how the actions taken have brought those three key areas to a position where they too exceed expectations.

The Chief Executive in acknowledging the importance of the Committee’s receiving assurance that progress is being made advised that the Council will in the second half of 2025 be subject to a panel performance assessment whereby an independent panel arranged by the Council will assess the extent to which the Council is meeting performance requirements. The corporate assessment work as well as subsequent progress updates will provide important evidence to the panel that the Council is committed to improving performance on an ongoing basis.

·      That the procurement activity in relation to the specialist law contract refers to legal work commissioned with regard to large scale, complex strategic developments such as the Anglesey Freeport or Wylfa Newydd which require specialist input over and above the capacity/expertise of the Council’s legal services. Such specialist service is procured in line with the Welsh Government procurement framework but if the required specialism is unavailable under the Framework, the Council will procure the work externally which the client service would undertake supported by the Council’s legal services. In response to a question by a member of the Committee about the availability of information about the work commissioned and details of the costs incurred the Director of Function (Council Business)/Monitoring Officer confirmed that that information is available and is provided as part of the service challenge process. A Member can request access to the information which would then be considered under FOI provisions as it is likely to include sensitive commercial information pertaining to the companies commissioned. In response to further questions about the justification for the £3m cost, the Director of Function (Council Business)/Monitoring Officer advised that the Council would unlikely be able to recruit expert legal professionals on a permanent basis on the basis of public sector pay rates and that commissioning external legal support to meet specific specialist requirements represents the best way forward.

Having scrutinised the documentation, the Corporate Scrutiny Committee resolved to endorse the Annual Corporate Self-Assessment 2024 for further consideration by the Executive.

Additional actions –

·         The Committee to be updated in six months on the progress made on actions in relation to the three key areas assessed as meeting expectations (as opposed to exceeding expectations).

·         The Corporate Self-Assessment report for 2024/25 to show how the actions taken have helped those three key areas exceed expectations.

·         That information about the work commissioned and costs incurred in relation to external legal fees be made available to Councillor A.M. Jones as an FOI request and a copy provided to the Committee’s members.