Agenda item

To submit a report by the Head of Profession – HR and Transformation.

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

The report was presented by the Councillor Gary Pritchard, Deputy Leader, and Portfolio Member for Children, Youth and Housing Services 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. The report also identifies several areas as presenting opportunities for improvement and monitoring throughout 2024/25 and has been scrutinised by the Corporate Scrutiny Committee and reviewed by the Governance and Audit Committee.

Councillor Douglas Fowlie, Chair of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee provided Scrutiny’s feedback on the Corporate Self-Assessment report from its 13 June 2024 meeting confirming that the Committee in endorsing the report had requested that it be updated in six months on the progress made on the actions in relation to the three key areas assessed as meeting expectations (as opposed to exceeding expectations), and that the self-assessment report for 2024/25 show how those actions have improved the performance for those three key areas.

The Chief Executive referred to the areas where opportunities for improvement and monitoring had been identified and he provided assurance that they are all being addressed and are progressing well.

The Executive’s members welcomed the report as testament to the ongoing commitment and hard work of staff and their willingness to go the extra mile as reflected by the areas assessed as exceeding expectations. Members thanked all those who has been involved in compiling the self-assessment and in the robust process of challenging performance throughout the year. The outcome is a credit to the Authority in what are testing times financially and shows that it is making a difference. The Authority will continue to strive to maintain performance and to do better where it can. In this context Councillor Alun Roberts, Portfolio Member for Adults’ Services and Community Safety highlighted the Council’s financial resilience as one of the areas to be monitored in the current financial year due to 

cost-of-living pressures and a decrease in funding. He emphasised the importance of the public’s being made aware of the potential for services to be put at risk if this and other councils do not receive a just financial settlement for 2025/26.

Councillor Dafydd Roberts sought assurance that the RAAC issue in council assets had been definitively addressed.

The Chief Executive confirmed that the reference to RAAC in the report is in relation to the completion of the renovation work in the two secondary schools where RAAC had been identified. The Director of Education, Skills, and Young People confirmed that a great deal of work had been carried out in the year since RAAC was found in the two schools and both schools had fully reopened in January 2024. The major works have been completed with a few minor tasks to be finished over the summer before the beginning of the new term in September.

It was resolved to adopt the Corporate Self-Assessment 2023/24 document as a final version following its consideration and comments on its contents by the Governance and Audit Committee at its meeting on 18 July 2024.