Issue - meetings

To receive a report on the management responses to the External Auditor’s recommendations.

The Committee received a report on the management responses to the External Auditor’s recommendations as requested at the last A&S committee.

The following matters were considered:

Councillor Lawrence gave a verbal statement to the Committee.

a)            Chief Executive attendance. A Member of the Committee raised that a report should not be deferred because of the Chief Executives non-attendance. The Member asked for an explanation as to why the Chief Executive is not in attendance and specifically why they were not invited to the July Committee meeting, since they were specifically requested to attend by the Committee at the March 2025 meeting. The Chair clarified that the Chief Executive did not decide to not attend, but rather it was mutually agreed to bring the report back to July committee and get questions from Members and then have the Chief Executive attend the September meeting.

b)            Report concerns. A Member of the Committee raised concerns that the report highlighted SLT’s complacency with the External Auditors’ recommendations and did not acknowledge that there is any need for change or improvement. The Member stated that there is no point bringing the report back to the September Committee, unless significant changes are made. The Member stated that there has been a change in attitude from SLT, from the March meeting to the July Meeting, which has gone from acknowledging there is room for improvement and changes will be made, to saying there is nothing to change. The Chair noted the comments. The Chair invited questions and views from all Members to be fed back to SLT. The Chair set out that the report can be accepted, and questions followed up on, or it can be deferred and discussed again in September.

c)            Attendance. A Member of the Committee raised concern that the Chair did not follow the correct process to invite the Chief Executive to the July A&S Committee, as set out in the motion passed by the Committee in March. The Chair responded to explain that it is their responsibility to balance the needs of officers’ time and responsibility with the Committee’s requirements. The Chair explained that the report could be discussed, and further questions and comments raised to the Chief Executive before and at the September Committee meeting. The Chair reminded members that the Director of Corporate Services (S151) is present and is a part of the Strategic Leadership Team and would therefore be able to answer questions related to the report. The Member expressed frustration that the process set out in the operating framework, regarding requiring a senior officer’s attendance at committee, was not followed or adhered to. The Chair noted the comments.

d)            Exempt Items. A Member of the Committee suggested that an additional comment could be added to section 3.31 of the report to highlight that exempt agenda items are placed at the end of the agenda to ensure that the meeting can stay public for as long as possible and any conversations that do not need to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10