Agenda item

The Annual Governance Statement (“Statement”) is an important document which provides assurance concerning the Council’s governance arrangements, both financial and non-financial. It is prepared on an annual basis for inclusion in the Statement of Accounts.

The Committee received the Annual Governance Statement (“Statement”) as an important document which provided assurance concerning the Council’s governance arrangements, both financial and non-financial. It is prepared on an annual basis for inclusion in the Statement of Accounts.

The following matters were considered:

a)             Seven Best Value Themes: A Member questioned about the Seven Best Value Themes in the appendix to the report.  In Section 2 (Leadership), whilst he had previously raised that there was nothing in the ‘where we can improve’ column he also considered that the items listed in ‘what’s working well’ column was more to do with middle management and not the senior leadership team. In Section 1 (Continuous Improvement) and Section 6 (Service Delivery) he highlighted the slippage in the delivery of the ICT Strategy and that the council seemed not to have the skills to deliver much of the programme and that this should be captured under Section 6 as this affects service delivery.

The Member continued to Section 7 (Partnerships and Community Engagement) and thanked officers for including the Community Governance Review (CGR).  He stated that an item on charter trustees was due to be discussed at full council and that within the report it explained that charter trustees could have precepting powers and raise council tax just as a parish council would have done under CRG. The response to CGR was overwhelming as residents did not want a raise in Council Tax. There had been no consultation on chartered trusts which the member could not accept and asked that it be added to the log as an area for improvement. Also in Section 7 the Member stated that as the council were in litigation with the Rainbow Leisure Centre then there should be an item reflected in the ‘where we can improve’ to say that the council could improve how it works with partners.

Councillor Coley proposed a motion that Section 7 (Partnerships and Community Engagement) include consultation on any precepting powers. This was seconded by Councillor McCormick. The Motion was carried (4 for, 1 against and 1 abstention).

Councillor Coley also proposed a motion that Section 6 (Service Delivery) should include a reference to the slippage of the ICT Strategy.  This was seconded by Councillor Ames. The Motion was carried (3 for, 1 against and 2 abstentions).

b)             Vesting Day: A Member pointed out that vesting day dates in the report were given as 31 March 2027 and 1 April 2027.  This needed to be corrected.

c)             AGS Action Plan: A member highlighted the various dates given and date changes for the appeals related to the Local Plan and queried the RAG status as ‘on track’. The Corporate Governance & Strategy Manager undertook to amend this.

d)             Best Value Theme 3(Governance): A Member asked if there was monthly monitoring to ensure the backlog of 20 overdue audits was being undertaken to ensure these were cleared by vesting day.  The Assistant Director for Corporate Services explained that as one audit could generate 10 or more actions this was not for undue concern.  He also went on to explain that timescales are agreed between officers and auditors. There has been agreement that not all management actions need to be completed by vesting day and will carry over to the new council.

e)             Service and Economic Pressures: With reference to a statement in the report from the Head of paid Service a Member asked if Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) was delayed or cancelled would the council would be facing a Section 114 and be effectively bankrupt in the medium term and if local temporary accommodation demands were unsustainable what stopgap measures were being implemented to prevent those liabilities from severely impacting on the new council.  The Assistant Director for Corporate Services explained that whilst the council was in a good financial position it had used reserves in the past to balance the budget. This would not be a good thing to do year on year and if LGR wasn’t happening then the council would need to consider transformation programmes. LGR was an efficiency saving in itself despite the cost of implementing it.

f)              Member Training: A Member asked why the 2023/24 councillor training review and enhancement programme due at end of October 2025 was entirely cancelled given that elected members will remain in office until the end of March 2027 and the programme was meant to enhance member capability during the most complex constitutional transition. The Assistant Director for Corporate Services stated that the council was a member of the Local Government Association (LGA) and any councillor wanting training had free access to a considerable amount of training through the LGA, however a fuller response would be sought for the member.

g)             Core CIPFA Governance Principles – Item G – A member pointed out that the council did not have a process for publishing significant delegated officer decisions, not just urgent decisions, which left a significant gap in the council’s transparency and should be included in item G of this item. The Legal Adviser stated that the law only requires that a written record be made available to the public and did not require publishing on the council’s website. Another Member pointed out that the council do not make the public aware that they can view decisions and there is no process in place for them to do that. He agreed that as an improvement to transparency it should be included in item G of the statement.

Councillor Coley proposed the following wording, seconded by Councillor Ames, to be included in Item G of the Core CIPFA governance principal: ‘We recognise the urgent need to deliver the resolution made at full council on 12 March 2026, regarding reporting of urgent decisions.’ A vote was taken and the proposal was carried.

Following consideration, it was resolved to:

(1)       Approve the 2025-26 draft Annual Governance Statement as set out at Appendix 1, including agreed amendments as set out below, prior to it being signed by the Chief Executive and the Chair of the Strategy and Resources Committee.

·Section 7 (Partnerships and Community Engagement) include consultation on any precepting powers.

·Section 6 (Service Delivery) should include a reference to the slippage of the ICT Strategy

·Ensure all vesting day dates were correct.

·Include the following text in Item G of the Core CIPFA governance principal: ‘We recognise the urgent need to deliver the resolution made at full council on 12 March 2026, regarding reporting of urgent decisions.’

(2)       Nominate and authorise the Chief Finance Officer, in consultation with the Chair and Vice-Chair of Audit and Scrutiny Committee, to make any required amendments to the Annual Governance Statement prior to its submission with the Statement of Accounts.