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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
AGREED to note the content of the Governance and Audit Committee Meetings Action Log as presented.
AGREED to: - (i) note the Regulator and Inspectorate reports and updates; and (ii) note the Council’s response (Management/Organisational ResponseForms) and the input by the Officers and Audit Wales accordingly at the meeting
AGREED to note the positive reports for information.
AGREED to (i) note the contents of the report and the accompanying CIW inspection reports; and (ii) request that the Healthier Communities Overview and Scruitny Committee consider the timeline of maintenance work being carried out in the Council’s residential homes to ensure that they were completed in a timely manner, to obtain the number of availabile beds in the Private sector to gain a greater overview of all available beds within the Local and Private Sector in the County, the need to consider providing new care homes in the future and to lobby the Welsh Government for additional funding similar to the 21st Century Schools funding scheme
AGREED to: (i)note the contents of the draft ‘Self-assessment of good practice’ document; (ii) note the content of the ‘Evaluating the impact of the effectiveness of the audit committee’ document; and (iii)note the Self-assessment action plan 2023-2024
AGREED to note the work undertaken and current position of the Internal Audit Service.
AGREED to note the contents of the report.
AGREED to note the report for information.
AGREED to note the contents of this report in advance of its presentation at the Cabinet meeting on 5th November 2024.
AGREED to approve the draft Annual Governance Statement 2023-24 subject to amendments to A1.4. It was also reported that the Annual Governance Statement 2023-24 would be presented to the Committee and Council, along with the Statement of Accounts in November 2024.
AGREED to approve the new format of the Annual Governance Statement.
AGREED to approve the Draft Self-Assessment Report as presented.
AGREED to note the Local Authority Performance Profile results as presented.
AGREED to note the content of the Forward Work Programme as presented subject to noting that the item upon the Internal Audit National Fraud Initiative Self-Assessment would be presented bi annually and not at the 29 January 2024 or 26 March 2024 meetings; as work on the self assessment had not to date commenced.
Councillor Rhodri Evans, Mark Strong together with Mrs Caroline Whitby and Ms Alison Rees, Audit Wales apologised for their inability to attend the meeting.
None.
Councillor Wyn Evans declared a personal interest in item 7 on the agenda. Councillor Keith Henson declared a personal interest in item 8 on the agnenda.
It was AGREED to confirm as a true record the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on the 14 March 2024. Matters Arising None.
Decision as recorded
AGREED to note the content of the Governance and Audit Committee Meetings Action Log as presented.
It was AGREED to note the content of the Governance and Audit Committee Meetings Action Log as presented.
Decision as recorded
AGREED to: - (i) note the Regulator and Inspectorate reports and updates; and (ii) note the Council’s response (Management/Organisational ResponseForms) and the input by the Officers and Audit Wales accordingly at the meeting
Consideration was given to the Regulator & Inspectorate Reports and Ceredigion County Council Responses. The Report sets out Regulator and Inspectorate Reports and updates along with Council responses regarding progress made against proposals and recommendation. It has 3 parts: a) Audit Wales quarterly update to Governance and Audit Committee b) Any local risk work issued/published since the last Governance and Audit Committee meeting c) Audit Wales National Reports Current Position a) Audit Wales quarterly update to Governance and Audit Committee · Audit Wales Work Programme and Timetable Quarter 1 b) Any local risk work issued/published since the last Governance and Audit Committee meeting c) Management Response Forms · Use of Performance Information - Service User Perspectives and Outcomes · Digital Strategy Review · Cracks in the Foundations – Building Safety in Wales · Time for Change - Poverty in Wales · Planning Service Follow-up Review · Setting of well-being objectives · Springing Forward – Review of Strategic Asset Management · A Missed Opportunity - Social Enterprises d) Audit Wales National Reports · Digital by design? Lessons from our digital strategy review across councils in Wales (Appendix 4) o Ceredigion County Council report presented to Governance & Audit Committee 24/01/2024 - Audit Wales Digital Strategy Review Report - Digital Strategy Review – Ceredigion County Council · Use of performance information: service user perspective and outcomes – A summary of findings from our review at Welsh councils (Appendix 5) o Ceredigion County Council report presented to Governance & Audit Committee 14/03/2024 - Use of performance information: service user perspective and outcomes – Ceredigion County Council Following questions from the floor, it was AGREED to: - (i) note the Regulator and Inspectorate reports and updates; and (ii) note the Council’s response (Management/Organisational ResponseForms) and the input by the Officers and Audit Wales accordingly at the meeting
Decision as recorded
AGREED to note the positive reports for information.
Following the resumption of Estyn inspections with pilot visits in February 2022, Estyn inspections have entered the final year of this cycle. School inspections have passed positively, and Ceredigion Local Authority were the only local authority in Wales without any follow up requirements, following inspections. The following schools were inspected in the academic year 2023/24: • Ysgol Cenarth • Ysgol Felinfach • Ysgol Llanfarian • Ysgol Rhos Helyg • Ysgol Talgarreg • Ysgol Syr John Rhys • Ysgol Gymunedol Tal-y-Bont • Ysgol Llannon It was AGREED to note the positive reports for information.
Decision as recorded
AGREED to (i) note the contents of the report and the accompanying CIW inspection reports; and (ii) request that the Healthier Communities Overview and Scruitny Committee consider the timeline of maintenance work being carried out in the Council’s residential homes to ensure that they were completed in a timely manner, to obtain the number of availabile beds in the Private sector to gain a greater overview of all available beds within the Local and Private Sector in the County, the need to consider providing new care homes in the future and to lobby the Welsh Government for additional funding similar to the 21st Century Schools funding scheme
Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) was the independent regulator of Social Care in Wales. They register, inspect and take action to improve the quality and safety of services for the well-being of the people of Wales. Ceredigion Council have several regulated services that were routinely inspected by CIW, these include: · Bryntirion Residential Care Home · Cartref Tregerddan Residential Care Home · Min y Mȏr Residential Care Home · Hafan Deg Residential Care Home · Y Hafod Residential Care Home · Hafan y Waun Residential Care Home · Targeted Care and Enablement Service · Fostering Service The inspections focus on 4 key areas: 1. Wellbeing 2. Care and support 3. Environment 4. Leadership and Management The Responsible Individual (RI) was an individual who was deemed eligible under section 21 of the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016 (RISCA). This could be a delegated function of the Director of Social Services and in Ceredigion Council this was delegated to the Corporate Manager – Direct Services. The RI played a vital role in quality monitoring and regular monitoring visits were completed with each service and monitoring reports were considered and reviewed at regular meetings with the Director. The RI worked closely with the Internal Quality Monitoring Team who also undertook regular monitoring visits of all regulated services in the Council. The inspection reports accompanying the report highlight that in the areas of Wellbeing, Care and Support and leadership and management the council services were operating to a high standard. There had been issues highlighted by CIW in relation to several environments and these had been taken very seriously with significant capital investment being utilised to improve the environments as well as meeting relevant fire safety requirements. This has resulted in Priority Action Notices (PAN) being issued in relation to Regulation 44 – Environment of Premises. Positive collaborative working between council departments had enabled a detailed work programme to be developed and implementation was ongoing along with regular updates being provided in relation to the improvement and implementation plan. Following questions from the floor, it was AGREED to (i) note the contents of the report and the accompanying CIW inspection reports; and (ii) request that the Healthier Communities Overview and Scruitny Committee consider the timeline of maintenance work being carried out in the Council’s residential homes to ensure that they were completed in a timely manner, to obtain the number of availabile beds in the Private sector to gain a greater overview of all available beds within the Local and Private Sector in the County, the need to consider providing new care homes in the future and to lobby the Welsh Government for additional funding similar to the 21st Century Schools funding scheme
Decision as recorded
AGREED to: (i)note the contents of the draft ‘Self-assessment of good practice’ document; (ii) note the content of the ‘Evaluating the impact of the effectiveness of the audit committee’ document; and (iii)note the Self-assessment action plan 2023-2024
Following a workshop held on 11th June 2024 a draft Self-assessment and evaluation of effectiveness review was considered by the Governance and Audit Committee.Following the workshop, an action plan had been drawn up from the Self-Assessment. This would be monitored and progress on actions updated and brought to future committee meetings. Following questions from the floor, it was AGREED to: (i)note the contents of the draft ‘Self-assessment of good practice’ document; (ii) note the content of the ‘Evaluating the impact of the effectiveness of the audit committee’ document; and (iii)note the Self-assessment action plan 2023-2024
Decision as recorded
AGREED to note the work undertaken and current position of the Internal Audit Service.
Consideration was given to the report of the Corporate Manager-Internal Audit on The Internal Audit Progress Report Quarter 1. The report had been presented to ensure that the Committee was satisfied that the Internal Audit Section was undertaking sufficient and appropriate work in order to provide a realistic assurance at year-end, whilst adding value and assisting the Council in achieving its objectives. It was AGREED to note the work undertaken and current position of the Internal Audit Service.
Decision as recorded
AGREED to note the contents of the report.
The PSIAS and CIPFA’s Local Government Application Note supersede the 2006 Code for Internal Audit and came into force from April 2013. The PSIAS and Application Note must be complied with in order to ensure proper internal audit practices were applied. The Application Note contained a checklist which had been developed to satisfy the requirements set out in PSIAS 1311 and 1312 for periodic self-assessments as part of the Quality Assurance and Improvement Program (QAIP). It incorporates the requirements of the PSIAS as well as the Application Note in order to give comprehensive coverage of both documents. Two areas of improvement had been identified. One of which had been carried over from last year. Standard 1210: 5.3.1 Does the CAE hold a professional qualification such as CMIIA/CCAB? The CMIA had made significant progress by completing the CIA qualification and will be enrolling on to the CMIIA upon completion of ILM Level 4. The second action was regarding the new IIA Global Standards and ensure implementation of new material developed by IASAB effective 01/04/2025. It was AGREED to note the contents of the report.
Decision as recorded
AGREED to note the report for information.
Regular reports were provided to the Governance and Audit Committee regarding the Council’s Corporate Risk Register to provide on-going information and assurance that risks identified by senior managers were managed appropriately. This reinforces the Governance and Audit Committee role of providing independent assurance to Council of the appropriate management of the Corporate Risk Register. A review of the latest risk status was conducted at the Leadership Group meeting on 18.09.24 where candidates for promotion / demotion to the Corporate Risk Register were discussed and the latest Corporate Risk Register was agreed. De-escalated from corporate to service None Escalated from service to corporate None Corporate risk score changes As a result of successful mitigating actions, the new corporate risk R025: Fire Safety & Protection Measures in Council Properties score had reduced from 25 to 20.All other risks have been reviewed and include the revised RAG status of mitigating actions and updated commentary. The dates when Scrutiny Committee had reviewed each Corporate risk were included on the summary page. It was noted that all Corporate Risks had been scrutinised . Following questions from the floor on risk scores, it was AGREED to note the report for information.
Decision as recorded
AGREED to note the contents of this report in advance of its presentation at the Cabinet meeting on 5th November 2024.
Councillor Bryan Davies, Leader of the Council introduced the report which provided information relating to the Council’s Compliments, Complaints and Freedom of Information activity between 1st April 2023 and 31st March 2024. The report was broken down into the following sections: 1.Introduction – an outline of the work of the Complaints and FOI Team and the Council’s obligations under each of the policies covered by this report. 2.Compliments – details of all compliments passed to the Complaints and FOI Team during this reporting period. 3.Complaints – data regarding the number and type of complaints received, the outcomes of the investigations undertaken, the Council’s performance against prescribed timescales and information relating to the lessons identified. Examples of some of the lessons identified were included at the end of the report. 4.Ombudsman Activity – details of all Ombudsman referrals, their outcomes and information surrounding the Early Resolution and/or Voluntary Settlements that were agreed by the Council during 2023-2024. 5.Freedom of Information (FOI) and Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) – the number of information requests received by the Council during the reporting period, details of the Council’s performance with the statutory timescales and comparative data from previous reports. The Annual Letter from the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (“the Ombudsman”), dated 9th September 2024, accompanies this report. The Ombudsman’s letter gives specific details about all activity relating to Ceredigion, as well as the performance of other local authorities across Wales. Whilst this was the second consecutive year whereby the number of Ombudsman referrals has fallen compared with the previous reporting period; it is acknowledged that the Council continues to have a consistently has a relatively high rate of Early Resolution/Voluntary Settlement agreements.This has fallen considerably since last year Challenges remain with regards to managing the complexity of some complaints and there was a marked increase in complaints and FOI/EIR activity compared with what was received during 2022-2023. As a consequence of the difficulties identified within earlier reports about complaints handling and the management of information requests under FOI and EIR, Leadership Group agreed a number of corporate actions that were focused on improving the Council’s ability to effectively deal with these matters in a robust and resilient way. Work was ongoing to complete these actions and was monitored and reviewed on a quarterly basis. Summary •Fewer compliments were recorded during 2023-2024 and although a significant amount of work has been done to improve the way that this activity was managed, the Complaints and FOI Team was currently in the process of raising staff awareness across the Council, to ensure that all messages of appreciation are captured. Part of this work had involved the introduction of an online Compliment Form on the Council’s website, a monthly returns template to be distributed to services (not yet operational), and an internal communications campaign was due to run in the next few weeks to raise awareness of the importance of recording compliments. •The Complaints and FOI Team managed fewer enquiries during this reporting period, mainly by directing these to the relevant services for early resolution prior to initiating the complaints procedures. However, a significant number of enquires continue to be processed and managed by the Complaints and FOI Team, though this was usually when an individual was seeking to make a complaint, but the complaints procedures may not apply, for whatever reason. •It was acknowledged that work was required with managers to prevent the unnecessary escalation of complaints to Stage 2, simply because it was not possible to respond within the prescribed timescale of ten-working-days. Guidance, advice and training was available to all officers in relation to managing complaints effectively. •The Complaints and FOI Team continued to face challenges in meeting the demands of rises in the numbers of complaints and FOI/EIR activity. It was encouraging that there were far fewer Ombudsman interventions during 2023-2024, though it was acknowledged that further work could be done to reduce this in the forthcoming year. •Complaints about the Refuse Collection Service and Planning matters continued to be the service areas in receipt of the highest number of complaints. It should be noted that these services were somewhat predisposed to attracting complaints, by their nature, and the number of complaints received should be taken in context with the level of activity these two service areas manage. •Significant improvements had been made to the Council’s compliance with Freedom of Information (FOI) and Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) timescales. Whilst there was still room for improvement, the Council responded to 80% of all requests within prescribed timescales during 2023-2024. Following questions from the floor, it was AGREED to note the contents of this report in advance of its presentation at the Cabinet meeting on 5th November 2024.
Decision as recorded
AGREED to approve the draft Annual Governance Statement 2023-24 subject to amendments to A1.4. It was also reported that the Annual Governance Statement 2023-24 would be presented to the Committee and Council, along with the Statement of Accounts in November 2024.
It was reported that a workshop of relevant officers and committee Members was held on 6th December 2023.The workshop considered: • progress on the actions set out in the 2023-24 Governance Framework Review. •any updated evidence included in the document. •previously identified actions. It was also agreed to amend the scoring to the document to be out of 5 rather than 10 as in previous years. The Annual Governance Statement 2023-24 had since been drafted and required approval. Following questions from the floor, it was AGREED to approve the draft Annual Governance Statement 2023-24 subject to amendments to A1.4. It was also reported that the Annual Governance Statement 2023-24 would be presented to the Committee and Council, along with the Statement of Accounts in November 2024.
Decision as recorded
AGREED to approve the new format of the Annual Governance Statement.
The governance team had been reviewing the Governance documentation for the Council and undertook a review of the Local Code of Corporate Governance in the winter of 2023 which resulted in the creation of the new Governance Framework which was published in March 2024. Following the successful publication of the Governance Framework, the governance team began reviewing the template of the Annual Governance Statement. Research had been undertaken on Welsh local authorities' Annual Governance Statements and it was identified that many had more concise documents with brief information on their governance arrangements. Examples can be seen on Anglesey Council Annual Governance Statement 2022/23, Conwy Council Conwy Annual Governance Statement 2022-23 and Denbighshire Council Denbighshire. The new format of the AGS habeen created and the document had been reduced from the current 36 pages to 17 pages by condensing the information into a short paragraph under each principle while referring to links to documents that have already been published. The full governance function and process was included in the Governance Framework. The CIPFA Delivering Good Governance framework 2016 in relation to the AGS states: “7.3 The annual governance statement should provide a meaningful but brief communication regarding the review of governance that has taken place, including the role of the governance structures involved (such as the authority, the audit and other committees). It should be high level, strategic and written in an open and readable style. 7.4 The annual governance statement should be focused on outcomes and value for money and relate to the authority’s vision for the area. It should provide an assessment of the effectiveness of the authority’s governance arrangements in supporting the planned outcomes – not simply a description of them. Key elements of an authority’s governance arrangements are summarised in the next section. 7.5 The annual governance statement should include: an acknowledgement of responsibility for ensuring that there is a sound system of governance (incorporating the system of internal control) and reference to the authority’s code of governance „ reference to and assessment of the effectiveness of key elements of the governance framework and the role of those responsible for the development and maintenance of the governance environment, such as the authority, the executive, the audit committee, internal audit and others as appropriate an opinion on the level of assurance that the governance arrangements can provide and that the arrangements continue to be regarded as fit for purpose in accordance with the governance framework an agreed action plan showing actions taken, or proposed, to deal with significant governance issues „ reference to how issues raised in the previous year’s annual governance statement have been resolved a conclusion – a commitment to monitoring implementation as part of the next annual review. “ The WG statutory Guidance on Democracy in Principal Councils stated that the AGS can be used: as a tool: for corporate improvement; • to evaluate strengths and weaknesses in the governance framework; and • as part of an annual action plan The new format of the AGS has been written to summarise the points and make it more reader-friendly and easy to follow. The main changes were: -Reduction in the repetition of information in the AGS and Governance Framework -More links added to documents already published -Removal of dates of committees and replaced with paragraphs summarising the work undertaken in committees. -Reduction of information in bullet points and tables and replaced with a short summary. It was AGREED to approve the new format of the Annual Governance Statement.
Decision as recorded
AGREED to approve the Draft Self-Assessment Report as presented.
Consideration was given to the Draft Performance Self-Assessment Report. The Report had been developed by assessing a wide variety of evidence including internal reports and reviews, external regulatory and inspection reports and crucially engagement and consultation activities. The Council adopted a set of key questions or “Key Lines of Enquiry” to ensure the process was focused on outcomes, the organisation-wide view of performance and was evidence-based. Workshops were run during April and May with Members and Officers of the Council to evaluate current performance, the opportunities that exist for improvement and the specific actions that were intend to take. The findings were recorded in our Self-Assessment Matrix document which was used to help produce the Self-Assessment Report and Action plan, and were available on request. Although the Self-Assessment Report was the key output from the process the work on improving outcomes was an ongoing year-round activity. Throughout the year they conducted a consultation in support of self-assessment, collated evidence to inform the workshops, deliver the actions in our Self-Assessment action plan and monitor their progress towards completion. It was important to note that the Report discharges the requirements of both: •The Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 – the duty to report on performance •The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 – to set and review progress against our Corporate Well-being Objectives Next Steps It was reported that the Draft Self-Assessment Report would be updated based on any recommendations made by the Governance and Audit Committee, and the final version would be reported to the meeting on 29 January 2025. It was AGREED to approve the Draft Self-Assessment Report as presented.
Decision as recorded
AGREED to note the Local Authority Performance Profile results as presented.
Data Cymru had developed a new performance data tool to support local authorities in better understanding their overall performance and to support Panel Performance Assessments which started in September 2024. The new tool was called the Local Authority Performance Profile (LAPP) and contains a selection of 34 key performance measures across 11 themes, along with a variety of contextual data to help set the scene. The Profile was available as a Power BI dashboard only, there was no hard copy version. One of the primary uses of the LAPP is to support the peers who undertake Panel Performance Assessments in understanding how the Local Authority is currently performing. This was used by the Panel in Ceredigion’s recent Panel Performance Assessment between 30 September and 3 October. The LAPP would continue to be developed in the future, so the range of measures included and some functionality will continue to improve further. There are currently restrictions on publishing data from the tool, for example we are not allowed to publish other local authorities results without their consent, however, it is hoped that these restrictions will be removed shortly. Currently, the latest update of the LAPP was on 10 September and the overall findings show that: •Ceredigion had the second highest number of performance measures in the upper quartile with 13 out of 34 measures. •Ceredigion had the joint highest number of performance measures in the upper and upper middle quartile with 25 out of 34. •Ceredigion had 73.5% of its measures in the upper and upper middle quartile. The next nearest authority has 67.6%. (The total number of measures for each local authority varies slightly due to minor differences in services delivered such as for those authorities that had retained their housing stock). •Ceredigion’s performance had also improved on the 21 measures (or 65.6%) in the upper and upper middle quartile in the previous results. •Overall, Ceredigion has 13 measures in the upper quartile, 12 in the upper middle quartile, 2 in the lower middle quartile and 7 in the lower quartile. To conclude it was reported that despite the significant challenges that Ceredigion faces through being one of the lowest funded authorities, along with the challenges around rurality and the sparse population, these results provide useful evidence that the Council was not only exercising its functions effectively but was also making the best use of the resources available. It was AGREED to note the Local Authority Performance Profile results as presented.
Decision as recorded
AGREED to note the content of the Forward Work Programme as presented subject to noting that the item upon the Internal Audit National Fraud Initiative Self-Assessment would be presented bi annually and not at the 29 January 2024 or 26 March 2024 meetings; as work on the self assessment had not to date commenced.
It was AGREED to note the content of the Forward Work Programme as presented subject to noting that the item upon the Internal Audit National Fraud Initiative Self-Assessment would be presented bi annually and not at the 29 January 2024 or 26 March 2024 meetings; as work on the self assessment had not to date commenced.
None.
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