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RESOLVED that subject to the above, the minutes of the meeting held on the 26 November 2025 be received and approved as a true and correct record of the proceedings.
RESOLVED that · the Committee reviewed the TMSS for 2026/27 and the Prudential Indicators for 2026/27, 2027/28 and 2028/29. · members note the TM update report. · the Committee confirms that it has read, understood and taken account of the Well-being Impact Assessment as part of its consideration. · the Committee notes the Capital Strategy Report 2026/27 to 2028/29 and its impact on the Council’s future borrowing requirement.
RESOLVED that the Committee · note the impact of the WG Provisional Settlement 2026/27 and review the updated budget pressures and savings detailed in the report. · would like the Council to continue to lobby WG and others for additional funding in respect of the increase in costs of statutory services.
RESOLVED that • The committee considered the report and the content and assessed the Audit’s progress and performance. • The committee did not want any further assurances and discussed the audited areas
RESOLVED that the Committee receives and notes the contents of the Whistleblowing annual report.
RESOLVED: that subject to the above, the Governance and Audit Committee Forward Work Programme be noted.
None.
Councillor Ellie Chard declared a personal interest as she was a recipient of a Clwyd Pension Fund Pension. Lay Member, Nigel Rudd declared a personal interest as he was a member of the Conwy County Borough Council Governance and Audit Committee. He also informed the Committee he was a member of the North Wales Corporate Joint Committee Governance and Audit subcommittee. The Monitoring Officer confirmed both were personal interests only. The Chair, Lay Member David Stewart declared a personal interest as he was a recipient of a Clwyd Pension Fund Pension.
None.
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RESOLVED that subject to the above, the minutes of the meeting held on the 26 November 2025 be received and approved as a true and correct record of the proceedings.
The minutes of the Governance and Audit Committee held on 26 November 2025 were submitted. Matters of accuracy – Page 8 – Minutes – It should have read Councillor Bobby Feeley. It was also note an ‘e’ was missing from therefore. Page 14 – Corporate Risk Register – Risk 48 Regarding recruitment and retention; The Chair suggested it should read ‘The Chair reminded the Committee that the original reason for the Governance and Audit Committee interest in this risk as well as Social Care was also the potential impact on service areas across the Council that are essential for the Council’s effective Governance’. The concern was with regards to governance arrangements across the Council. Page 15 – Corporate Risk Register – It was Risk 48 not 49 as stated in the minutes. Matters arising – Page 8 – Minutes – The Chair confirmed that the Lay Member vacancies had been filled. The Monitoring Officer confirmed a political balance report was presented to County Council. At present the Elected Member vacancy was still vacant, he confirmed he would raise the committee’s concerns on holding a vacant role at the upcoming Group Leaders meeting. Page 9 – Minutes – The Chair confirmed the Draft Local Code of Corporate Governance was presented to Cabinet on 20 January 2026 and was accepted. Lay Member Nigel Rudd asked if representation had been made to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales Office around the definition of complaints. The Monitoring Officer stated he had not made any representations to date. The report was also presented to Standards Committee in December who also made comments. He stressed he would ensure all the comments would be presented to the Ombudsman. RESOLVED that subject to the above, the minutes of the meeting held on the 26 November 2025 be received and approved as a true and correct record of the proceedings.
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RESOLVED that · the Committee reviewed the TMSS for 2026/27 and the Prudential Indicators for 2026/27, 2027/28 and 2028/29. · members note the TM update report. · the Committee confirms that it has read, understood and taken account of the Well-being Impact Assessment as part of its consideration. · the Committee notes the Capital Strategy Report 2026/27 to 2028/29 and its impact on the Council’s future borrowing requirement.
The Lead Member for Finance introduced the Treasury Management Strategy Statement 2026/27 and the Treasury Management Update Report Q3 2025/26 reports (previously circulated). The Treasury Management Strategy Statement (TMSS) showed how the Council would manage its investments and borrowing for the coming year. It also sets the policies within which the Treasury Management (TM) function operates. The TM Update Report provides details of the Council’s TM activities during quarter 3 of 2025/26. In addition, the Capital Strategy Report provided details of planned capital spend over the next 3 years. The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy’s Code of Practice on Treasury Management required the Council to approve the TMSS and Prudential Indicators annually. The Governance and Audit Committee was required to review this report before its approval by Council on 27th January 2026. Furthermore, part of the Committee’s role was to receive an update on the TM activities four times a year. It was requested that the annual Capital Strategy Report also be brought to before the Committee, prior to its approval by Council, as the planned capital spend over the next 3 years determines the levels of borrowing required by the Council, therefore impacting on the Council’s TM Strategy. Table 1 in the report showed the one major change from last year’s strategy which was detailed in appendix1. In addition, the Head of Finance offered her thanks to the Finance and Assurance Manager and his team for all the work that had gone into the report and attached appendices. She noted that this was the first time Governance and Audit had sight of the Capital Strategy prior to its presentation to Council. The Chair thanked the Lead Member and officers for the detailed papers and introduction. He welcomed sight of the Capital Strategy report and thanked officers for taking on board the Committees wishes. He added his gratitude for the recently arrange training session with Arlingclose on Treasury Management, he was pleased to note the good attendance from committee members and non-committee members at the session. He felt that a note on prudential indicators to members would be beneficial and strengthen members understanding on the reason behind them. Councillor Carol Holliay asked for clarification on the meaning of ‘non-treasury related arrangements which fall within the scope of this guidance’. In response the Head of Finance stated each authority had different kinds of investments, some for-service delivery or supporting the community where we may lend to a community body. This was technically an investment the reason for doing so was to support that community group and not treasury management reasons. There were occasions were local authorities entered into those arrangements. Members asked for clarity on the black line on each graph. The Finance and Assurance Manager confirmed the black line in the graphs indicated the trend shown over time. The long-term trend overall was a slight increase. Officer point of view, TM always involved an element of risk. The report demonstrated how those risks were managed and reviewed. The current approach to the level of risk was consistent with where it has been historically. Where changes were necessary, those changes were being made. Risks were continually being monitored and reviewed and discussed with meetings with Arlingclose. Lay Member Nigel Rudd stated the report read that we had four different methods of calculating Minimum Revenue Provision. He asked what the 4 methods were and if there was a reason why we had chosen the one adopted. He also asked if a date as to when the Capital Vision Document would be developed and produced. The Head of Finance thanked the Lay Member for his questions. The four methods were quite technical and were quite difficult to understand without seeing them exemplified. The four methods were: · Regulatory method · Capital financing requirement method · Asset life method (used in Denbighshire) · Depreciation method These methods were set out in statute. Guidance was issued with each, which was issued by Welsh Government and was statutory. Authorities could change which method they adopted and had historically followed the regulatory method. Discussions would take place when officers felt a change in method was the most appropriate course of action. Most local authorities had adopted the Asset life method. In response to the Capital Vision document the Head of Finance stated considerable work had been done on the capital provision. It was not yet at a stage to bring to committee. Discussions with the Corporate Executive Team around building and developing on what had been done to date. It was hoped it would be ready around the Autumn. Mr Rudd felt the document would be a positive enabling document for both Members and officers. Mr Rudd stated he had not always seen the benefit of the Well-being Assessment paper. In his opinion they had not always contained much additional information. The statement under ‘Broader service provision in the local area or the region’ suggested that all borrowing was from Central Government. He felt that statement was inaccurate. The Head of Finance confirmed that not all borrowing was from Central Government and there were other avenues for borrowing the Council used. The Monitoring Officer confirmed it was good practice to include a Well-being Impact Assessment report. It was a requirement where a decision was being made. Members thanked officers for the clarification. In relation to table 1 and 2 in appendix four, members asked if the tables should match each other. The Head of Finance appreciated the complexity of the papers. She felt it was the presentation of the tables that was difficult to read. They do match. She suggested for ease on Table 2 should have an overall total to give a total figure which would tally with the figures on table 1. Furthermore, Mr Rudd asked for further discussion on the figures used in table 7. He stated when looking at the figure for the general fund was around 7% against the Housing Revenue Account being significantly higher. He asked if there was a reason for the difference in figures. The Head of Finance and Audit stated throughout the document there was a difference between the two streams of funding. They were managed in different ways although both forms of borrowing. When officers reviewed and analysed the two streams they were conducted separately. It was common to have a difference between the two. The reason being the Housing Revenue Account had more income generating opportunities from activities than the Council fund. 40% of the revenue from the Housing Revenue Account was going towards the repayment of the borrowing. The Head of Finance and Audit stressed the Capital Plan was constantly updated and reviewed. It was always changing due to grants coming in at different times. There were numerous reasons as to why it would change. Officers presented quarterly monitoring reports to the Capital Scrutiny Group and Cabinet. RESOLVED that · the Committee reviewed the TMSS for 2026/27 and the Prudential Indicators for 2026/27, 2027/28 and 2028/29. · members note the TM update report. · the Committee confirms that it has read, understood and taken account of the Well-being Impact Assessment as part of its consideration. · the Committee notes the Capital Strategy Report 2026/27 to 2028/29 and its impact on the Council’s future borrowing requirement.
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RESOLVED that the Committee · note the impact of the WG Provisional Settlement 2026/27 and review the updated budget pressures and savings detailed in the report. · would like the Council to continue to lobby WG and others for additional funding in respect of the increase in costs of statutory services.
The Lead Member for Finance presented the report updating Governance and Audit Committee on the Welsh Government’s Provisional Funding Settlement for Local Government 2026/27 and its implications for setting a balanced budget for 2026/27 (previously circulated). Denbighshire County Council along with all other authorities across Wales faced continued acute pressures. The provisional funding settlement from Welsh Government (WG) in November 2025 resulted in a headline increase of 2.7% compared to 2025/26. The WG had allocated additional in year funding for teaching and non-teaching pay awards and the increase in the employer’s national insurance contributions which had been amalgamated into the base budget, and the true increase was 5%. In December 2025 the WG announced a budget agreement with Plaid Cymru which resulted in a further increase in the expected settlement to an overall increase of £14.686m or 6.8%. Budget pressures amounting to £21.011m had been highlighted in the 2026/27 budget. With pressures being over £20m for the fourth consecutive year. Whilst the increase in settlement was welcomed it would not fund all the budget pressures which still required a combination of savings and increases in Council Tax to set a balanced budget. Given the ongoing work to deliver savings and the development of a more transformational approach proposals to reduce costs of circa £3.1m did not include reduced services. She offered her thanks to the Head of Finance and Audit and the team for the dedicated work and continued work to balance the budget. In addition, the Head of Finance and Audit confirmed the final settlement had been received late the previous day. Which confirmed the details within the report. The proposals under consideration to achieve a balanced budget had been attached to the report and did not include cuts or reductions to services but focused on efficiencies and transformation projects. It was stressed that the budget was a continual process and there was a need to take a medium-term view. Both Cabinet and Performance Scrutiny Committees would be receiving the same report details. Future budget activity in February included a Members Budget Briefing and budget reports to Cabinet and then to Council to set a balanced budget and council tax levels for 2026/27. The Chair expressed how beneficial and informative budget workshops were for Members and Lay Members and thanked officers for the invitation to attend. The Chair reiterated the role of the committee was to provide feedback on the process followed. Councillor Mark Young asked if any independent challenged the figures including stress testing, external bench marking and peer comparison against other local authorities? In response the Head of Finance and Audit confirmed part of the budget setting process, pressures were received from Heads of Service through a finance officer for review by the Head of Finance and Audit in the first instance before further review by the Corporate Executive team. The savings were presented ad reviewed in the same way. The previous Chief Executive met with each Head of Service to review and challenge pressures and savings proposals. Saving proposals submitted were reviewed and discussed periodically, with figures reviewed against initial intentions. Numerous surveys were undertaken by the Welsh Local Government Association which provided figures from across Wales for comparison purposes. The figures provided in the papers were the most likely figures. The figures presented were what the finance team felt were the most realistic. Any potential underspends or overspends would be challenged through the savings proposal. Monthly budget reporting was presented to Cabinet and would highlight any service that was regularly underspending or overspending for further debate. The Chair asked if support was given by Heads of Service when conducting the monthly budget reviews. The Head of Finance and Audit confirmed the arrangements worked well and all Heads of Service were aware of the current position. The relationships between finance officers and Heads of Service were working well. The Monitoring Officer echoed the good working relationship between departments. In response to Members questions on the transformation programme, the Head of Finance stated the authority had been working on the transformation programme. It had ben the adopted strategy to make savings and in the long run ensure future budgets could be balanced. A lot of time and resource was being invested into the programme to be able to deliver services in a different way, at lower costs or pressures. The Head of Finance and Audit was pleased to be able to present the programme of projects, acknowledging the risks associated with each project. Officers were confident that we will see reduction in costs from the project. The transformation programme was overseen by a board named the Budget and Transformation Board. It had recently reviewed its terms of reference, which the Head of Finance and Audit said she would share with Governance and Audit Members. The board was made up of officers and Members allowing for ongoing review. Members also heard a workshop on transformation had taken place and regular updates to the Scrutiny Chairs and Vice Chairs was provided. Members asked for clarity on the figures and the difference left from the savings and budget. In response Members heard that there was one element which was not covered in the figures and papers, that being the figure raised from council tax. This was not the final position; all elements would need to be inputted. Assurance was stressed that there would be no savings target to be met. Members stressed the hardship the last four years of pressures of over £20m had taken on the authority. It had been an extremely stressful and difficult time. The Lead Member shared concern of Members with regards to statutory elements the authority had to provide and the escalating costs. The Authority did not have control over those costs and they were challenging. The Chair suggested it may be useful in a budget workshop to raise the pressures and representations were being made to Welsh Government and how the distribution of funding to authorities was made. It may provide further understanding to Members. The Head of Finance and Audit acknowledged the pressure and the concern felt by services and employees. The pressures did not roll over they were pressures for that individual year. The allocated budget had increased over the last four years, but the cost of statutory services had also risen which added to the budgetary pressures felt by services and the authority. Each local authority was in the same position of trying to balance the budget and ensure services continued to provide statutory services. The Monitoring Officer stressed there was no panic and Heads of Services worked collectively to balance the budget. Lay Member Nigel Rudd stressed the importance of collaborative work between political parties. In his view the whole of Local Government across Wales was fractured, some issued being asked of authorities were impossible without a change at National level regarding what is or is not appropriate to be funded by council tax. In addition, he felt multiyear settlement was vital to provide any strategic context for local authorities. Mr Rudd asked if Audit Wales was researching or conducting any reviews that could usefully inform both the thinking of Welsh Government and the endeavours of Local Government in trying to address the fundamental issue in relation to how finance is structured across Wales. The Audit Wales representative informed the committee several reports were being prepared which looked at a few of the pressures faced by local authorities. Follow on work from the National report around the pressures faced by Local Government finances was taking place, including interviewing all Heads of Finances across Wales. The Head of Finance and Audit confirmed she was happy to continue or reperform the test of financial resilience. RESOLVED that the Committee · note the impact of the WG Provisional Settlement 2026/27 and review the updated budget pressures and savings detailed in the report. · would like the Council to continue to lobby WG and others for additional funding in respect of the increase in costs of statutory services.
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RESOLVED that • The committee considered the report and the content and assessed the Audit’s progress and performance. • The committee did not want any further assurances and discussed the audited areas
The Lead Member for Finance introduced the papers (previously circulated). The report provided the latest information on progress made to date by the Audit team providing a short overview of each audit. Since the last Governance and Audit Committee update in September, 15 internal audit reports had been completed with 7 being awarded a high assurance rating, 2 medium assurance and six were process reviews that did not have an assurance rating. It had been a very challenging year for the Internal Audit team having received and worked on 9 investigations to date and after initial discussions with the Corporate Director – Governance and Business, Internal Audit had undertaken all nine investigations. It was also noted the team continued to have unusually high amount of sickness since 1 April to 31 December 2025. The Lead Member highlighted the table included in the covering report which detailed the work the team had completed/partially completed during the 2025/2026 financial year and outlined the progress made against tables one to six in the Internal Audit Plan. The Chief Internal Auditor (CIA) continued by reminding members the paper provided an update on the Internal Audit Team’s progress in terms of its service delivery, assurance provision, reviews completed, performance and effectiveness in driving improvement. He introduced to the Committee Samantha Davies, career pathway Principal Auditor and Sara Webster acting career pathway Senior Auditor who were in attendance to answer any specific questions on audits they had completed. The CIA drew attention to the table detailed in section 4.4 of the report. Since the paper was submitted the team had completed a further 5 reviews meaning the audit plan was at 38% completion. 3 further drafts had been completed, and scoping had reduced from 6 to 4. Attention was drawn to the reviews put on hold this was due to the work not available to be completed in this financial year due to commitments out of officer’s control. Members received the full detailed audit report once completed, included in the report was an overview of the review and the outcome. Members were guided through the details of the completed Audit Wales reports. Along with details of reports completed by Estyn, CIW and other external regulator reports. The internal audit work plan had been included, the CIA confirmed he had colour coded the plan to clearly demonstrate at what stage the review was at. The team had made good progress on the plan given the extra reviews that had also been undertaken. Members were guided to the performance measures table. Currently the team were providing the initial draft report at 11.6 days not within 10 days of the closing meeting target. Also the target of issuing the final report within 5 days after agreeing the draft report and action plan was currently at 6.2 days. Those figures had caused some concern, as a team consideration as to why those targets were not being met were discussed. There were 3 potential reasons – · sickness and absences from the team · services not providing the information on a timely basis · time pressures for reviewing the work The Chair thanked the Lead Member and the CIA for the detailed introduction and presentation. He also stressed the audit team were under pressure to complete reviews to complete the plan. The following areas were discussed in greater detail: · Members appreciated the work completed in difficult times. Members sought further information on how audits were prioritised and how was that risk managed. In response Members heard there were 7 tables which listed the work that needed to be completed. Table 4 was the table that needed to be prioritised to allow for an annual assurance. Members were guided through each table of planned work. · Members noted the need for services to provide the information to Internal Audit in a timely manner. Members asked if a note could be circulated to Heads of Services to remind officers of the importance of working with audit officers when conducting a review. The CIA confirmed he was due to meet with all 9 Heads of Service and would raise the concerns of the Governance and Audit committee. He stressed the co working between services was positive. Head of Finance and Audit suggested that the CIA included some statistics on timings and Service support when he reports to the Corporate Executive Team. · Members were pleased to note the different forms of payment including payment by cheque under the review of Banking Reconciliation. · The audit of the councils 2022/23 Statement of Accounts – field work was currently with Audit Wales for review. · The CIA praised the work of the audit team throughout the year. · Members felt the details of the Lay Member pay and allowances in the audit review were light in comparison to elected Members. Officers stated there were 48 elected Councillors in Denbighshire and 10 Lay Members with 3 additional vacancies. Further detail on individual drawn expenses was available. The CIA stated if Members wished to know he would send a link to the data. The main task of the review was around elected members, although Lay Members were looked at. The Principal Auditor added that out of the 10 Lay Members in post there was only 5 that claimed expenses. In reply, Mr Rudd questioned if the set up of Lay Members had been done effectively to enable them to make an appropriate claim. The Monitoring Officer stated he would raise with Democratic Services to ensure individuals were aware of what they were entitled and how to claim. · When a concern or whistleblowing concern was received the CIA and Monitoring Officer review and discuss where is best to investigate. Historically services have been asked to review areas but was often difficult to remain independent. There was also the option to ask external investigator which involved a cost and weren’t aware of the authority’s processes and systems. It often was cost effective for Internal Audit to conduct the investigation. Members expressed concern if time was being spent on special investigations and not the planned audit work. The CIA confirmed he allowed a certain amount of time for special investigations in the annual Governance plan. There was allocated time throughout the year for these investigations. · The peer review investigation of complaints or issues was a practice undertaken in other local authorities and may be a useful tool for Heads of Service. It may be beneficial to suggest its use in Denbighshire. The Monitoring Officer thanked Members for the suggestion that may aid the audit team. · The Corporate Risk Register review was based on the risk management process. There was no working group, the Corporate Executive Team owned the risk management strategy and process. It was reviewed on a regular basis. It was identified there were some inconsistencies in risk management practices, the project team had identified and agreed some actions that would potentially manage the overall monitoring of the risk assessment. The accepted principal for the appointed of project managers was that they should be appointed through the Corporate Programme Office which was supported by the Senior Leadership Team. Discussions were currently ongoing to see if this area could be strengthened and improved. The Corporate Executive Team received a regular review of the Corporate Project Rosk Register. There was a project management toolkit for all managers to utilise. · Controls and processes were working effectively with any claims of potential fraud concerns. A full investigation was always completed with any claims. · All Audit Wales reports were being responded too. The Chair thanked officers for the detailed discussion and moved on to review and discuss the rest of the Internal Audit update report. RESOLVED that • The committee considered the report and the content and assessed the Audit’s progress and performance. • The committee did not want any further assurances and discussed the audited areas
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RESOLVED that the Committee receives and notes the contents of the Whistleblowing annual report.
The Chair noted that most annual reports are presented for information, in this case it was felt the importance of whistleblowing warranted more debate and a thorough explanation. The Monitoring Officer introduced the Annual Whistleblowing report (previously circulated). The report covered the period April 2024 up to the end of March 2025. The Whistleblowing policy set out a framework that allowed individuals to make disclosures of concerns in respect about illegal or unethical behaviour. If claims were made in the public interest in accordance with the policy, they were protected in Law and by the Council in respect of any unfair discrimination or victimisation having raised a concern. During the reporting period there were 3 concerns. Details had been included in the confidential appendix. Of those 3 issues, one was still ongoing and under investigation. The other 2 concerns were closed following investigation with no evidence found to substantiate the concern. The policy was last reviewed in 2023 and would need to be reviewed again this year as this type of polices were on a 3 yearly review. The Employment Rights Act of 2025 introduced a change that comes into effect at the end of 2026 which related to sexual harassment. The Council has a sexual harassment policy which it adopted in 2025 as a result from legislation changes. The Employment Rights Act 2025 stated that a disclosure of a concern of sexual harassment was one that would attract the protection of the whistleblowing legislation. Awareness of the policy was evident due to the number of concerns raised. There was a mandatory e-learning on whistleblowing and a provision in employment contracts that was a requirement to report any concerns. The Chair thanked the Monitoring Officer for the introduction. The Chair asked if all the special investigations conducted by Internal Audit had been reported through the Whistleblowing policy and if not, should they have been. In response the Monitoring Officer sometimes it covered different time periods and fell into different years figures. Also, some concerns investigated by officers were received from members of the public which would be classed as a complaint and not fall under the Whistleblowing policy. The Whistleblowing policy applied to individuals who work with or for the authority. The Chair asked when the policy was reviewed, could care be taken to make sure position titles and positions be reviewed and updated. The Monitoring Officer confirmed they will all be reviewed and updated. Councillor Bobby Feeley asked if concerns regarding online activity would be covered under the Whistleblowing policy. The Monitoring Officer stated if the concern was an employment matter, then it would be raised outside the Whistleblowing policy as the Council had employment policies that would review the concern. Often cases which are submitted under one policy are diverted and reviewed under another more relevant policy. The Monitoring Officer stressed any concern or report of bullying or inappropriate behaviour the Council had a zero tolerance and would investigated fully by the relevant department. RESOLVED that the Committee receives and notes the contents of the Whistleblowing annual report.
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RESOLVED: that subject to the above, the Governance and Audit Committee Forward Work Programme be noted.
The Governance and Audit Committee’s Forward Work Programme (previously circulated) was presented for consideration. The Chair reminded members along with the Vice Chair, he met with the Chief Internal Auditor to manage the workload. He stressed the importance of the Chair’s knowledge of items being added to the programme. It had been established that any external regulatory reports are reported to Governance and Audit committee first for consideration. The Chair guided Members through the proposed agenda for the March committee meeting. The Head of Finance provided Members with a brief update on the work on the Statement of Accounts and the reports listed on the March and April 2026 proposed agendas. The approval of the Statement of Accounts and the Audit Wales report for the statement of accounts for years 2022/23 and 2023/24 should be listed as one agenda item. She informed the committee she was due to meet with Audit Wales representatives later in the week to discuss the progress on the accounts. She was pleased to say work was progressing well, she would know following the discussion with Audit Wales if the report deadlines would marry up with the accounts being audited. She confirmed she would inform the Chair of any changes or delays that may need to be made. The Chair thanked the Head of Finance for the update. Members were guided through the suggested training subject areas for the committee. The Chair suggested the proposed training on ‘Transformation Programme’ could be removed. He was of the opinion; officers had arranged numerous detailed workshops for members to attend on this subject matter. The Chief Internal Auditor proposed to hold a training session on the new Global Internal Audit Standards in April/ May 2026. He felt a workshop session would be the best way to update the committee. The Chair stressed the importance of the session proposed on the role and function of Audit Wales. He felt it would benefit Members. The training session suggested around projects should be listed as a forum to take a deep dive into looking at projects and project management and looking at lessons learnt from projects. The Chief Internal Auditor confirmed the Audit team were reviewing two projects he suggested following that review a date be sourced to hold a session. The Chair suggested that a session be arranged on self-assessment session. To assess the work of the committee against external criteria against best practice. The Chief Internal Auditor stressed that a self-assessment session was required and suggested a session be arranged in March 2026. RESOLVED: that subject to the above, the Governance and Audit Committee Forward Work Programme be noted.
The Chair introduced for information the Annual Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIPA) report. The Chair asked if the refresher training was available for all new or individuals who were interested in carrying out investigations who had not done so before. The Monitoring Officer stated officers would liaise with services who conducted investigations and suggest that all involved in investigations including those with experience. The surveillance commissioner liked to see each authority conducting its own training sessions. A further refresher training would be arranged for later in the year. He also stated the policy would be reviewed this year as the authority would likely be inspected in 2027. The Monitoring Officer reminded Members that authorising directed surveillance makes it lawful for all purposes meaning it would be admissible as evidence the product of that surveillance is admissible as evidence in proceedings. It did not mean that conducting surveillance without authorisation as illegal or unlawful, however officers could only now authorise directed surveillance if it passed a serious crime threshold test. Even if the authority authorised the surveillance the request had to be presented to a magistrate to approve the request. The Chair thanked the Monitoring Officer for the detailed explanation and report. Members NOTED the contents of the information report.
The Chair introduced the information report received from the Care Inspectorate Wales inspection of Denbighshire Domiciliary Support Services (previously circulated). The Chair congratulated the team on the positive report with excellent and good findings. Councillor Bobby Feeley echoed the comments of the Chair. She stated the report was excellent given the difficult climate and offered her congratulations to all involved and asked if on behalf of the Committee, officers could pass on its thanks and praise to all the team. The Chair asked in future information reports such as this if a note could be included on a covering report to say a response to the inspection had been provided. Members asked that the report be presented to the Scrutiny Chairs and Vice Chairs Committee for further debate and discussion. Members NOTED the information report.
The Chair introduced the Audit Wales – Road Maintenance programme report for information. He thanked Audit Wales officers for the comprehensive report. He highlighted that the report stated, ‘that overall, the report found that Council understands the condition of its road network and prioritises annual programme based on evidence’ and the ‘council focuses its planning on the short term but lacks a clear medium-term strategy for the service’ highlighting the recommendations posed by Audit Wales. The Chair asked for clarity of the acronym CSSW in the Management response paper. The Asset and Risk Manager explained it stood for County Surveyors' Society Wales. The Chair thanked the officer for the clarity. Members NOTED the contents of the information report and agreed to submit a proposal form to Scrutiny Chairs and Vice Chairs for further discussion.
The Monitoring Officer confirmed the information report had been included in the agenda at the request of Lay Member Nigel Rudd. The North Wales Corporate Joint Committee Governance and Audit Sub-committee had met and felt it was important that the regional Governance and Audit Committees received the decision notice of that meeting. It was in the early stages of establishing the terms of reference and appointment of Chairs and Vice-Chairs. It was suggested to include the decision notices following each meeting as a standing item to the forward work programme. Lay Member Nigel Rudd thanked the Monitoring Officer for the detailed introduction. He was grateful to have been nominated as Chair of the sub-committee. He confirmed the sub-committee had met twice, the financial context within which budgetary decisions were being made by the CJC itself later in the week seemed sound. He agreed it would be beneficial for the Governance and Audit Committee to receive the decision notices following each meeting as a matter of course. In addition Councillor Bobby Feeley who confirmed she had also attended the sub-committee meetings, echoed the infancy of the group and congratulated Nigel Rudd on his nomination of Chair of the sub-committee. The Chair asked for clarity if Lay Member Nigel Rudd had been elected as Chair for the meeting of which the decision notice regarded or for a longer period. In response Mr Rudd confirmed the subsequent meeting it was agreed he would take position of Chair for 12 months. Mr Rudd stated he would consult with the Monitoring Officer following the meeting how best to manage the correspondence following Mr Rudd’s conclusion on Denbighshire’s Governance and Audit committee. The Chair thanked the Lay Member for the update. Members NOTED the information report and agreed to include future decision notices on the forward work programme.
The Monitoring Officer stated that on the agenda the verbal information update had been listed under Part2 and confidential. Certain context or discussion had been identified as confidential so as a precaution it had been included under the Part2 header. Under normal circumstances a paper report was passed to the Monitoring Officer for review to determine if confidential and under what reason. As this item was a verbal report it was highlighted that aspects may be restricted to the press and public. The discussion would be opened in Part1 and if the discussion required confidentiality the discussion would be moved into Part2. The Chair asked the Monitoring Officer could indicate to Members if in his opinion the meeting required moving to Part 2. The Chair welcomed Lead Member for Education and Education officers to the meeting. He reminded Members the original Estyn report was presented to the Governance and Audit Committee on 4 October 2022 and contained numerous significant findings. It was considered an update on the processes and actions on those findings was presented to the committee. Lead Member for Education, Children and Families, thanked the committee for the invitation to attend and update Members on the work done on delivering the post inspection action plan. The Head of Education echoed the sentiments of the Lead Member and welcomed the opportunity to provide an update to Members. He started by stressing at Christ the Work Catholic school, it was very much an improving picture. A huge amount of work had been undertaken both by the school and by the education service. The 5 recommendations in the original Estyn report had moved on considerably, however the school was still deemed to be under the category of special measures. There were still areas that needed further development and extra support. Members were reminded that when a school was in special measures they were regularly visited by Estyn with monitoring of the action plan and recommendations. Estyn last visited the school in November 2025. Cloe working relationships with Estyn, Welsh Government and the school were established to work towards the action plan. Each of the recommendations had progressed and a lot of hard work by staff at the school and staff supporting the school. There had been challenges including not being able to appoint a substantive Head, further recruitment drives would take place. The Head of Education paid his thanks to the support and services from Prestatyn High School who had supported and helped move Christ the Work Catholic School forward. Members were made aware an update report was scheduled for Performance Scrutiny on 29 January 2026 where the Acting Headteacher would be in attendance. Officers acknowledged there was still work required at the school. One of the main areas of concern was attendance levels and was a priority for the school and the Education Service in Denbighshire County Council. There was still a clear focus within the school on improving teaching. Staff had been provided with considerable training, professional learning opportunities and support with the planning and delivery of lessons. Estyn had noted there was a positive working relationship between the staff and pupils. There was a considerable amount of support from the school improvement team, welfare team, education and engagement officers and the family link officers was offered to work with the school and staff. The last monitoring visit in November had been the most positive report to date. Things were moving in a positive way forward. The background to the involvement of Internal Audit and Christ the Word Catholic School was due to an initial whistleblowing concern received in 2022. Following discussions regarding the concern it was agreed that Internal Audit would conduct a school review. That review involved auditors attending and looking at 8 areas. Details of each of the 8 areas reviewed were provided. · Governance arrangements · Health and safeguarding · Finances · Statistical returns · School meals · ICT security including GDPR. · School fund · Assets A thorough review of each area was conducted and formed a report. Due to the ongoing work at the school, it was decided not to finalise the Audit report but to share with Education colleagues and the school acting Head teacher to address some of the issues identified. Members heard the Principal Auditor was due to attend the school at the end of the month to review all the actions and agree them to allow the report to be published. From all the audit reviews conducted on the school the Chief Internal Auditor confirmed progress had been made at the site. The Chair thanked the officers and Lead Member for the detailed update. Councillor Mark Young acknowledged the difficult journey the school were in the process of. He understood the hard work that was required to moved out of special measures and the large amount of support needed. He was pleased to hear the appointment of the acting Head at the school. He sought assurance that support would be provided to the acting Head in her position. He also mentioned the role of Governors of the school and the important part they play in supporting the school. The Head of Education confirmed the interim Head Teacher was her first headship. The role of a head teacher was challenging but having the added pressure of a school in special measures was extra challenging. A lot of support and guidance had been provided by the Head of Prestatyn High School. The governing body of Prestatyn High School had agreed to further support to the school of which officers, and the school were extremely grateful. It was hoped that a substantive head teacher would be appointed by the end of the school year. In addition, local authority staff were attending the school numerous times over the week. Secondary head teachers in Denbighshire met regularly and offered support to each other. The board of Governors was working very closely with the local authority. Additional governors had been appointed to the school by the Head of Education to strengthen the Governing Body and the skills required to support certain areas. There was always a local authority officer that attended every governing body meeting. Close communication with the Lead Member and regular updates did take place. It was confirmed the title of the school was Christ the Word Catholic School. It was a voluntary aided school. Thus, meaning Denbighshire County Council did not employ the staff or own the buildings. The Head of Education confirmed he was still responsible for the performance, standards and examination results for the school. Appointments or dismissals were made by the Governing Body of the school on behalf of the diocese. We have a good working relationship with the diocese and work closely with the diocese contact. It would be up to the Governing Body when they advertise the post for the Headship of the school. The requirement for the Head to be a practicing Catholic had proved challenging. The Head of Education stated he had met with Bishop Peter and did keep his well-informed with updates on progression of the actions. The Catholic diocese was working positively and closely with officers; they shared the same ambition of the authority to support the school out of special measures. The composition of the Governing Body was made up of parent governors, local authority governors and community and specific governors appointed by Bishop Peter. The body had representation from numerous sources. There were numerous service level agreements between the authority and the school which allowed the school to purchase support from authority services. Members stressed the importance of noting the role and standing the Catholic Diocese had with the school when presenting updates at other forums. It was noted that the merger of two separate schools was always a challenge. Christ the Word Catholic School felt the pressures and challenges in a greater impact. When the school was placed into special measures there was not a mass exodus of pupils and there had been a year-on-year gradual increase in pupils. Officers had no concern on the number of pupils registered at the school. The Chair thanked everyone for the detailed and open discussion. The aim for requesting the update had been to assure members that progress was taking place. He suggested that any lessons learnt on behalf of the authority or the school could be raised during the Scrutiny debate. Members NOTED the verbal update.
Rhaid i gynghorwyr ddweud pan fydd ganddyn nhw gysylltiad personol â rhywbeth sy'n cael ei drafod, fel swydd, eiddo neu aelod o'r teulu. Mae buddiant sy'n rhagfarnu yn ddigon cryf i'r cynghorydd adael yr ystafell fel arfer a pheidio â chymryd rhan.
Caiff datganiadau eu darllen o'r cofnodion unwaith y byddan nhw wedi'u cyhoeddi.
Dyw'r cyngor ddim wedi cofnodi presenoldeb ar gyfer y cyfarfod hwn.
Yn rhestru cynghorwyr presennol y cyngor yn unig. Nid yw aelodau cyfetholedig, swyddogion a chyn-gynghorwyr yn cael eu dangos.