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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
RESOLVED that subject to the above, the minutes of the meeting held on the 23 July 2025 be received and approved as a true and correct record of the proceedings.
RESOLVED that the Governance and Audit note the content of the report and, agree that representation be made to the Public Services Ombudsman Wales in relation to the methodology in which complaints were recorded.
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 considered the contents of the report. The Governance and Audit Committee agree to the proposal for the Capital Plan and Capital Vision papers to be appended to the Treasury Management Strategy report scheduled for the January 2026 Committee meeting.
RESOLVED, that the Committee recommends adoption by Council of the amendments of the Budget and Policy Framework rules as set out in appndix2.
RESOLVED that the draft Local Code of Corporate Governance be adopted by Cabinet subject to any amendments to principal F.
RESOLVED: that subject to the above, the Governance and Audit Committee Forward Work Programme be noted.
RESOLVED, that the Committee reviewed and received the contents of the information report.
RESOLVED that the Governance and Audit Committee note the information report.
Apologies for absence were received from Councillor James Elson.
The Chair, Lay Member David Stewart declared a personal interest as he was a recipient of a Clwyd Pension Fund Pension. Councillor Ellie Chard declared a personal interest as she was a recipient of a Clwyd Pension Fund Pension. She also informed Mmebers she was a members of the JCC Committee. Lay Member, Nigel Rudd declared a personal interest as he was a member of the Conwy County Borough Council Governance and Audit Committee. The Monitoring Officer confimred Members had an excemption from a predudicial interest in relation to members allowances. .
None.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED that subject to the above, the minutes of the meeting held on the 23 July 2025 be received and approved as a true and correct record of the proceedings.
The minutes of the Governance and Audit Committee held on 23 July 2025 were submitted. Matters of accuracy – Page 10 - Update From Chair of Governance and Audit Committee – It should have stated the ‘Internal Audit exercise on project management’. Page 18 - Draft Annual Governance and Audit Committee Report – The Chair confirmed he had included a paragraph on the role of the Vice-Chair of Governance and Audit committee. The Chair also confirmed that it was agreed for future years details on capital strategy and Treasury Management could be included. Matters arising – Page 8 – Minutes – In relation to the vacant posts on the committee the Chair confirmed the interviews for the Lay Member position had been scheduled for the 24th September with a further date required due to availability which would be scheduled. The Monitoring Officer confirmed Democratic Services had been in contact with the relevant group with the vacant seat. The Group Leader had confirmed a representative from the group was being sought. Page 8 – Minutes – The Chair asked if Members had asked for an information report on the Performance Self-assessment. He Monitoring Officer confirmed he had spoked to officers, there understanding was it was to be tabled at Performance Scrutiny and Cabinet and a link with the papers would be circulated to members. If members requested the report could be appended to the next agenda. Page 14 - Statement of Accounts 2023/24 – The Chair asked if the Statement of Accounts were on course to be presented to the Committee in March 2026. The Head of Finance stated she would be able to confirm the position at the November meeting of the Governance and Audit Committee. Work was progressing. RESOLVED that subject to the above, the minutes of the meeting held on the 23 July 2025 be received and approved as a true and correct record of the proceedings.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED that the Governance and Audit note the content of the report and, agree that representation be made to the Public Services Ombudsman Wales in relation to the methodology in which complaints were recorded.
The Lead Member for Corporate Strategy, Policy, Equalities and Strategic Assets introduced the compliments / Complaints and Public Services Ombudsman Annual Letter report 2024/25 (previously circulated). The annual report provided an overview of the effectiveness of the complaints process. The figures presented within the report were for the financial year 2024/25. The performance was measured against the Social Services Complaints Procedures (Wales) Regulations 2014 and the council’s own Corporate Complaints procedures – adopted from Public Services Ombudsman for Wales Model Complaints Guidance 2019 and the Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) 2019. The report also details within the PSOW Annual letter and benchmarked Denbighshire’s performance against all other Local Authorities in Wales. The Lead Member introduced the officers present to offer further information and respond to any questions. The Head of Adult Social Care and Homelessness thanked the Lead Member for the introduction and continued by adding the number of complaints received over the period had increased and although performance decreased with the number of complaints officers were satisfied with the level of performance. It was noted the increase in complaints had been seen following the roll out of the new waste service. It was also noted that an increase in the number of complaints sent to the ombudsman was seen. Through the 98 complaints sent to the ombudsman, only 6 were investigated. In relation to those 6 complaints, officers had received 10 recommendations. 8 of those recommendations were due in 2024/25, 4 were late (3 were in relation to the same complaint). There were no overall recommendations to the Council. Officers acknowledged the need to review how to manage large numbers of complaints as a lesson learnt. Officers stressed the need to ensure complaints handling formed part of new projects plan. Officers never estimated the number of complaints that were received by the waste service during the roll out. The Corporate Director: Governance and Business informed Members when the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales Annual Letter was received by the authority, it is asked to be presented to the Governance and Audit Committee prior to Cabinet. It had been included in the papers for this meeting to meet with publication deadlines, subsequently the Ombudsman’s office had contacted officers informing them of the possibility of wrong statistics being included in the information sent to authorities. It was unsure if Denbighshire’s letter was affected or not. If there were a major change to the contents of the letter a further report would be submitted to Governance and Audit. It was confirmed the report to Cabinet would not be presented until a time the Ombudsman had confirmed the details of the letter or provided the correct information. The Chair thanked the officers for the introduction and report. He reminded Members the role of the Governance and Audit Committee was to review and access the authority’s ability to handle complaints effectively. The committee has previously suggested to enable the terms of reference were met, assurance that all complaints were input into the system, handles effectively and any trends were identified along with lessons learnt in line with benchmarking against other local authorities. Officers noted the difference in % of complaints handled reducing in quarter3 had been to officers being under pressure to implement the new waste service. The officers within the service were deployed to other areas of work during that time. It was hoped now the roll out had been implemented the % of complaints being reviewed would increase. Councillor Mark Young sought assurance that the procedure or complaint handling was improving. Denbighshire was currently one of the highest for complaints received, do officers feel that could have a reputational impact on the Council and what was planned to resolve the issue. Members acknowledged the impact on the roll out of the new waste service. In response officers stressed work was being done to ensure the authority was meeting the deadline targets and work towards reducing the number of complaints received. The Statutory & Corporate Complaints Officer had worked hard with Service Managers to address some of the issues. The majority of complaints were being reviewed and worked at stage 2. The percentage of compliments investigated by the ombudsman appose to the number received demonstrated the procedure in place was right and proper. Providing assurance that the ombudsman was satisfied with the way complaints were handled in Denbighshire. Members were advised that a quarterly report was presented to Scrutiny as an information report which provided details of the complaint procedure and data. A link to that paper could be circulated next time it was due to be presented. Councillor Bobby Feeley felt a review of how transformation projects were conducted in the future especially taking into account the potential for complaints to be received was needed. The Corporate Director - Economy and Environment stressed the issues had been caused due to the underestimated resource required or the transformation. Further transformation projects would consider the potential impact on the complaints. The Chair reminded Members a request has been made previously to receive a workshop on projects and how projects were managed in the authority. Lay Member Nigel Rudd stressed the importance of the report. He asked for some further information on the procedure and power the Public Services Ombudsman Wales had. In response the Corporate Director: Governance and Business informed Members the first stage was the Ombudsman’s office would seek to find an early resolution. If the Ombudsman decide to investigate a complaint they would try to seek a resolution, ask officers to review the complaint again and communicate with the complainant. The Office make recommendations and was hoped would be agreed with the authority. If they were not agreed they held the power to publish a public report to set out the recommendations and they had not been agreed. There was a scheme on the Ombudsman website which detailed the 4 levels of financial address. Although they can recommend a financial sum for compensation, they had no power to take that decision through the courts. The authority worked well and closely with the Ombudsman and worked well to agree proposed recommendations. The Corporate Director: Governance and Business stressed the intervention rate by the ombudsman in relation to Denbighshire was very low at 6%. The Statutory & Corporate Complaints Officer stated that in relation to the waste roll out the number of interventions and recommendations specific to that was 3. There had been no concerns raised by the Ombudsman in relation to the new waste roll out system. The Chair asked if the Ombudsman could provide a comparison on data yar on year. It would demonstrate any trends or areas of concern Members may have. The Head of Adult Social Care and Homelessness officers could provide that information in the covering report. The previous years stats were static from the previous 3 years. Standards Committee would receive the Ombudsman’s Annual report in December with a focus on the Code of Conduct. Members were assured that all complaints were presented to the Statutory & Corporate Complaints Officer. Planning and Public Protection have a slightly different complaint system but otherwise they all go to the Statutory & Corporate Complaints Officer. In response to further questions, officers clarified any information the Ombudsman received was classed as a complaint. Even if that was not the case and often not a valid complaint. Nigel Rudd suggested as a committee, representation be made to the Ombudsman’s Office on the methodology and way complaints were recorded. As he felt it was not correct that if an invalid complaint was received it was being included in the figures. It had a significant impact on the data in the papers. Officers were happy to make recommendations to the Ombudsman on behalf of the committee. Officers stressed that the recommendations were listed individually as appose to the complaints. Communication with the Office was essential but the date or implementation of recommendations stood even if officers were aware they would not meet the deadline, even if the reasons for being late were out of officer’s control. The classification in the Ombudsman’s letter was his classification, officers had no input to where it was recorded. The Statutory & Corporate Complaints Officer confirmed the Ombudsman contacted all local authorities when they put there report together, they produced the categories. When we report to the Ombudsman we have to fit our data to those categories. Internally there was a chart that broke down each category of complaints. Members were guided to the table in the papers which detailed each service area. Members were informed a Members Task and Finish group had been established, it had confirmed its terms of reference and were looking at the timetable of work for the group. there was a meeting scheduled for 29 September. It was being supported by Democratic Services. The Corporate Director: Governance and Business stated it would be reported back to its parent Scrutiny group. RESOLVED that the Governance and Audit note the content of the report and, agree that representation be made to the Public Services Ombudsman Wales in relation to the methodology in which complaints were recorded.
Decision as recorded
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 Chair informed the committee he intended to separate the report into two sections. The first section being on the Planning audit that was completed before opening up the discussion wider to the rest of the papers. 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 April, 12 internal audit reports had been completed with 10 being awarded a high assurance rating and two were process reviews that did not have an assurance rating. Members heard progress against the Audit Plan had been made, it was not as great as hoped by officers. This had been due to the 3 whistleblowing reports requiring review. The plan was flexible and allowed for audits to be moved. 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 echoed the statements of the Lead Member reaffirming certain audits on the plan had to be moved. He drew Members attention to the audit plan. It was broken down into 7 tables. Table 7 was listed the 2026/27 plan which had been raised with senior managers. They have not been started to date. The Audit plan included in the papers, included 5 statuses against the audits. The CIA informed Members as of the previous day the team had completed 8 of the reports. Numerous other pieces of work had to be completed alongside the audits. Attention was drawn to the scoping of work it was an important part of the process. The CIA guided Members through the list. He stated he was confident the team would continue to make progress on the plan. Members were informed the Audit team were back to full capacity so it was hoped moving forward work would progress. 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 CIA stated if Members had any comments or concerns to contact him outside the meeting. He felt it was important that Members are provided with any external reports. Members were reminded of the makeup of the team and how progress on their learning was being made. He was pleased to say progress had been made on the Performance measures all moving in a positive direction. The Chair thanked the CIA and Lead Member for the detailed introduction of the papers. He requested that Members concentrate the first part of the discussion on the Planning Applications piece of work. He thanked officers and Lead Member for Development and Planning for their attendance at the meeting to answer any questions. The CIA stated by saying a process review of the Planning Applications had been conducted. A process review was around looking at the service having communication with the Service Manager and team to map out the process of the review. The team were open and honest with the audit team, providing details of both good and bad parts of the system. Included in the report provided to Members in August a full detailed list of the actions was included. The Head of Planning and Public Protection & Countryside Services wanted to thank the audit team for the work they did in connection with the planning officers. It was felt the reviews were proactive and helped develop the service. The Chair reminded Members the actions included in the full report included: · Staff resource and capacity · New system IDOX procurement · legislative changes · Performance reporting. During the discussion the following areas were discussed in greater detail: · The local planning authority was the only place where residents can apply for planning applications. Applications can be submitted via an online portal or direct to the team via email. There was then a validation process, which at times can be complex. The current back log of planning applications consisted of 30 planning applications waiting to be validated dating back to 12 Sept 2025. The case load numbers (live applications) awaiting determination was around 330. The statutory for most applications was to be determined within 8 weeks. It did differ for some categories of applications. There was a process in place to request an extension of time. Some determinations were around the 8-week mark with others taking more time. Officers aimed to keep up to date with applicants and request any further detail. The staff in the team were well established and held good relationships with applicants. · Up until April 2024 the service were operating with a very old and outdated system. The company were due to cease that system. Modernisation and a new IT system was needed. A procurement process was followed to source a new system. The report highlighted that transition had not gone as smooth as hoped. An initial problem with submitting applications was first seen, which created a backlog of applications. It was very challenging for officers. The Development Management & Building Control Manager was pleased to note that issue had been resolved. Along with colleagues in IT, regular meetings had been set up with the account manager in IDOX and a task and finish group had been established to look at the issues. That process was ongoing. Officers were now able to validate application. The determination of applications was still an area of concern. · Changes in legislation was still causing an issue with the IDOX system to ensure all documents are uploaded with the application. Which was taking officer time. Members noted the difficult time the new system not working effectively had been on the team. IDOX was not a new application to Denbighshire, since Planning had got IDOX regular meetings with the IDOX account manager had taken place and going forward those meetings would be monthly to try and resolve the issues. · The procurement of the system did go through the open market. A contract was in place to suit the needs of Denbighshire Planning Service. Going forward a formal response to the contract with IDOX would be submitted. · It had been a difficult 12 months with staffing levels and the introduction of the new IT systems. · The process by which applications were submitted prior to the new system have all been processed as normal. The issue had been seen with the initial applications submitted through the portal post 6th April 2024. · It was stressed the issues with IDOX did not apply to the new finance system. · Both Members and officers were in agreement that the service wanted to get back to the level of service it was providing pre-April 2024. There were several challenges faced by the service including the recruitment of a planning officers. The team had been reduced over the years which had also impacted the level of service. It was hoped members noted the high level of communication between Members and applicants. Officers were conscious of the affect it had on all parties. · It was also stressed officers were often reliant of applicants feeding and providing the necessary papers. · Some of the challenges faced were national issues especially the recruitment of trained planners. The officers within Denbighshire were excellent and it was hoped the report showed the dedication and hard work of all involved. · The number of planners who had the qualification to determine applications was currently 4 with one vacant position. That compared lower to other local authorities across North Wales. Out of the 4 officers, 3 were all members of the Royal Town Planning Institute. Another officer was working towards becoming a member. The vacancy within the team was being advertised as a career pathway starting at a grade 6 up to a grade 9. Meetings with the Welsh Local Government Association to discuss the throughput of planners through the education system to encourage young planners into the service. There would still be financial implications involved. It was an area for review. The vacancy had been advertised in more areas which was hoped would target individuals coming through the planning system. · Within the authority there was a strong level of delegation. The number of applications that required determination by the Planning Committee was relatively low. It had been reviewed in the last couple of years. The level of delegation was felt to be at the right level. Officers were open to any concerns or reviews on the level of delegation. · It was noted that the need to improve the service might become time sensitive with the need to protect reputation of the council becoming of high importance. · The CIA confirmed a follow up of the service review would take place. It may be slightly different to the normal follow up but follow up review will take place. It would take place in 2026/27 at the earliest. On behalf of the committee the Chair thanked all the officers for their hard work and dedication to the service. Members acknowledged the team were doing all they could to improve the service. Members sought assurance that lessons would be learnt from this review for future service and project changes. Lead Member for Local Development and Planning stated it was a privilege to work so closely with the planning officers and wider team. They are dedicated and work extremely hard. The communication between officers and members was of a high level, he expressed his gratitude to all involved. The Chair thanked officers for the detailed discussion and moved on to review and discuss the rest of the Internal Audit update report. Councillor Ellie Chard raised a concern on the lack of receipts from purchasing cards. She raised concern if there was a reason behind this. The CIA stated he would seek the answer and get back to Members. The Senior Internal Auditor who had completed the audit confirmed it had been 4% of transactions that had been missing a receipt. It was felt it occurred during a change to systems. There was a new procedure in place going forward. The CIA confirmed Audit Wales comments on Governance, Culture and project management lessons learnt had been reviewed in line with the new global standard. Further work was needed to become fully compliant by the end of the financial year. Audit risks were constantly being reviewed and the audit team were always available for officers to contact for support. Any significant risks identified would be shared with Members at the appropriate time. Councillor Bobby Feeley stated she was concerned about the resources available to Internal Audit. It was a vital element of the authority and needed support from everyone. Any whistleblowing accusation that was presented to the authority had to follow a procedure. Each complaint was reviewed on its own merit and treated fairly and confidentially. The vacancy in the team has been a constant discussion point with the audit senior management. This year there was funding to commission experts into complete work as required. The removal of funding for the authority would have an impact on individual teams such as the Internal Audit team. The internal audit plan was flexible, and the CIA was able to prioritise work as required. At present he was confident by 2026 the work would be on target to be completed. Nigel Rudd referred to the Homelessness report and the reduction in numbers in the report. He stated there wasn’t much information around prevention in the authority. He asked if the authorisation had enough capacity when bench marked against other local authorities for staffing levels and what was the competency level of those staff. The team was made up of 50 employees across a range of different areas and services. There was not currently any statistics on benchmarking against other local authorities, but the CIA stated he would raise the question with the staff. There was no requirement to hold any formal qualifications within the team. Third party working has close links to Citizen’s advice Denbighshire who support individuals in these situations. Lay Member Nigel Rudd raised concern that there was currently no requirement to hold formal qualifications in this area. In response to members questions on number of incidents that involved residents becoming homeless due to repossession or missing payments. The CIA confirmed it was outside the scope of the audit, so he did not have the figures to share. He stated he would ask the service for the information, but it may take some time. The Chair asked if an audit of City/ Town and Community Council had to be specifically requested by the council or would an individual Councillor of such Council able to request an audit be undertaken. The £650.06 was the figure from fraudulent activities found during the NFI exercise. Those cases of fraud had been escalated to the DWP and Revenues and Benefits. The rest of the amount had been down to errors. 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
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED that the Committee considered the contents of the report. The Governance and Audit Committee agree to the proposal for the Capital Plan and Capital Vision papers to be appended to the Treasury Management Strategy report scheduled for the January 2026 Committee meeting.
The Lead Member for Finance introduced the report (previously circulated) stating the report provided details of the Council’s processes for setting its annual capital budget and the role Governance and Audit committee have in that process. Welsh Government had produced statutory guidance which outlined the role of the Governance and Audit committee. Giving assurance that the authority had processes and effective and firm management in place. The Council’s Scrutiny committees were responsible for scrutinising expenditure. The report outlined the different controls including roles and financial roles of the Cabinet, Head of Audit along with other chief officers in developing and monitoring the capital budget. Members were informed the finance team, had begun work on the medium-term capital strategy and capital vision which would assist with prioritising capital schemes in the future. Both the Capital Strategy and Capital Vision would include a review of the type of plans should be presented with a full business case to the Capital Scrutiny Group. Members were reminded that a training session had been arrange with Arlingclose which would discuss and explain in greater detail. In addition, the Head of Finance added, at times there were two separate areas of work being named Capital strategy. For clarity appendix 2 to the report was titled Capital Strategy, which was the Council’s Capital Strategy which was a specific document produced set out by CIPFA. Also, the Council had a Medium-Term Capital Strategy, the Head of Finance stated she would start to call that Capital Vision to reduce the confusion between the two documents. The role of the committee was around reviewing the robustness of the processes and the governance on how the authority set its Capital Plan. The Capital Scrutiny Group will start to the work on the future Capital Plan at its next meeting which in turn would form a Capital Plan and a Capital Strategy that will be presented to County Council in January 2026. Also, at that meeting Council will receive the Treasury Management Strategy for the year. Prior to the County Council meeting in January Governance and Audit committee review the Treasury Management Strategy the Head of Finance proposed to append the Capital Plan and what the Capital Strategy was to the report to the Treasury Management report already scheduled for Governance and Audit in the new year. Training with Arlingclose was arranged for all Members, not just the Governance and Audit Committee and was scheduled for the 12th December 2025. The Chair thanked the Lead Member and the Head of Finance for the report and the reminder to all members on the role of Governance and Audit in the Capital Budget process. He thanked the Head of Finance for noting the training was available for all Members and Lay Members within the Council. The Chair agreed with the proposal to include the Capital Plan and Capital Strategy papers to the Annual Treasury Management paper in January. Lay Member Nigel Rudd thanked the Head of Finance and Lead Member for the detailed and well written papers. He stated the relationship and the understanding of how Capital decisions affect the Council’s Treasury Management position isn’t just for the Governance and Audit Committee but for the wider Council. It was a concern of the Governance and Audit members, that having regard to the Section 114 implications that unwise Capital programme commitments decisions that are not sustainable through a Treasury Management position. He welcomed the report and the proposal made by the Head of Finance. In response to Members seeking guidance on how to add value to the process, the Head of Finance felt by having the proposed documents all together as one substantial agenda item it would provide a more holistic view, one that was then presented to County Council. The Chair asked if along with the Capital Plan and Capital Vision that any changes or any amendments to the process or if a review was required that be presented to the committee. The Head of Finance confirmed the processes are being reviewed currently and if any suggested amendments or changes were necessary it would be presented to committee for comments. The Chair encouraged all Members to attend the meeting of Arlingclose. He requested that an element of the training be on prudential indicators as that would be beneficial to the committee. RESOLVED that the Committee considered the contents of the report. The Governance and Audit Committee agree to the proposal for the Capital Plan and Capital Vision papers to be appended to the Treasury Management Strategy report scheduled for the January 2026 Committee meeting.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED, that the Committee recommends adoption by Council of the amendments of the Budget and Policy Framework rules as set out in appndix2.
The Lead Member for Finance introduced the report (previously circulated) stating the paper provided members with the proposed amendment to the budget policy framework rules. The Council’s Constitution provided for general rules of procedure at Council Meetings which included provision for the amendment of recommendations/motions. Those rules stated that any member may move an amendment provided that the amendment is relevant to the resolution under consideration and does not negate the motion. The Constitution also contained Budget and Policy Framework Procedure Rules which set out the way in which the budget and certain major policies were adopted. These procedure rules describe the role of Cabinet in the preparation of proposals, consideration by Scrutiny and the role of Council as the ultimate decision maker. These rules are currently silent as to the process by which amendments to the budget may be considered at Council. The report proposed that the draft paragraph set out in Appendix 2 was inserted into the budget framework rules in the Constitution. This paragraph sets out a requirement for three working days’ notice to be given of any amendment that a member wishes to propose at the meeting at which the Council’s budget is to be adopted. A member proposing an amendment would be required to demonstrate how income and expenditure could be balanced in order to accommodate the amendment. Members heard it was recommended that if a change to the Constitution was introduced requiring a notice period, that members are provided each year with a detailed timeline setting out when they can expect to see the final budget proposals and how to get advice on the validity of any potential amendment. The Chair thanked the Lead Member for the detailed introduction. He stated the proposed amendment seemed a sensible and logical proposal which allowed for additional time to review any amendments. Officers confirmed they were not aware of any concerns from members. The proposal had been presented to Group Leaders and Cabinet Briefing and it appeared to be supported. Members had asked how amendments can be managed appropriately hence the work on this proposed change being conducted. The Leader Councillor Jason McLellan echoed the thoughts of the Officers. Group Leaders were in support of the amendment to the process. Councillor Mark Young was in support of the proposal. He stressed that on occasion Members are very emotive on certain subject areas, so having a process in place would support Members who wished to make an amendment. All Members agreed with the suggestions made within the papers. Lay Member Nigel Rudd, noted the timescale for the budget process 2026/ 27 was extremely tight and may not allow for time following the publication of Cabinet papers. He asked if there was any update in the recruitment of the Chief Executive role as they would have a key role in co-ordinating any discussions at full Council. In response the Corporate Director: Governance and Business acknowledged the timescale for suggested amendments was tight. It was stressed that on an annual basis officers would provide details of the timescale to members in good time. He stressed there would be a very inclusive process towards the preparation of the budget prior to its consideration by Cabinet. The Head of Finance and Audit will host a number of budget workshops along with any other requested discussions with political groups. It was hoped that the proposals presented to Cabinet in February will be settled and members should be clear on what the proposals would be. The Monitoring Officer role involved ensuring the Council dealt with decisions in a lawful and proper way. All procedure rules are at the discretion of the Chair. County Council were due to meet on the 24 October 2025 to interview applicants for the position of Chief Executive. If for any reason there was a period where the Authority did not have a Chief Executive in position, procedures were in place for a Corporate Director to oversee the procedure. It was stressed the report was just in relation to amendments to proposed recommendations on the budget. RESOLVED, that the Committee recommends adoption by Council of the amendments of the Budget and Policy Framework rules as set out in appndix2.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED that the draft Local Code of Corporate Governance be adopted by Cabinet subject to any amendments to principal F.
The Leader and Lead Member for Economic Growth and Tackling Deprivation introduced the report (previously circulated). He stressed the importance of the appendix for the authority. As a large organisation, Denbighshire had statutory obligations and responsibilities. The authority had to discharge those statutory and no statutory responsibilities for the benefit of the residents. He stated to do that the authority had to have good governance structures and act within the law with high standards. The governance structure was reviewed by the peer panel review in 2024, which was included in the papers along with the authorities four core principals and the seven principals of the Nolan principals. It was appropriate that the Governance and Audit Committee reviewed the draft Local Code of Corporate Governance. In addition, the Corporate Director – Governance and Business stated the code was based on the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) and the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE) guidance. Officers had set out against each principal, assurance controls in place and appended the Nolan Principals and Denbighshire controls and principles in place. It was stressed the importance of having a culture within the authority of people wanting to do the right thing in the right way. The Chief Executive had been in full support of having a culture set around pride, unity, respect and integrity to be close to our communities. Working closely with elected Members whilst acknowledging that employees are the most valuable asset of the organisation. Thanks were given to the Head of Finance, Chief Internal Auditor and the Chair of Governance and Audit for their contributions in the production of the document. The Chair thanked the Leader and Corporate Director for the introduction and report. He stressed the annual Governance Statement should refer back to this document, reviewing how the authority was complying with the code of Corporate Governance. Another importance reason for the report was to ensure members and officers were aware of the commitment to good governance and an understanding of good governance. Lay Member Mr Nigel Rudd tasked if when the document was finalised, officers exercised version control. The Corporate Director thanked Mr Rudd and took on board his comment. He also flagged the need to include more reference to the management of assets in principle F. Members stressed the importance of this report and the need for good governance. In response to members comments the Corporate Director informed the committee the Corporate Governance Officer Group would annually review the code. A note on the how the Code of Corporate Governance was embedded in the authority would be made in the Annual Governance Statement. RESOLVED that the draft Local Code of Corporate Governance be adopted by Cabinet subject to any amendments to principal F.
Decision as recorded
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. Members heard the Chair, Vice Chair and Chief Internal Auditor had met to discuss the forward work programme. The forward programme attached ran until November 2026 and would be extended on a rolling basis. It was hoped the Statement of Accounts for 2023/24 would be completed for the March 2026 Committee meeting. The Annual Whistleblowing report had been deferred to November 2025. It was confirmed training had been scheduled for Treasury Management and the invitation to attend that training would be extended to all Councillors and Lay Members. The Chair reminded Members that a training session with Audit Wales on the roles and functions was discussed at the last meeting. He requested that training session be arranged. The Chair asked the Head of Finance if it would be possible to hold a training session on the Statement of Accounts prior to the report being presented. In response the Head of Finance said in principle that would be agreeable dependant on the work on the accounts being completed. The Chair informed the committee he was attending the all Wales Chairs group meeting along with the Chief Internal Auditor to meet with other Chairs of Governance and Audit Committees. RESOLVED: that subject to the above, the Governance and Audit Committee Forward Work Programme be noted.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED, that the Committee reviewed and received the contents of the information report.
The Chair introduced the information report (previously circulated). He welcomed the Corporate Health and Safety Manager and the Corporate Director Support Services: People. He thanked the officers for the report and stressed the importance that the committee receive the paper for assurance that such information was available. He thanked the officers for the tables and graphs demonstrating the information and commented it was very assuring to see so many reports of incidents being reported and monitored. He stated in previous years the committee had asked for more headlines to assure or alert the committee to significant incidents or near misses, significant trends, significant areas of non-compliance, assurance that all incidents, near misses and non-compliances were properly reported, assurance that everyone was aware of their responsibilities and that training had been provided. Members were informed near miss reporting was a request made by a Head of Service, it was only introduced as a separate category mid-2024, hence the data only being from that date. It was a development area which would be increased in 2026 when the new intranet was due to be launched. The number of reported accidents and incidents had increased from the previous year. It was stressed most of those incidents had been of non-injury incidents. Officers had identified the increase was due to an improved awareness of accident reporting, accident and safety training and senior management input. Officers saw the increase as a positive. Officers stated the number of accidents and incidents did vary throughout the year due a variety of reasons. Members were pleased to see the increase uptake of training. Officers confirmed the corporate driver training passed over to the Highways and Environment service- specifically the fleet service in April 2025. That service was already completing an element of the training, so it was logical to review the arrangements, it was felt as the responsibility of the authority’s fleet lay with them, the training element was more appropriate in that team. It was the first year of that move, the responsibility of monitoring training now led with the fleet manager. Health and Safety officers worked closely with the fleet team and would offer any support requested. In response to members concerns in relation to lone working, officers stressed recent incidents had been the result of a failure in available information to ensure safe lone working. It was not a failure in the lone working procedure. Following the incident, officers had investigated and made changes to the availability of information sharing between services. The Chair thanked the officers for the detail contained within the papers and how easy it was to read and understand. He asked if officers had confidence and assurance that any incidents or accidents would be reported and escalated appropriately. In response the Corporate Director Support Services: People stated there was a clear framework in place that all employees were aware of their responsibilities. There was a clear Corporate Health and Safety policy, which had been circulated to all staff. In her opinion, employees were aware of how to report appropriately. The responsibility initially lay with the line manager of the individual reporting a incident, to investigate and escalate accordingly. The culture in Denbighshire County Council, was any middle managers could contact the Health and Safety team for guidance and support. In response to further members concerns, officers stressed there was a Corporate Risk around Health and Safety which had been reviewed by the Senior Leadership team recently. General risks differ from service to service and each service area would have their own risk assessment registers around Corporate Health and Safety. RESOLVED, that the Committee reviewed and received the contents of the information report.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED that the Governance and Audit Committee note the information report.
The Chair introduced the Property Compliance Annual report (previously circulated) for information. He stated it was an essential insurance for the committee to receive. Lay Member Nigel Rudd asked if it was possible to pick up the live issues faced by the authority currently around RAAC, failures in buildings, contaminated landsites and the cladding issues they are relevant to the authority. In response the Head of Corporate Support Service - Performance, Digital & Assets stated the information listed by Mr Rudd had not been previously included but if the committee requested it could be included in future reports. In relation to RAAC, Confirmation a full review of the corporate non HRA estate had taken place. One school was found to have RAAC present, it was stressed that had been fully remediated. Members heard RAAC had also been found in another asset, appropriate management with plans to rectify were in place to resolve. Contaminated land was an environmental health matter appose to a property compliance matter. The service held a register for land around pollution and there were no contaminated land registered. Members were reminded that following the tragic events of Grenfell Tower fires, each authority was mandated to submit a list of any properties with cladding. Including information on the materials used and fire rating. Denbighshire submitted all the information requested and were comfortable with the list. Members heard risk assessments and management were in place. All members agreed that the areas suggested by Mr Rudd be included in future reports. The Chair asked if the SLA agreement with Denbighshire Leisure Limited (DLL) was likely to continue with particular risk to legionella in leisure centres. Members where informed DLL could continue with the SLA for as long as required it was typically extended annually without question. RESOLVED that the Governance and Audit Committee note the information report.
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