RESOLVED
(a) That the Strategic Internal Audit Plan for 2026-29 be approved.
(b) That the Quarter 1, 2026-27 Rolling Internal Audit Plan be approved.
(c) That the Counter Fraud Medium-Term Plan for 2026-29 be approved.
(d) That the arrangements for delivery, resourcing and reporting to the Committee be noted.
RESOLVED
(a) That the current position on Internal Audit and External Regulator recommendations, and progress made to date, be noted.
(b) That a request be made for directorates to provide information in relation to the progress of implementation of the outstanding recommendations.
RESOLVED
(a) That the response to Audit Wales in relation to Audit Enquiries to those charged with Governance and Management be noted, with no amendments raised by the Committee.
(b) That delegated authority be granted to the Director of Resources, in consultation with the Chair of the Governance and Audit Committee, to make any further necessary amendments prior to submission of the response to Audit Wales.
RESOLVED
That the findings of the Audit Wales Local report ‘Recruitment and Retention: The Right People at the Right Time?’ be noted.
[Councillor Huw Murphy left the meeting at this juncture.]
RESOLVED
That the findings of the Audit Wales Regional report ‘Additional Learning Needs: Do public bodies know if the system is working’ and their implications for the Council, be noted.
RESOLVED
That the findings of the Audit Wales national report ‘The Building Blocks? Capital Planning in Councils in Wales’, and their implications for the Council, be noted.
RESOLVED
(a) That the Forward Work Programme for 2026-27 be endorsed.
(b) That the programme remains a live document, subject to amendment to reflect emerging risks, regulatory changes and Committee requirements.
Carmarthenshire, Appeals Committee (Disbanded 20th May 2026),
RESOLVED that pursuant to Paragraph 13 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A of The Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items as the reports contained exempt information and the outcome of the public interest test in these matters was that:
“The reports contained personal information relating to the applicants. Although disclosure would support transparency and accountability, the public interest in maintaining confidentiality outweighed the public interest in disclosure because of the need to protect the identities of the applicants and their families”.
Decided: The minute records that decisions be recorded as shown on the Planning Applications Schedule in Appendix A. It also authorises the Planning and Development Manager to draft any amendments to, or additional conditions on, those decisions.
Decided: The minute records no vote. Members also welcomed officers' plan to look at a possible role for internal audit in schools that do not use Council catering, noting that governing bodies would make that decision. Officers said they would provide the Committee with the autism policy.
RESOLVED to exclude the public for the following item of business on the grounds that there would be disclosure to them of exempt information under category 1 of The Local Authorities (Access to Information) (Variation) (Wales) Order 2007).
Decided: Members noted that the current scrutiny cycle had ended. They noted that the 2026/27 work programme will be developed after the Annual General Meeting confirms membership and meeting dates.
RESOLVED-
That the Public and Press be excluded from the meeting under the provisions of Section 100A of the above Act during consideration of the following items as it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 12 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A to the Act and that in all the relevant circumstances, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.
Resolved that:
Grant the variation with the supply of alcohol OFF the premises only and opening hours of Monday to Sunday 7am to 11pm, subject to a number of conditions
Carmarthenshire, Members Home to School Transport Appeals Panel,
Decided: The Committee confirmed its future programme of work, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report, with the inclusions and amendments agreed at the meeting. The next meeting is on 11 June 2026. The recruitment, retention and workforce planning item has moved to July. Findings on the review of the waste and recycling roll-out will not be ready until autumn, because the Task and Finish Group (a small group set up to examine one issue in depth) has not finished its work.
Decided: The Committee acknowledged the progress made since November 2025 on the cloud-based Planning IT system. It supported the measures being considered to strengthen project management when buying and introducing critical ICT systems in future. It asked for a further report in twelve months on how well the new Planning IT system is working, on possible new technology, and on how well the project management measures are working.
Decided: The Committee received the Corporate Risk Register summary. It acknowledged the reinstatement of Risk 48 (recruitment and retention). It supported a change to the reporting schedule, with two full reviews a year in March and September instead of four light updates. It supported the actions agreed after the November 2025 Internal Audit review of the risk management strategy, including a timeline to review the strategy at least every three years. It noted that a full-day Senior Leadership Team (SLT) workshop in June was likely to lead to significant revision of the register.
Decided: The Committee confirmed that it had read, understood and taken account of the Well-being Impact Assessment. Subject to its observations, it supported the steps taken so far, after consultation with all stakeholders, to buy a new Digital Services Platform and customer relationship management (CRM) system.
Torfaen, Children & Families Overview & Scrutiny Committee,
Decided: The Committee recommended that a robust set of measures be developed with HDRC colleagues, a research partner, to gather enough evidence to inform any future decision on continuing the pre-birth service, Crystal Pathways, after its two-year grant ends. Members welcomed the introduction of the service.
Decided: Cabinet accepted that there were no objections to report, and agreed to move to the decision notification stage. This stage must happen within 7 days of the decision, under the Welsh Government School Organisation Code (2018, version 2). The minute records this as Option 1.
Decided: Cabinet accepted the outturn report (a report on the outcome of the earlier process), the associated documents and the course of action, including proceeding to Statutory Notice (a formal public notice that a school change is being proposed). The minute records this as Option 1. Councillor J.C. Morgan declared an interest and took no part.
Decided: The committee agreed to accept and note the findings of the Audit Wales report. It also agreed that the council's management response (its written reply to the recommendations) addresses the recommendations.