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There is no summary of this meeting yet. One is written once the council publishes the minutes. The agenda and papers are below.
J Reynolds, R Cornwall (Strategic Director- Corporate and Transformation) and T Evans (Strategic Director-Social Services)
D Reed declared an interest in item 5 as the chair of a housing charity that deals with temporary accommodation and therefore left the meeting during the discussion of the item.
The Committee approved the minutes as a true and accurate record.
The Committee requested a confirmed date for the planned closed confidential session on partnership loan arrangements, as per recommendation 30/04/24 (Item 8). The Committee queried whether recommendation 27/03/25 (Item 7), relating to Audit Wales embedding referenced document locations within their reports had been completed. The Committee requested a confirmed date for the amended Internal Audit Charter to be circulated per recommendation 29/05/25 (Item 8). The Committee queried the specific date for the Gifts and Hospitality progress update report to be brought to Committee per recommendation 29/05/25 (Item 9 - Action 1) The Committee highlighted that the status update provided for recommendation 29/05/25 (Item 10) did not clearly address the recommendation made by the Committee. The Committee requested all items within the recommendation table have planned completion dates. The Committee requested the information pertaining to recommendations sent out to committee members also be included within the recommendation table.
The Service Manager presented a summary of the report. A reaudit of the Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Childrens Imprest Accounts was currently taking place. A key weakness highlighted by the original audit was linked to the need for essential recording systems to be put in place. This had now been implemented, with checks to see if it was as robust as needed. All staff within all of the children’s team had access to the children’s financial information in order to quality assure. Key work on ensuring the relevant checks and balancing was in place however a key area for improvement was on staff induction. The Committee noted the contents of report. The Committee requested a follow up report of Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Childrens Imprest Accounts be scheduled for the January 2026 committee meeting.
The Audit Wales Representative presented a summary of the report. The update would move from quarterly to half yearly. A local piece of work on environmental health was wrapping up and would be shared with committee in the near future. A thematic review on recruitment and retention across all local authorities would be taking place. The Temporary Accommodation report was published on the 15 July 2025. The Committee noted the contents of the report. The Committee requested the Audit Wales Temporary Accommodation Report and Council’s Management Response be brought to the September 2025 committee meeting.
The Head of Finance presented a summary of the report. The answers remained closely aligned with the prior year due to the Council’s position remaining the same in response to the questions posed. The Committee noted the Audit Enquiries Letter. The Committee recommended improving the wording in response to the questions within the Audit Enquiries Letter in future reports
The Assistant Head of Finance presented a summary of the report. The accounts have been submitted to Audit Wales for review and Committee would be presented the final statement of accounts in the October 2025 committee meeting with the deadline for the publication of accounts being 31 October 2025. A variety of reasons led to the late publication of accounts in the previous year such as a new accounting system being used, a new accounting standard and resource within the finance team. It is expected that these issues will not be present this year. The Annual Governance Statement would be a separate item brought to Committee. Any feedback on the Draft Statement of Accounts were requested by the end of August 2025. The Committee noted the Draft Statement of Accounts. The Committee endorsed the Chair of the Committee writing to the Auditor General and Corporate Joint Committee in relation to the Cardiff Capital Region City Deal submitting their accounts late, with the response being shared with the Committee. The Committee would like the total number of teachers and education staff compared to the total number of overall employees included as a metric within the report. The Committee noted the issue of chronology on page 8 of the report. The Committee highlighted on page 82 of the report there was an issue with calculations relating to exit packages. The Committee highlighted on page 89 of the report the use of the term Joint Venture was an error and should be Joint Committee. The Committee would like information on who scrutinises Joint Committees and requested a report on the scrutiny function as well as oversight of the Joint Committees. The Committee would like percentages of those in each housing bands within Newport compared to the UK averages of those bands.
The Head of Finance and Head of People, Policy and Transformation presented a summary of the report. The work conducted has been evidenced and assessed against the seven principles in the CIPFA / SOLACE Framework to demonstrate these were being fulfilled. 19 new recommendations for improvements were laid out. 23 out 28 actions were implemented from previous years with five outstanding that were being taken forward. The Code of Corporate Governance has moved to a more effective annual review. Comments from the Committee would be taken forward into the report presented at Cabinet. The Committee noted the contents of the report. The Committee requested clarification on why there were responses on only 14 out of the 23 reviews with actions. The Committee also requested further context to be included in the report as it relates to the critical, significant and moderate actions as noted on page 6 of Appendix Two of the report. The Committee noted the improved report and thanked the officers for their work on this.
The Chief Internal Auditor presented a summary of the report. The indicative rolling opinion was reasonable. There had been no high-risk areas identified at the time of presenting the report. Two pieces of work had been completed so far in the 2025/26 cycle with another piece finalised following the publication of the agenda. As of the 31 July 2025 all work has been completed in the 2024/25 Annual Audit. The action tracking process was almost ready with the highest priority actions being looked at first. One significant (priority 2) action in the Establishment Control Audit was not accepted by management, which related to the extension or conversion of a temporary post, without a new business case being completed. The Committee noted the contents of the report.
The Digital Services Manager and Complaints Resolution Manager presented a summary of report. The Public Servicemen Ombudsman for Wales Annual Letter had yet to be published and would be shared to Committee following its publication. Corporate Services and Social Services saw a notable increase in compliments. Infrastructure and Environment and Public Protection saw a notable increase in comments. 88% of corporate complaints were resolved at stage one of the process. The three highest areas for recorded feedback were Environment and Public Protection, Infrastructure and Finance. Feedback has led to improvements such as improved communication on waste collection schedules. Key areas to focus on in the future include promoting feedback across all channels especially within underrepresented groups. The Committee noted the contents of the report. The Committee would like completed actions from the previous year to be included within the following year’s report for transparency. The Committee highlighted the need for improved work on making the compliment, comments and complaints process easier to complete as well as making the process more visible. The Committee requested a mechanism whereby issues raised by councillors on behalf of residents were recorded within the compliment, comments and complaints process. The Committee would like more context provided on compliments, comments and complaints within the city centre such as a breakdown by category. The Committee highlighted the need to improve communication on compliments to the public. The Committee would like it advertised more clearly where compliments or complaints have led to improvement.
The Head of People, Policy and Transformation presented a summary of the report. There is a lot of ongoing regulatory work. A letter from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) was included within the update. The Committee requested a full explanation on why the 2014 FSA recommendations had not been implemented. The Committee requested a report be brought to the September 2025committee meeting about the FSA’s recommendations as well as the Council’s Management Response, with a follow-up report to be scheduled for January 2026.
The Governance Officer noted the Committee’s ability to shape the Forward Work Programme. The Committee requested a follow-up report of Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Childrens Imprest Accounts be scheduled for the January 2026 meeting. The Committee requested the Audit Wales Temporary Accommodation Report and Council’s Management Response be brought to the September 2025 meeting. The Committee requested a confidential session on partnership loan arrangements be held before the September 2025 meeting. The Committee requested a report be brought to the September 2025 meeting regarding the FSA’s recommendations as well as the Council’s Management Response. with a follow-up report to be scheduled for January 2026. The Committee agreed to have an annual report with all completed actions for the year.
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