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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.
1.1 Apologies were received from Councillor Stuart Ashley and Michael Kelleher.
2.1 There were no declarations of interest.
3.1 The B&DSSM outlined the report and requested that the Governance and Audit Committee reviewed the draft Annual Self-Assessment and Well-being Report and made recommendations for any changes to the conclusions or action the Council intended to take. 3.2 The B&DSSM explained that the new County Plan would be considered by the Cross-Cutting Resources and Business Overview & Scrutiny Committee on 4 October 2022 and information around the County Plan could be added to the Self-Assessment and Well-being Report for further context. 3.3 Following questions from the Committee, the CE and B&DSSM made the following points: • Within the ‘Open Spaces’ section on page 23 of the agenda, the B&DSSM agreed to consider adding a reference to the appointment and work of the canal officer. • The Children and Young People’s Services Development Plan (page 34 of the agenda) was referred to as being planned, rather than adopted, as the report covered 2021-22 not the current year; however the B&DSSM agreed to consider the wording. • The B&DSSM reassured members of the Committee that all of the statements under the well-being objectives were connected to the well-being goals; however he acknowledged that there could be a display issue, which he agreed to explore. • The CE agreed with the suggestion to include references to the various committees that existed to scrutinise, monitor progress and increase transparency and accountability. The above committees had a part to play in terms of the framework for an outstanding council. • The B&DSSM agreed that more national data would be beneficial; however the availability of much of this data had been decimated by the COVID-19 pandemic. He reassured members of the Committee that this data should start to become available during the coming months and would be used in future versions of the report. • The B&DSSM agreed to explore the possibility of including community safety information within the ‘Support for Torfaen’s most vulnerable residents’ section of the report. 3.4 Members of the Committee commented that more contextual information could supplement the data used within the report and the title ‘Torfaen – An Outstanding Council’ could be amended in order to clarify the aspiration to become an outstanding council. 3.5 The CE thanked members of the Committee for their comments and suggestions and reminded everyone that it was the first attempt at this report across Wales this year. He reassured everyone that the report captured the corporate priorities and he briefly outlined plans around the new Corporate Plan and how everyone would have an opportunity to contribute towards it. He added that a much clearer description of improvement and performance would be in place going forward. 3.6 Councillors Slade and Williams agreed to send the B&DSSM their suggested amendments to the report via email, for consideration. 3.7 The Chair thanked all officers involved with the report for their hard work and their attendance at the meeting. 3.8 The Committee concluded by offering the following recommendations in order to strengthen the final report: R1 – To include reference to the appointment of the canal officer as part of the Council’s approach to enhancing open spaces (pg23). R2 – To improve consistency and presentation, to ensure each statement under our well-being objectives demonstrates appropriate linkages to the well-being goals. R3 – To include further information regarding the council’s democratic arrangements within the report to enhance the transparency of our democratic process. R4 – To include contextual information where we have used data within the report. R5 – To include reference to community safety within the report. R6 – To change the title from Torfaen – An Outstanding Council, in order to reflect the aspiration to become an Outstanding Council (pg46). 3.9 The Governance and Audit Committee reviewed the draft Annual Self-Assessment and Well-being Report and made a number of recommendations as outlined within the minutes in order to strengthen the final report.
4.1 The next meeting is scheduled to take place on 19 October 2022. 4.2 The meeting closed at 2.30pm.
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