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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 Byrne.
2.1 The following declarations were made: • Councillor Ashley declared a personal interest as he was in receipt of a Pension from the Greater Gwent Pension Fund. • Councillor Jones declared a personal interest as he was a contributor to, and his wife was in receipt of, a pension from the Greater Gwent Pension Fund. • Mr. Kelleher declared a personal interest as he was in receipt of a small pension from the Greater Gwent Pension Fund. • Mrs. Pegington declared a personal interest as her husband was in receipt of a pension from the Greater Gwent Pension Fund. • Mr. Rees declared a personal interest as he was in receipt of a small pension from the Greater Gwent Pension Fund. • Councillor Williams declared a personal interest as both himself and his wife were contributors to, and in receipt of, a pension from the Greater Gwent Pension Fund. 2.2 Councillor Ashley made a query to the Monitoring Officer and Assistant Chief Legal Officer regarding the need to declare a potential interest. It was advised that this did not need to be declared.
3.1 The minutes of the meeting held on 03.10.24 were confirmed as an accurate record.
The minutes of the meeting held on 07.11.24 were confirmed as an accurate record.
It was noted that the remaining action was one that was likely to be on-going. The Committee agreed to remove this from the action sheet.
6.1 The Business & Democratic Support Services Manager outlined the report and provided an update on new recommendations and proposals for improvement received from Audit Wales and other external regulators / inspectorates since the last update report. 6.2 There had been one local report from Audit Wales surrounding Counter Fraud Arrangement and there had also been two national reports from CIW regarding children’s mental health needs and Audit Wales on Financial Sustainability received since the previous bi-annual update. 6.3 The full recommendations for the Counter Fraud Arrangement and Children and Young Person’s Mental Health reports were included within the item report and these would be considered and monitored within the relevant Committee forums. Members were assured that all reports and recommendations received were also being considered, actioned and monitored by officers. 6.4 Following questions from the Committee, the Business and Democratic Services Support Manager made the following points: • There would be information shared with the Committee regarding whether British Sign Language had been included within recommendation 10. • Counter Fraud would continue to be monitored as a part of the annual audit. 6.4 The Governance and Audit Committee undertook their assurance role and noted new recommendations / proposals for improvement received and accepted by the Council since the last update report.
7.1 The Head of Financial Services outlined the report in detail and provided a high-level overview of capital expenditure plans, capital financing and treasury management activities. 7.2 It was highlighted that there was minimal commitment to new borrowing, due to limited affordability headroom, partly due to the commitments arising from the historic liability. Because of this, the long-term outlook would need to focus on maximizing external capital funding and carefully considering new borrowing due to the limited affordability headroom. 7.3 In respect of treasury management, in-depth information surrounding borrowing was presented. It was noted that internal borrowing would be prioritised over external borrowing where possible. . 7.4 Following questions from the Committee, the Head of Financial Services made the following points: • There was a threshold of £10,000 for capital expenditure. Any expenditure over this amount was considered an enhancement, whilst anything under was treated as revenue. • There was a large asset base owned by Torfaen County Borough Council that required maintenance which can cause pressures in respect of capital, therefore there is always consideration of disposing of assets that are not being used. • There was always an option of acquiring new assets, but this was not actively pursued in favour of prioritising the current asset bases. • Core revenue funding rarely reduced, even in times of austerity. It was confirmed that there would be a 4.8% increase for the upcoming financial year. As part of setting a balanced budget, in a financially constrained environment, the Council would need to carefully prioritise, including in relation to capital. 7.5 There was a comment made by the Committee that it may be helpful for a report or briefing to be given to the Committee specifically on the Minimum Revenue Provision policy as this would give Members of the Committee further insight and context. 7.6 The Governance and Audit Committee scrutinised and commented upon the Capital and Treasury Management Strategy and related appendices.
8.1 The Head of Internal Audit outlined the report and provided an update on the progress made to date against the Annual Operational Plan for 2024/25. The progress in terms of jobs completed and planned to date is outlined in Appendix A and the opinions on the work carried out to date. 8.2 The achievement of the overall plan was currently 57% against a target of 75%. The achievement of the core plan (major financial systems) was 75% against a target of 100%. This was on track for the current year. 8.3 There was one limited opinion within this period based around electric car charging points. The recommendations had been accepted and work would be undertaken prior to a follow up. 8.4 Governance & Audit Committee members noted the content of the report and if felt necessary, sought any further clarification on any issues identified.
9.1 The Head of Internal Audit outlined the report and provided an update on the new requirements of the updated Public Sector Internal Audit Standards (PSIAS). 9.2 This was the first update since 2013 when the previous standards were implemented. There was an expectation for the Local Authority to arrange an external review against the new set of standards every five years. The changes that needed to be made to meet these new standards were not felt to be significant. 9.3 It was noted by the Committee, that it may be beneficial to hold a focused session to brief members on these changes and help them understand their role in this update. 9.4 Governance & Audit Committee noted the introduction of the new standards and agreed the proposed course of action identified in paragraph 7.1.
10.1 The Head of Internal Audit outlined the report. 10.2 It was noted that this was one of the recommendations from Audit Wales’ Counter Fraud Arrangement report. It was emphasised to the Committee that the numbers surrounding fraud were low and a number of these would be errors. 10.3 Following questions from the Committee, the Head of Internal Audit made the following points: • A large amount of the matched fraud had actually been errors and there had only been approximately £24,000 fraud in respect of council tax reduction schemes. • There was a large amount of data from a range of different organisations provided in order to undertake these assessments. 10.4 Governance & Audit Committee noted the timetable and the proposed approach.
11.1 There were no updates to the Work Programme 24/25
14.1 The next meeting is scheduled to take place on 27.03.25 14.2 The Committee wished the Deputy Chief Executive a happy retirement and thanked him for all his help over the years.
Councillors must say when they have a personal link to something being discussed, such as a job, a property or a family member. A prejudicial interest is one strong enough that the councillor usually leaves the room and takes no part.
Declarations are read from the minutes once they are published.
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