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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
RESOLVED – T H A T the minutes of the meeting held on 17th July, 2023 be approved as a correct record.
RESOLVED – T H A T the comments made by Members of the Governance and Audit Committee be referred to Cabinet. The comments being: • The report was easily accessible given the level and detail of information provided; • For extra context to be added around the use of agency staff and the percentage of overall Council salaries that agency contracts make. Also to add in some information regarding the Council’s policies around the use of staff employed via agencies; • Who were the targeted audiences as it would be difficult for the ordinary person to engage with the report; • Consideration be given to the balanced opinions provided in the report, particularly as Council Tax was rising and the level of services were decreasing; • Brexit was mentioned under the Critical Challenges section but there was very little detail about what that meant; • Was more balanced commentary needed around Project Zero given that at its previous meeting of the Governance and Audit Committee, the Committee had asked for the risk to be attributed a “catastrophic” status; • It was important to highlight the risks associated with Project Zero as the Council had committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2030; • The report mentioned that the Council had introduced new technology to facilitate hybrid Council and Committee meetings, but given recent progress was that a true reflection; • There was reference to staff absence days increasing, so more context behind that was required as well as data to show as a comparison to other Local Authorities; • With regard to areas that had missed targets for consideration to be given as to how these were presented and to also include further commentary under the Regulatory Improvements section. Reason for decision Having regard to the contents of the report and discussions at the meeting.
RESOLVED – T H A T the Quarter 1 monitoring report for Treasury Management 2023/24 be noted. Reason for decision Having regard to the contents of the report and discussions at the meeting.
RESOLVED – (1) T H A T consideration be given to the Governance and Audit Committee seeing the Statement of Accounts for the Cardiff Region City Deal, the Central South Consortium and also the other joint services, namely the Shared Regulatory Services and the Joint Adoption Service. (2) T H A T the report and appendices be referred to Cabinet for its oversight. Reason for decisions (1&2) Having regard to the contents of the report and discussions at the meeting.
RESOLVED – T H A T the Quarter 1 position of Corporate Risks (April 2023 – June 2023) as outlined in the Risk Summary Report (Annex A), be noted. Reason for decision Having regard to the contents of the report and discussions at the meeting.
RESOLVED – T H A T the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards External Peer Assessment of the Regional Internal Audit Service be acknowledged and endorsed. Reason for decision Having regard to the contents of the report and discussions at the meeting.
RESOLVED – T H A T Members of the Governance and Audit Committee be allowed four weeks in which to submit comments regarding the Annual Report for 2022/23 and for the final report to be presented to the Governance and Audit Committee in December. Reason for decision Having regard to the contents of the report and discussions at the meeting.
RESOLVED – T H A T the contents of the report and the progress made against the 2023-24 Internal Audit Annual Risk Based Plan be noted. Reason for decision Having regard to the contents of the report and discussions at the meeting.
RESOLVED – (1) T H A T the status of the High and Medium recommendations contained within the report be agreed. (2) T H A T the relevant Directors / Heads of Service responsible for safeguarding and cyber security be invited to attend the next meeting of the Governance and Audit Committee in order to advise of the reasons for the delays in completed actions and to outline what actions were in place in order to complete recommendations. Reason for decisions (1&2) Having regard to the contents of the report and discussions at the meeting.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED – T H A T the minutes of the meeting held on 17th July, 2023 be approved as a correct record.
RESOLVED – T H A T the minutes of the meeting held on 17th July, 2023 be approved as a correct record.
No declarations of interest were received.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED – T H A T the comments made by Members of the Governance and Audit Committee be referred to Cabinet. The comments being: • The report was easily accessible given the level and detail of information provided; • For extra context to be added around the use of agency staff and the percentage of overall Council salaries that agency contracts make. Also to add in some information regarding the Council’s policies around the use of staff employed via agencies; • Who were the targeted audiences as it would be difficult for the ordinary person to engage with the report; • Consideration be given to the balanced opinions provided in the report, particularly as Council Tax was rising and the level of services were decreasing; • Brexit was mentioned under the Critical Challenges section but there was very little detail about what that meant; • Was more balanced commentary needed around Project Zero given that at its previous meeting of the Governance and Audit Committee, the Committee had asked for the risk to be attributed a “catastrophic” status; • It was important to highlight the risks associated with Project Zero as the Council had committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2030; • The report mentioned that the Council had introduced new technology to facilitate hybrid Council and Committee meetings, but given recent progress was that a true reflection; • There was reference to staff absence days increasing, so more context behind that was required as well as data to show as a comparison to other Local Authorities; • With regard to areas that had missed targets for consideration to be given as to how these were presented and to also include further commentary under the Regulatory Improvements section. Reason for decision Having regard to the contents of the report and discussions at the meeting.
The reference from Cabinet of 7th September, 2023 was presented by the Director of Corporate Resources. The Annual Self-Assessment formed part of the Council’s legislative requirements and performance management framework, which entailed the self-assessment of its work against the Annual Delivery Plan, which formed part of the overall Corporate Plan for 2020 to 2025. The Draft Vale of Glamorgan Annual Self-Assessment report 2022/23 appended at Appendix A, with an ‘easy-read’ version at Appendix B. It was reported that the Self-Assessment was a considerable piece of work, which evaluated a wide range of performance, engagement and other data insights from the Council’s annual planning and performance framework including the annual Directorate Self- Assessment and Peer Challenge process which enabled the Council to draw conclusions on how well it was using its resources to support the achievement of the Corporate Plan Well-being Objectives. This also tied in with how Directorate services were applying the five ways of working [Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015]. The Council believed that on balance it had met its Annual Delivery Plan commitments for 2022/23, in what continued to be another challenging year for the Council. It had attributed a judgment of ‘Good’, reflecting the achievement of over 85% of in-year activities and performance target. Use of resources by the Council was also judged to be ‘Good’ because it had good evidence of how resources had been used economically, efficiently, effectively and equitably to enhance performance, achieve outcomes, meet need and was in a strong position to secure future service improvements. From the review, assessment and on-going monitoring work undertaken throughout the year via the internal and external audit work programme as well the findings of the performance evaluation, reasonable assurance could be given that the governance arrangements for the Vale of Glamorgan Council continued to be regarded as fit for purpose in accordance with the governance framework. Workshops and other means of engagement with partners, trade unions, local businesses, residents and Council staff were also undertaken as part of this self- assessment process. Following the presentation of the report, the following comments and observations were raised by the Committee: • Councillor J. Protheroe was of the view that the report was easily accessible given the level and detail of information provided. She asked for extra context to be added around the use of agency staff and the percentage of overall Council salaries that agency contracts make. In addition, some information regarding the Council's policies around the use of staff employed via agencies would also be useful. • Councillor M. Hooper questioned who the targeted audiences were as it would be difficult for the ordinary person to engage with the report, and he commented that consideration should be given to the balanced opinions provided in the report, particularly as Council Tax was rising and the level of services were decreasing. Councillor Hooper also referred to Brexit, which was mentioned under the Critical Challenges section but there was very little detail about what that meant. In addition, Councillor Hooper also asked for more balanced commentary around Project Zero given that at its previous meeting of the Governance and Audit Committee, the Committee had asked for the risk to be attributed a "catastrophic" status. He also referred to staff absence days increasing, so more context behind that was required as well as data to show as a comparison to other Local Authorities Finally, Councillor Hooper stated that the report mentioned that the Council had introduced new technology to facilitate hybrid Council and Committee meetings, but given recent progress was that a true reflection. • Councillor E. Goodjohn stated that it was important to highlight the risks associated with Project Zero as the Council had committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2030. • The Chair, Gareth Chapman, with regard to areas that had missed targets, stated that further consideration should be given as to how these were presented and to also include further commentary under the Regulatory Improvements section. In response to the above comments, the Director of Corporate Resources referred to the following: • With regard to agency staff, that would be passed back to the Performance Team as would more commentary around work force pressures. • In terms of the audience, that was difficult as the Council had to demonstrate how it complied with various regulations. Part 6 of the Local Government and Elections Act was very prescriptive in some areas so the language used had to be quite technical which led to a fairly large report. • Around Brexit, it was not necessarily a critical challenge, but it was a risk in terms of the context of organisational resilience. The wording of how that was illustrated in the report would be considered. • In relation to Project Zero it was important to consider that the report demonstrated how the Council had achieved actions agreed for the year as opposed to setting out how the Council would limit climate change. • Comments relating to Hybrid meetings would be taken on board. • Further consideration would also be given to the reporting of areas that had missed target. Mr. M. Evans (Lay Member) queried how comfortable was the Council with the statements and judgements in the report and were those backed up by evidence. Mr. Evans referred to engagement surveys where the number of respondents was in single figures, and he queried how comfortable was the Council in making conclusions based on a small sample of opinions. In reply, the Director of Corporate Resources clarified that there was a range of activities such as self-assessments of Directorates and the Scrutiny process that were used to test any judgements and opinions brough to the Committee. With regard to engagement surveys, the Director confirmed that there wasn’t any minimum threshold around the number of responses because that could be dependent on the engagement or consultation exercise. In some circumstances the Council may only be targeting a relatively small number of people. A key element was therefore to demonstrate that people’s views were being considered and taken into account. Councillor E. Goodjohn commented on the assessment around the lobbying work undertaken of Welsh Government by the Wales Local Government Association (WLGA), and he wanted to highlight some areas of successes such as public transport investments. The Director stated that that lobbying via the WLGA for multi- year funding settlements was something that regularly came up as part of the Council’s self-assessment process. With regard to the size, layout and content of the Self-Assessment report, the Director confirmed that Welsh Government had not issued any guidance, but for consistency and the sharing of best practice, regular meetings were held between Heads of Policy from across Wales. Subsequently, the Committee RESOLVED – T H A T the comments made by Members of the Governance and Audit Committee be referred to Cabinet. The comments being: • The report was easily accessible given the level and detail of information provided; • For extra context to be added around the use of agency staff and the percentage of overall Council salaries that agency contracts make. Also to add in some information regarding the Council’s policies around the use of staff employed via agencies; • Who were the targeted audiences as it would be difficult for the ordinary person to engage with the report; • Consideration be given to the balanced opinions provided in the report, particularly as Council Tax was rising and the level of services were decreasing; • Brexit was mentioned under the Critical Challenges section but there was very little detail about what that meant; • Was more balanced commentary needed around Project Zero given that at its previous meeting of the Governance and Audit Committee, the Committee had asked for the risk to be attributed a “catastrophic” status; • It was important to highlight the risks associated with Project Zero as the Council had committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2030; • The report mentioned that the Council had introduced new technology to facilitate hybrid Council and Committee meetings, but given recent progress was that a true reflection; • There was reference to staff absence days increasing, so more context behind that was required as well as data to show as a comparison to other Local Authorities; • With regard to areas that had missed targets for consideration to be given as to how these were presented and to also include further commentary under the Regulatory Improvements section. Reason for decision Having regard to the contents of the report and discussions at the meeting.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED – T H A T the Quarter 1 monitoring report for Treasury Management 2023/24 be noted. Reason for decision Having regard to the contents of the report and discussions at the meeting.
The reference from Cabinet of 7th September, 2023 as contained within the agenda was presented by the Operational Manager – Accountancy. The report set out the Treasury Management position against a number of key Treasury and Prudential Indicators as at 30th June, 2023. The Prudential Indicators had been updated to reflect the Non Treasury Investment Strategy as a pipeline scheme requiring up to £10m of external borrowing across the period. It was reported that there had been no other significant changes to the Treasury and Prudential Indicators included on this report and change in 2023/24 would be contingent on change to the programme of delivery of the Capital Programme most significantly schemes within the Housing Revenue Account Business Plan or Sustainable Communities for Learning. A significant factor would also be interest rate projections. The Operational Manager advised that there had been a reduction to the Council’s external borrowing to £145.7m and as at the 30th June, 2023 the Council held investments of £83.320m. Councillor M. Hooper referred to budget difficulties facing certain Councils in England, and he queried whether there were any risks to the Council’s investments. In reply, the Operational Manager stated that the U.K. Government Minister had indicated that no local authority would be allowed to go bust with powers to precept should anything happen. The Operational Manager stated that the Council did not appear to have any significant exposure and its investments would be regularly reviewed. Following a request from Councillor E. Goodjohn, the Operational Manager advised that further reports would include information regarding future predictions on future interest rates. The Chair requested that should any issues or risk arise regarding the Council’s investments, for those to be reported to the Governance and Audit Committee as a matter of urgency. Subsequently, it was RESOLVED – T H A T the Quarter 1 monitoring report for Treasury Management 2023/24 be noted. Reason for decision Having regard to the contents of the report and discussions at the meeting.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED – (1) T H A T consideration be given to the Governance and Audit Committee seeing the Statement of Accounts for the Cardiff Region City Deal, the Central South Consortium and also the other joint services, namely the Shared Regulatory Services and the Joint Adoption Service. (2) T H A T the report and appendices be referred to Cabinet for its oversight. Reason for decisions (1&2) Having regard to the contents of the report and discussions at the meeting.
Mr. S. Wyndham (Audit Wales) presented the report which contained the draft Detailed Audit Plan 2023 and Quarter 1 (Q1) update on Audit Wales’s work programme. Appendix A outlined Audit Wales’s draft Detailed Audit Plan 2023. Appendix B outlined Q1 progress on Audit Wales’s work programme and timetable as aligned to the Vale of Glamorgan Council’s Annual Audit Plan 2023/24, including any work carried forward. Members were requested to review and note the draft Detailed Audit Plan 2023 and progress made on the Vale of Glamorgan Audit Work Programme as at Q1 and upon consideration, refer the report and appendices to Cabinet for their oversight. Mr. M. Evans (Lay Member) commented that the estimate for grant certification work was £65k and the actual spend was £63k for last year. He therefore asked for drivers behind that. Mr. Evans also suggested that for future reports and in respect of the fees charged by Audit Wales, could the Committee be provided with a view of what the actual spend was against the budget for that year. In reply, Mr. Wyndham advised that the difference for the estimated fee for grant certification work was mainly due to the time it had taken to complete housing benefit audit work. That was a lengthy piece of audit work which was difficult to predict that was also very technical and complex. It was agreed for that to be considered for next years report. The Chair referred to page 6 and asked whether the Governance and Audit Committee should have sight of the statement of accounts for the Shared Regulatory Services and the Joint Adoption Service. The Chair also highlighted whether the accounts for the Cardiff Region City Deal and the Central South Consortium should also be presented to the Committee for oversight. The Committee was in agreement with the Chair’s recommendation and Mr. S. Wyndham stated that he would explore the request further. The Chair highlighted planned audit work regarding related parties and senior officer remuneration, and the need for Councillors to disclose any interests they may have and that relevant declaration of interest form are completed as appropriate. With regard to Appendix B and progress on Audit Wales’s work programme, the Chair referred to digital good practice guides, and asked whether that was for Officers or Elected Members. In reply, S. Clements from Audit Wales advised that she would have to check, but the link which had been sent to officers would also be sent to Elected Members. The Chair queried the thematic reviews on financial sustainability and commissioning and contract management and raised a concern regarding Welsh Government’s ‘project eliminate’ relating to children looked after and the use of private sector providers. The Chair asked whether any work had been carried out around value for money and the financial implications from the provision being provided all in house by Councils. In reply, the Committee was advised that the audit review work had yet to be scoped, but the Council would be involved in a related scoping exercise. The Chair also highlighted that it would be important to also involve the relevant Cabinet Member. The Committee RESOLVED – (1) T H A T consideration be given to the Governance and Audit Committee seeing the Statement of Accounts for the Cardiff Region City Deal, the Central South Consortium and also the other joint services, namely the Shared Regulatory Services and the Joint Adoption Service. (2) T H A T the report and appendices be referred to Cabinet for its oversight. Reason for decisions (1&2) Having regard to the contents of the report and discussions at the meeting.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED – T H A T the Quarter 1 position of Corporate Risks (April 2023 – June 2023) as outlined in the Risk Summary Report (Annex A), be noted. Reason for decision Having regard to the contents of the report and discussions at the meeting.
The Director of Corporate Resources presented the report which provided Members with an overview of the Corporate Risk Register for Quarter 1 (April – June 2023). The Corporate Risk Summary Report (Annex A) provided an overview of all the corporate risks in the Register in terms of their inherent score, effectiveness of control score and residual score and provided an outline of the direction of travel for both current and forecast. It also provided a brief analysis of the emerging risk issues associated with risks on the Register. There were 17 corporate risks on the Register. Five risks scored high, four risks scored medium/high, seven risks scored medium, and one risk scored medium-low on the Register. It was reported that during the 1st quarter of the year, all risks on the Register had maintained their static position during the period, except for Market fragility which had reduced from high (risk score of 12) to medium-high (risk score of 9). The residual risk score for the Market fragility risk had reduced to reflect the significant improvement in the Domiciliary care market. The additional uplift in hourly funding that the Council had agreed to provide to the residential care (12%) and Domiciliary care market in quarter 4 of 2022/23 had been a significant supportive factor in helping to provide some stability to very fragile markets. Without the additional investment, there was a strong chance that providers would have exited the market. Furthermore, there had been a number of new domiciliary care providers that had joined the market and an increase in overseas recruitment by these agencies. The Council had also continued to expand the roll out of the ‘Your Choice Scheme’. These actions had enabled the Council to significantly reduce the number of packages of care that were waiting to be placed. In terms of forecast direction of travel, it was anticipated that the Financial Fragility, Workforce and Project Zero risks would continue to escalate over time. In relation to Project Zero, following consideration of the status of this risk by the Governance and Audit Committee at Q4, Cabinet considered the residual risk status of very high in the context of the Committee’s discussion as to whether this risk score was catastrophic. The Project Zero Board was due to meet later in the month to consider the inherent risk and controls in place for this risk which would be fed back to the Committee in the next quarter’s risk update. The timing of the review of the risk had been scheduled as the Council’s draft return to the Welsh Government on carbon emissions was also on the agenda and so would inform discussions based on the data available. It was anticipated that the legislative change and local government reform risk would continue to diminish over time. The remaining risks on the Register were forecasted to remain static. The Chair queried whether anything with a residual score below 8 needed to be recorded in the Register and managed on a Directorate level. In reply, the Director stated that it was important to ensure that all risks were reported to the Governance and Audit Committee, but it would be useful to review the level of thresholds. Subsequently it was RESOLVED – T H A T the Quarter 1 position of Corporate Risks (April 2023 – June 2023) as outlined in the Risk Summary Report (Annex A), be noted. Reason for decision Having regard to the contents of the report and discussions at the meeting.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED – T H A T the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards External Peer Assessment of the Regional Internal Audit Service be acknowledged and endorsed. Reason for decision Having regard to the contents of the report and discussions at the meeting.
The report provided Members of the Governance and Audit Committee with the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards External Peer Assessment of the Regional Internal Audit Service. Appendix A contained the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards External Peer Assessment of the Regional Internal Audit Service Report from the external assessor, Newport City Council. The Public Sector Internal Audit Standards (PSIAS) became effective from 1st April, 2013 (updated 2017) and introduced a requirement for an external assessment of all internal audit services, which must be conducted at least once every five years by a qualified, independent reviewer from outside of the organisation. There were 305 best practice lines within the PSIAS; the Regional Internal Audit Service was currently conforming to 305 of the requirements, with no partial conformance or non-conformance areas. There were two areas for consideration which would further enhance conformance with the PSIAS, although these were not a significant concern: • 1,000 Purpose, Authority and Responsibility (41) – To make reference to the Counter Fraud Strategy in the Internal Audit Charter; • 1,230 Continuing Professional Development (96) – All Internal Audit staff to maintain a record of their training activities. It was recommended that Members give due consideration to the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards External Peer Assessment of the Regional Internal Audit Service and acknowledge and endorse that it was fully conforming to those Standards. In terms of the layout and format of the document, the Head of the Regional Internal Audit Service advised that a standard format and approach had been agreed among the 20 participating local authorities. There was a Head of Audit Services group that would carry out a comparison of what issues had been identified and what actions needed to be taken in terms of noncompliance and what the general themes were in terms improvements. It was agreed that the summary document would be shared with members of the Committee. The Chair commented that the Audit Team should be congratulated, noting the two areas that were suggested for improvement. Subsequently, the Committee RESOLVED – T H A T the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards External Peer Assessment of the Regional Internal Audit Service be acknowledged and endorsed. Reason for decision Having regard to the contents of the report and discussions at the meeting.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED – T H A T Members of the Governance and Audit Committee be allowed four weeks in which to submit comments regarding the Annual Report for 2022/23 and for the final report to be presented to the Governance and Audit Committee in December. Reason for decision Having regard to the contents of the report and discussions at the meeting.
The report provided an opportunity for Members of the Governance and Audit Committee to consider and comment on the Draft Governance and Audit Committee Annual Report 2022/23. The report demonstrated how the Committee had met its terms of reference as per the Council’s Constitution as set out by the Local Government Measure 2011 and the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021. It had achieved this by concentrating on its core responsibilities during the year. The Governance and Audit Committee was to present its Annual Report 2022/23 to Full Council. Councillor E. Goodjohn referred to comments made as part of the Self-Assessment at Appendix 3 regarding lack of expertise from not having an audit background which on occasions made it difficult to participate in debates. Councillor Goodjohn queried whether any consideration had been given to providing additional training to improve the understanding of the audit and accountancy functions. In reply, the Head of the Regional Audit Service stated he would check back to see what training had been delivered and look at where further training could be provided. Further to the point raised by Councillor Goodjohn regarding some members having a reluctance to partake in debates, Councillor M. Hooper commented that he wondered whether the type of media used for the meetings was a contributory factor. Councillor Hooper also referred to the large size of documents that members of the Committee had been asked to consider which meant that some reports were difficult to read and fully digest. Mr. M. Evans (Lay Member) commented that for the next iteration of the Annual report, it would be better if the draft report be produced earlier in the year. The Head of the Internal Audit Service agreed and he would aim to produce next year’s report sometime during May or June. The Chair, Mr. G. Chapman, recommended that Members of the Governance and Audit Committee be allowed a further four weeks in which to respond and comment on the Annual report, and then for a further updated version to be presented to the Committee in December. The recommendation was agreed by members. There being no further comments or queries, the Committee RESOLVED – T H A T Members of the Governance and Audit Committee be allowed four weeks in which to submit comments regarding the Annual Report for 2022/23 and for the final report to be presented to the Governance and Audit Committee in December. Reason for decision Having regard to the contents of the report and discussions at the meeting.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED – T H A T the contents of the report and the progress made against the 2023-24 Internal Audit Annual Risk Based Plan be noted. Reason for decision Having regard to the contents of the report and discussions at the meeting.
The progress made against the approved internal audit risk-based plan 2023-24 for the period 1st April to 30th August 2023 was detailed in Appendix A to the report. It showed that 14 of 61 planned audit reviews had been completed to date which equated to a completion rate 23%. The Regional Internal Audit Service had set a target of 30% completion by the end of Quarter 2. Based on the assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the areas examined through testing of the effectiveness of the internal control environment, audit opinions had been given to 11 of the 14 completed audits. 9 audits had been given Substantial or Reasonable assurance and 2 audits had been given Limited assurance, shown in Appendix A to the report. The identified risks found in the 2 Limited assurance audits were service specific and detailed within the report. Included within this year’s plan were 21 audits that had not been undertaken or completed in 2022-23. Appendix B to the report showed the status of those audits, which included 6 of the 21 audits now completed, 5 were in progress. A total of 31 recommendations had been made to date to improve the control environment. The progress being made in implementing these was regularly monitored by the Auditors and reported to the Committee. Mr. M. Evans (Lay Member) referred to paragraph 2.2 of the report, which indicated that by the end of quarter 4 the target was for 80% of the Plan to be completed. In reply, the Deputy Head of the Regional Internal Audit Service stated that the reason why the target was not 100% was that the Plan was based on a full complement of staff and the team was not yet at full capacity. Furthermore, the Head of the Regional Internal Audit Service advised that the Plan included an estimate and there would also be challenges that would impact on targets such as staff sickness and vacancies. Councillor J. Protheroe referred to the audit of procurement that had been carried forward from 2022/23 which was closely linked to the audit of the Council’s scheme of delegation. Councillor Protheroe asked whether both would feature in this year’s audit review work. In response, the Deputy Head of the Regional Internal Audit Service advised that procurement had featured in a various number of individual audits that had been carried out on service specific areas. The audit of procurement did not take place last year because new arrangements were being put in place jointly with Cardiff Council. Therefore, it had been agreed to allow time for the new arrangements to bed in and for the review work to commence at the latter end of 2023/24. That would also apply to the scheme of delegation. The Chair, Mr. G. Chapman, highlighted paragraph 2.6 of the report which identified 2 audits that had been given a Limited assurance opinion, namely Payment Card Industries – Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS) and Appointee & Deputy Services. The Chair raised concern that the Council did not have policies or procedure in place for the management of those accounts in which the Council acted as an Appointee. In reply, the Head of the Regional Internal Audit Service advised that the Audit Team would usually carry out a follow-up review of the improvement actions that had been agreed with the service manager. A progress update could be requested from the service managers in terms of the completion of the relevant action plan. Regarding Appointee & Deputy Services, the Deputy Head of the Regional Internal Audit Service clarified that 4 improvement recommendations had been agreed, with the last one due for completion by 31st December 2023. That date being necessary as the service wanted to seek legal advice to see how they could go about finding the correct contacts. Therefore, a follow-up review would not commence until after that date. In terms of the Payment Card Industries – Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS), the Deputy Head of the Regional Internal Audit Service advised that there had been a delay due to challenges that had been faced with the implementation of the Council’s new Oracle system. The Director of Corporate Resources advised that the Council’s Strategic Leadership Team would have oversight of those two areas and he would raise the issues further at a Directorate level. Subsequently, it was RESOLVED – T H A T the contents of the report and the progress made against the 2023-24 Internal Audit Annual Risk Based Plan be noted. Reason for decision Having regard to the contents of the report and discussions at the meeting.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED – (1) T H A T the status of the High and Medium recommendations contained within the report be agreed. (2) T H A T the relevant Directors / Heads of Service responsible for safeguarding and cyber security be invited to attend the next meeting of the Governance and Audit Committee in order to advise of the reasons for the delays in completed actions and to outline what actions were in place in order to complete recommendations. Reason for decisions (1&2) Having regard to the contents of the report and discussions at the meeting.
A position statement in respect of internal audit high and medium priority recommendations made, implemented and outstanding as of 30th August, 2023 was detailed in Appendix A to the report. A total of 13 High and Medium priority recommendations had been made following the conclusion of audits from the 2023-24 Annual Plan. All had been agreed and to date 3 had been implemented, 10 had a future implementation date and there were none outstanding. There were currently no outstanding recommendations. 5 Medium priority recommendations made in audits undertaken in 2021-22 still had a future target date for implementation. These were detailed in Appendix B to the report. In addition, 39 recommendations made in 2022/23 audits had a future target date and these continued to be monitored. The monitoring of recommendations was undertaken regularly by Auditors and any undue delays or issues were highlighted to Senior Management and ultimately this Committee. Councillor M. Hooper asked that in respect of Table 2 under paragraph 2.2 of the recommendations implemented it would be useful to know what their priority levels were. It was agreed for that to be reflected in future update reports. The Chair, Mr G. Chapman referred outstanding actions for Corporate Safeguarding and Cyber Security, and requested, that as there had been a number revisions to the recommendation completion dates, for the relevant Directors and/or Head of Service to be invited to attend the next meeting of the Governance and Audit Committee in order to advise of the reasons for the delays and to outline what actions were in place in order to complete the recommendations. The Chair’s request was agreed by the Committee. The Committee subsequently RESOLVED – (1) T H A T the status of the High and Medium recommendations contained within the report be agreed. (2) T H A T the relevant Directors / Heads of Service responsible for safeguarding and cyber security be invited to attend the next meeting of the Governance and Audit Committee in order to advise of the reasons for the delays in completed actions and to outline what actions were in place in order to complete recommendations. Reason for decisions (1&2) Having regard to the contents of the report and discussions at the meeting.
The Governance and Audit Committee had a number of core functions and responsibilities within its remit. It received reports and presentations throughout the year to enable it to carry out those core functions and responsibilities effectively and to provide it with confidence in the financial governance of the Authority. To enable the Committee to provide this assurance and to ensure it was covering its range of responsibilities, a Forward Work Programme (FWP) was presented at each meeting, setting out the reports to be presented at future meetings, for approval or amendment, as necessary. The updated FWP for 2023/24 was at Appendix A to the report. Committee was requested to approve the updated FWP or request changes for future meetings, with it being noted that the Directors responsible for safeguarding and cyber security would be invited to attend the next meeting scheduled for 23rd October. Subsequently it was RECOMMENDED – T H A T the schedule of items for the next meeting, 23rd October, 2023, be endorsed with the Directors responsible for safeguarding and cyber security being invited to attend. Reason for decision Having regard to the contents of the report and discussions at the meeting and to confirm attendance and information requirements.
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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