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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
RESOLVED: - That the Governance and Audit Committee receive a briefing report in relation to Local Development Plan and judicial review, in order to receive assurances that appropriate steps and mitigation actions have been taken.
RESOLVED:- (i) That the Governance and Audit Committee Terms of Reference be noted. (ii) That the Chief Officer for Governance and Customer be provided with a list of the proposed changes to the Governance and Audit Committees Terms of Reference.
RESOLVED: - That the Work Programme be approved.
RESOLVED:- (i) That the GAC reviewed the draft Self-Assessment Report. (ii) That the RAYG rating for the Corporate Planning Theme should be rated as Yellow (good performance with strengths outweighing areas for development) rather than Green (consistently good performance with minimal areas for development), on the basis that the council had not had a Local Development Plan in place for some time. (iii) That the RAYG rating for the Leadership & Culture Theme should be rated as Amber (Satisfactory performance, but investment and increased capacity may be required in a number of key areas) rather than Yellow (good performance with strengths outweighing areas for development), on the basis that this did not properly reflect the concerns in this area. The area for development ‘Improve Elected Member take up of core training and key governance e-learning modules’ should be amended to be ‘Significantly improve Elected Member take up of core training and key governance e-learning modules’. (iv) That the external peer review to be requested for late 2024 or early 2025.
RESOLVED: - That the Audit Wales Work Programme and Timetable Quarterly update be noted.
RESOLVED: - That the Governance & Audit Committee noted the contents of Quarter 2 report.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: - That the Governance and Audit Committee receive a briefing report in relation to Local Development Plan and judicial review, in order to receive assurances that appropriate steps and mitigation actions have been taken.
The Chair asked the committee to reflect on the current items that had been printed, published on local media and read out a statement advising the Members that: · The Committee would need to consider the implications of the articles in the media which referenced the actions taken by three Members and cited as on unlawful in the narrative. · To note that legal motions, specifically the judicial review relating to the original decision of the Council to reject the Local Development Plan were scheduled to be heard next week. · Care needed to be taken to ensure that any discussions initiated during the meeting would not prejudice such proceedings. · Members will be guided by the Council’s monitoring officer who was in attendance. · The Committee has a duty under the Terms of Reference to review and assess the corporate governance arrangements of the authority and to receive assurances that standards accord with the ethical frameworks and the code of governance. · That the evidence disclosed in the Part Two document which was in the public domain clarifies that the behaviour of the three members was very serious. · A full briefing report be prepared and brought to the December 2023 meeting that would give a full background of the details and provide this Committee with assurances that steps have been taken in full respect, actions have been responded to and all necessary mitigation measures were being considered. The following was discussed: · The Chief Officer for Governance and Customer (Monitoring Officer) explained that the judicial review will be taking place at the end of November 2023 and will bring a briefing report to Committee as soon as the information was ready. · A Member highlighted that there were professional officers within the Council that would be able to provide the statutory advice and that they needed to be respected. · Members requested that they would like a contribution from all those that have relevant independent information to have input to the briefing report. RESOLVED: - That the Governance and Audit Committee receive a briefing report in relation to Local Development Plan and judicial review, in order to receive assurances that appropriate steps and mitigation actions have been taken.
Members agreed to make the following changes to the Minutes: Bullet Point on page 6 - “There was a risk that the Committee could be seen to be basing their questioning on elements that has been picked up in the media”. Bullet Point on page 8 - “The Ombudsman would consider the amount of time and trouble a complainant would have incurred and recommended good will payments to be £100 plus depending on the nature of the complaint”. The following was discussed:- · A Member enquired about the reasons for the delay to the Service Continuity Audit and the update regarding governance issues from the Chief Executive and the Leader of the Council. · It was confirmed that the Chair will write to the Democratic committee to seek assurance that Members had completed their statutory training. RESOLVED: - That the Minutes of the meeting held on 21 September 2023 be signed as a correct record.
Members were reminded of their responsibility under Paragraph 11 of the Members’ Code of Conduct, to declare the existence and nature of any personal interest in respect of any of the business to be transacted at this meeting. The following declarations were made:- Agenda Item 8 – Audit Wales Work Programme – Quarterly Time Table Independent Lay Person David Stewart – personal and not Prejudicial – The Lay Member was the Chair of the Governance and Audit Committee in Denbighshire County Council. The Independent Lay person remained in the meeting taking part in the discussion and voting thereon.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED:- (i) That the Governance and Audit Committee Terms of Reference be noted. (ii) That the Chief Officer for Governance and Customer be provided with a list of the proposed changes to the Governance and Audit Committees Terms of Reference.
Members discussed their proposed changes to the GAC Terms of Reference and were informed that minor changes could be reviewed by the Chief Officer Governance and Customer RESOLVED:- (i) That the Governance and Audit Committee Terms of Reference be noted. (ii) That the Chief Officer for Governance and Customer be provided with a list of the proposed changes to the Governance and Audit Committees Terms of Reference.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: - That the Work Programme be approved.
Members discussed the following: · That the scheduled Work Programme for February 2024 had a lot of items to cover and would need to be addressed. · A Member was advised: a) To contact the Chief Officer regarding the rules around guardianship of finances for people who were not mentally capable to manage them. b) That there was a legal process in place in regarding the control of people’s finances and this area was monitored by external bodies. c) To raise a topic request form to scrutiny if required. · To reschedule the Statement of Accounts Item to the March 2024 Committee meeting. · A Work shop will be scheduled to cover the objective of the GAC Committee and their relationship with Scrutiny Committees. RESOLVED: - That the Work Programme be approved.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED:- (i) That the GAC reviewed the draft Self-Assessment Report. (ii) That the RAYG rating for the Corporate Planning Theme should be rated as Yellow (good performance with strengths outweighing areas for development) rather than Green (consistently good performance with minimal areas for development), on the basis that the council had not had a Local Development Plan in place for some time. (iii) That the RAYG rating for the Leadership & Culture Theme should be rated as Amber (Satisfactory performance, but investment and increased capacity may be required in a number of key areas) rather than Yellow (good performance with strengths outweighing areas for development), on the basis that this did not properly reflect the concerns in this area. The area for development ‘Improve Elected Member take up of core training and key governance e-learning modules’ should be amended to be ‘Significantly improve Elected Member take up of core training and key governance e-learning modules’. (iv) That the external peer review to be requested for late 2024 or early 2025.
The Chief Executive submitted a report (CE/33/23) that presented the Wrexham Council’s second draft Self-Assessment Report as required by the Local Government and Elections Act (Wales) Act 2021. The Self-Assessment Report also met with the Act’s requirement for the Council’s Governance and Audit Committee to receive the Self-Assessment Report prior to it being finalised and published and that the final Self-Assessment Report will be agreed by Council in December 2023. The Head of Service, Performance, Improvement, Partnerships and Scrutiny introduced the report and highlighted the main points within it. Members asked a number of questions which were responded to accordingly, and the following points were highlighted during the detailed debate:- · It was confirmed that the self-assessment considered the period April 2022 to the end of March 2023 and that during that time period all work to develop the new Council Plan was on schedule. · The Corporate Planning theme referred to a wide range of corporate plans and strategies that have been developed and are in place, as reflected within table on page 41 of the Agenda Pack. · Outlined in the areas for development within the table on page 41 was an action for the Council to consider and mitigate implications of the Council decision not to adopt the Local Development Plan. · Members reviewed the colour coded Wrexham Council assessment, and challenged Officers regarding the non-adoption of the Local Development Plan and Council Plan and whether this constituted a ‘minimal area of concern’ or ‘very significant in terms of the organisation’, and if the conclusion should therefore have been flagged as more of a concern than was presented - Green (sustained). · It was explained that at the end of March 2023, the Council Plan had been on schedule for adoption at Executive Board in July 2023. However, the July budget decisions took priority and Members asked to pause and reconsider the Council Plan at that time. · It was explained that the conclusions to the Wrexham Council Self-Assessment were outlined within the RAYG ratings for each of the themes. · Members congratulated the Education and Early Intervention Service for getting out of the special measures with Estyn. · Members challenged why decarbonising and developing the environment had moved from RAYG Rating Green to RAYG Rating Amber. · Members were assured that there were robust procurement processes and legislation in place to ensure that procurement was fair to all suppliers and firms. · Members will be provided with a report detailing the percentage of local suppliers and firms that had been procured by Wrexham Council. · Members were assured that the council continued to improve contracts at corporate levels and that the new procurement reforms were helping this process. · A Member enquired about the social value with local businesses regarding the maximum measurement regarding the valuation process. · A Member requested a report detailing the number of contract waivers and exceptions that have been raised. · The Chair made reference to the terms of reference, around the GAC responsibilities under item 7 for the Wrexham Council Self-assessment and clarified that the role of the GAC was to review the draft self-assessment report and make recommendations where relevant. · Members voted on a recommendation that the RAYG rating for the Corporate Planning Theme should be rated as Yellow. · It was explained that the peer assessment panel role was not to monitor the Council’s Self assessments but to carry out a review based on a theme that the council has identified via the self-assessment processes and to provide further advice regarding that theme. · Members were concerned regarding Members taking up of core training and key governance e-learning modules; and challenged the Yellow (sustained) RAYG rating for that element. · A Member highlighted that there needed to be consistency with the other corporate documents of the Council and made reference to the Annual Governance Statement. · It was explained that mandatory training related to officer training that was mandatory for officers, and classed as ‘core’ training for Members. · It was reiterated that the categories relating to the Leadership and Organisational Culture Theme related to the entire council and workforce, and not just the Member officer environment. · There was a stable senior leader ship team. · Member training was part of a very broad focus within the Leadership and Organisational Culture Theme. · Members were required to attend training for the Licencing and Planning Committees and were encouraged to attend other relevant training. · A Member highlighted that the real issue was that there was no consequence for Members not taking up the relevant training to help them carry out their elected duties. · The Chair confirmed that he has communicated the concerns regarding the low attendance at Member training to the Chair of Democratic Services Committee and has highlighted that Member attendance at training needed to be prioritised. · It was suggested that the GAC invite the Chair of the Democratic Services Committee to attend the GAC meeting to discuss the low take up of Member training. · The table annotating for further actions regarding member training needs to be amended to be “to significantly improve member training”. · There was a general consensus for the need for buy in from group leaders and their duties in the new legislation. · It was advised that the Chair of the GAC might facilitate a meeting with group leaders together with the Chair of Democratic Services and relevant officers to tackle the issues regarding the low take up of Member training. · The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) have only recently finalised their offer for facilitating the external peer review process and they were now open for requests. · Members were advised that the legislation was specific and that group leaders needed to co-operate with the standards Committee whilst looking at their duties. · It was advised that there was specific legislation in relation to the role of group leaders and that it centred on the Standards Committee, which overlapped with the Democratic Services Committee in relation to member training. The GAC could express their views to the Chairs to both of these committees. · It was suggested that the Chair held a meeting with the Chair of the Standards and Democratic Services Committee and share a copy of the GAC minutes so that the Chairs could pick up the relevant areas of concern and take them forward. · A Member challenged on how there could be said to be effective project management processes in place when there was still work ongoing to align capital and non-capital project management processes. · There was a clear senior management and Member understanding regarding the measures required to achieve budget mitigation measures to enable a 23/24 balanced budget. · A member enquired as to why the Council Plan had not been costed. · Noted that a review of the core financial system and related processes with a health check, engagement and market testing completed in 2022/23. Plans agreed to procure a new system in 2023/24. · It was confirmed that there was a project working group that were currently looking at the new finance system but there was no exact time scale for its implementation. · Members were assured that the new Risk Management system would address the linkage issues regarding the risk management system and the performance management system. · A Member required assurance that the risk management was a strength because the July 2023 internal Audit report that covered counter fraud mentioned that KPMG for Wales had noted that fraud was a significant risk in Wales and that just because there were low incidences of fraud it did not mean that the risk was low. · The Head of Service for Internal Audit and Technical will report back regarding the new asset management system and will obtain assurance regarding the management of the assets going forward. • It was identified that the decarbonisation had moved from a Green RAG rating to Amber in the final year of the Council Plan. The performance officer directed the committee to the Council Plan annual report for detail underpinning this. • It was confirmed that it was a legal requirement that the Council assets were meeting statutory compliance in areas of asbestos, gas, electricity and legionella. • Facilities management continues to meet statutory compliance requirements and any risks will be raised within the risk registers and will be monitored accordingly RESOLVED:- (i) That the GAC reviewed the draft Self-Assessment Report. (ii) That the RAYG rating for the Corporate Planning Theme should be rated as Yellow (good performance with strengths outweighing areas for development) rather than Green (consistently good performance with minimal areas for development), on the basis that the council had not had a Local Development Plan in place for some time. (iii) That the RAYG rating for the Leadership & Culture Theme should be rated as Amber (Satisfactory performance, but investment and increased capacity may be required in a number of key areas) rather than Yellow (good performance with strengths outweighing areas for development), on the basis that this did not properly reflect the concerns in this area. The area for development ‘Improve Elected Member take up of core training and key governance e-learning modules’ should be amended to be ‘Significantly improve Elected Member take up of core training and key governance e-learning modules’. (iv) That the external peer review to be requested for late 2024 or early 2025.
Members of the Committee agreed that Item 8 be brought forward and taken at this time.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: - That the Audit Wales Work Programme and Timetable Quarterly update be noted.
(Member’s declarations of interest in relation to this item are set out in Minute 38 above.) The Audit Manager Performance and Audit for Audit Wales introduced the Audit Wales Work Programme and Time Table and highlighted the main points within it. Members of the Committee considered the report and during debate the following points were highlighted: · A Member enquired if the Planning Governance review could be reported at the December Committee Meeting. · It was explained that the review was in draft format and that the report would very likely be ready for the February 2024 Committee meeting. · The Chair requested a copy of the review report as soon as it was made available. · An explanation was provided to Members regarding local, thematic and local government studies. · Members raised concerns regarding financial sustainability, the fears around balancing the revenue budget and the issuing of the Section 114 notice. · Members were informed that the financial sustainability review was currently being scoped and that a draft brief will be taken to the Society of Welsh Treasurers for consideration. · The work relating to Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards Annual Monitoring report for Health and Social Care 2022-23 was undertaken by the Care Inspectorate Wales and not Audit Wales. RESOLVED: - That the Audit Wales Work Programme and Timetable Quarterly update be noted.
Decision as recorded
RESOLVED: - That the Governance & Audit Committee noted the contents of Quarter 2 report.
The Chief Executive submitted a report (CE/30/23) requesting that the Governance and Audit Committee (GAC), in accordance with its Terms of Reference: a) To review the progress against the 8 significant improvement areas identified in the Annual Governance Statement (AGS) for the year ended 31 March 2023; and b) To consider the report of the Governance Officer Group on the Council’s compliance with its local Code of Governance and effectiveness of the governance framework. The Head of Service, Performance, Improvement, Partnerships and Scrutiny introduced the report and highlighted the main points within it. The following was discussed: · It was confirmed that the Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) that would enable the Authority to demonstrate compliance with key legislation in decision making will be ready to pilot at the beginning of quarter 4 2023/24. · When the Officers begin to use the Integrated Impact Assessment at the beginning of January Members will start to see the IIA reports coming through with the committee reports. · In relation to the new Equality, Diversity & Involvement Group – this was a bringing together of equality and diversity, and involvement officers, given the significant overlap in these areas. · The Head of Service Performance, Improvement, Partnerships and Scrutiny will request that the Welsh Language Officer contact the Group Leaders Chair in relation to Welsh Language training for Members. . · The Council Plan proposed performance framework will go to an all Member workshop in November and will then be reported to the Council. · Members were assured regarding the work being undertaken to deliver the Flood Risk Management Plan for 2024. · Officers will take on board and feed back to the Senior Leadership team that the direction of travel regarding item 1 Culture, Values, behaviours and ways of working in public meetings has not been sustained and that it has deteriorated. · Officers were currently finalising the Socio-economic duty e- learning module and this would be available in the coming weeks. · The Chief Officer for Governance and Customer will inform Members regarding the attendance figures for the Scrutiny Training that was held on 23rd June 2023. · A Member enquired if it would be valuable to re run the Welsh Local government Association (WLGA) scrutiny training with a view that Group Leaders took responsibility for their Members to attend the session. · The Chair will meet with the Chief Officer for Governance and Customer regarding provision of another WLGA training event for Members. · Members were informed that the significant issues detailed in the Annual Governance Statement (AGS) were derived from the assurance work carried out by the Governance officers’ group and that the Council’s governance was reviewed on a regular basis. · A Member advised that if an issue had not been dealt with in the AGS then there should be an explanation, recorded as a corporate risk and annotated in the relevant risk registers. · Members wanted assurance that the Procurement, Planning and ICT system was on track for May 2024. RESOLVED: - That the Governance & Audit Committee noted the contents of Quarter 2 report.
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