Issue - meetings

To consider the draft Annual Governance Statement.

The Director - Finance and Corporate Services presented the draft Annual Governance Statement published to complement the Council’s Statement of Accounts 2019/20. He stated that the document had been prepared in consultation with senior officers and that it had been agreed by the Corporate Management Team. It was a living document that would be reviewed and updated to ensure that it was current at the time of publication with the Statement of Accounts. The statement had identified significant governance issues in Section 5, particularly in respect of Equality and Diversity and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Director – Finance and Corporate Services explained that the deadline for external audit of the Council’s Statement of Accounts had been put back to the end of September 2020 and that might necessitate moving the date of the September Committee meeting back.

In response to Members’ questions, the Director – Finance and Corporate Services and the Assistant Director – Corporate Services stated that other than the issues identified in Section 5 of the statement, there were no other material changes to the previous year’s Annual Governance Statement. Internal Audit had to date completed nineteen out of twenty seven audits from the 2019/20 Internal Audit Programme and the other eight audits would be covered. The current situation with staff largely working remotely was explained along with the Gold and Silver Command structures in place. The Council was working in line with Government advice that if it was possible to work from home then staff should work from home. Duty of care arrangements were outlined in respect of staff surveys and mental health issues.

Members approved the draft Annual Governance Statement.