Issue - meetings

To receive and endorse the 2021/22 Annual Governance Statement prior to submission to Council for approval.

The Committee received a report from Chris Norton (Strategy & Commissioning Manager - Treasury, Pension, Audit & Risk) which presented the 2021/22 Annual Governance Statement (AGS), attached at Appendix 1 to the report, for approval.

The report advised that as a result of the AGS evaluation and assurance gathering process, there were no significant governance issues or failures to report.  The results of the review had been considered by the Committee on 19 May 2022 and the draft kept in review, however, no further changes were required.

Chris Norton introduced the report and outlined the evaluation process which, following consultation, had received no changes.  The Chair thanked the team for a good report.

Councillor Feeney recognised the areas of challenge listed in the Governance issues and challenges section of the report.  In particular, she highlighted the work undertaken to promote the vaccination and booster programme and noted the risks relating to SEND provision.

The Chair highlighted the reference to the HMICFRS Inspection which had proposed 41 areas of improvement following their evaluation of the service in Spring 2021.  He felt that this section of the governance report could be updated to reflect the significant progress made since the review.  In response, Rob Powell acknowledged the monitoring visits carried out by the inspectorate and felt it would be prudent to wait and not pre-empt the next stage of the inspection process.

Following on from this discussion, Councillor Feeney queried if the Chief Fire Officer could update the Committee once the actions arising from the inspection had been actioned in March 2023.  Rob Powell felt this may be possible but recognised that it may be more appropriate for the CFO to report to the Resources Fire and Rescue Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

The Chair spoke to the section of the report detailing the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.  He requested that the wording in the penultimate sentence be amended to state “We have considered the findings of the report”.  He felt this would give a better impression to readers.  In addition, the Chair noted that the annual report of the Audit and Standards Committee would be forthcoming in May and would review activities over the past year.

Resolved that the 2021/22 Annual Governance Statement be endorsed and Recommended it to Council for approval.