Agenda and minutes

You are welcome to use Welsh at the meeting, a minimum notice period of 3 working days is required should you wish to do so. A simultaneous translation service will be provided if requested.

It was noted that no requests had been received for the simultaneous translation service.

To receive.

Apologies for absence were received from:

Councillor Derrick Bevan, Mrs. Cheryl Hucker, Interim Corporate Director of Social Services, Chief Officer Commercial and Customer, Head of Democratic Services, Governance & Partnerships, Head of Legal and Corporate Compliance, Professional Lead – Internal Audit, Senior Business Partner – Capital & Corporate Accounting and Deborah Woods, Mike Jones – Audit Wales.

To receive.

There were no declarations of interests or dispensations reported.

To receive the decisions of the Governance & Audit Committee held on 18^th October, 2023.

(Please note the decisions are submitted for points of accuracy only).

The decisions of the Governance & Audit Committee held on 18^th October, 2023 were submitted, whereupon:

Item No. 11 – Public Interest Report – Assurance Review Findings

It was noted that the job title detailed in the first sentence should be amended to read Head of Democratic Services, Governance & Partnerships.

It was unanimously,

RESOLVED, subject to the foregoing correction, that the decisions be accepted as a true record of proceedings.

To receive the Action Sheet arising from the meeting held on 18^th October, 2023.

the Action Sheet arising from the meeting held on 18^th October, 2023 was submitted.

It was unanimously,

RESOLVED that the Action Sheet be noted.

To receive.

Consideration was given to report of the proposed Forward Work Programme 2023/2024.

It was noted as there were no items of business scheduled to be considered at the Committee on 20^th December, 2023 this meeting would be cancelled.

It was unanimously,

RESOLVED, subject to the foregoing, that the report be accepted and Option 1 be endorsed, namely that the Forward Work Programme be accepted.

To consider the report of the Data Protection and Governance Officer.

Consideration was given to the report of the Data Protection and Governance Officer.

In reply to a question, the Data Protection and Governance Officer advised that whilst there was no formal requirement for the report to be considered by Council, in the interests of good practice, the report would be submitted to a future meeting of Council for information purposes.

It was unanimously,

RESOLVED, subject to the foregoing, that the report be accepted and Option 1 be endorsed, namely that the information be accepted which was given as assurance that appropriate oversight and monitoring was taking place and any shortfalls had appropriate controls in place to make the necessary improvements.

To consider the report of the Interim Chief Executive.

Members considered the report of the Interim Chief Executive.

Following a discussion, it was requested at the appropriate time, regular updates against the delivery requirements be provided to the Committee.  The Committee also broadly emphasised the importance of engagement and in doing so supported that the Council embark on engagement with the public in terms of the objectives.

It was unanimously,

RESOLVED, subject to the foregoing, that the report be accepted and Option 1 be endorsed, namely that the Committee was assured that the Council’s Management Response, identified in Appendix 2, would appropriately respond to the Audit Wales recommendations.

To consider the report of the Head of Legal and Corporate Compliance.

Consideration was given to the Head of Legal & Corporate Compliance.

It was unanimously,

RESOLVED that the report be accepted and Option 1 be endorsed, namely that the information in the report was accepted which was given as assurance that appropriate oversight and monitoring was taking place.

To consider the report of the Professional Lead - Internal Audit.

The report of the Professional Lead – Internal Audit  was submitted for consideration.

It was unanimously,

RESOLVED that the report be accepted and the progress on activities for the period 1^st July to 30^th September, 2023 be noted.

To consider the report of the Chief Officer Resources.

Members considered the report of the Chief Officer Resources, whereupon:

Mr. Martin Veale joined the meeting at this juncture.

CRR14 – Failure to improve staff attendance rates within the Council will lead to an unacceptable impact on the ability of the Council to deliver services effectively and financially

At the appropriate time, the Risk Owner provide an update to Committee in respect of the above risk.

Members were advised that Absence Management was the subject of a current internal audit which was due to conclude in the near future and the findings of this audit together with progress would be presented to Committee in due course.

It was unanimously,

RESOLVED, subject to the foregoing, that the report be accepted and the Committee was assured that procedures were in place to monitor the management of significant risks.

To consider the report of the Chief Officer Resources.

The report of the Chief Officer Resources was submitted for consideration.

It was unanimously,

RESOLVED that the report be accepted and the Draft 2022/2023 Statement of Accounts be received for information, prior to consideration for approval on completion of the financial audit.