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 Councillors D. Bevan, W. Hodgins and K. Chaplin.

The Chair welcomed Cheryl Hucker, Lay Member to her first meeting of the Governance & Audit Committee.

To receive.

There were no declarations of interest and dispensations reported.

To receive the decisions of the Governance & Audit Committee held on 1^st December, 2023.

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

The decisions of the Governance & Audit Committee held on 1st December, 2023 were submitted.

It was unanimously

RESOLVED that the decisions be accepted as a true record of proceedings.

To receive the Action Sheet arising from the meeting held on 1^st December, 2023.

The Action Sheet arising from the meeting held on 1st December, 2023 was submitted, whereupon;-

Item 9 – Annual Report of the Audit and Risk Manager 2022/2023

A Member requested an update in relation to the ongoing investigations.  The Audit & Risk Manager responded that she would seek clarification from the Legal Section regarding constraints and report back appropriately to the Committee in due course.

It was unanimously

RESOLVED that the Action sheet be noted.

Consideration was given to report of the Scrutiny and Democratic Officer.

It was proposed that the Statement of Accounts 2022/23, Audit of Financial Statements and the Final Annual Governance Statement 2022/23 be presented to a future meeting of the Committee (March if possible) and the items for February’s Committee be reviewed.

It was unanimously,

RESOLVED, subject to the foregoing, that the report be accepted and the Forward Work Programme for the Governance and Audit Committee be accepted.

Consideration was given to report of the Head of Democratic Services, Governance & Partnerships.

It was unanimously

RESOLVED that the report be accepted and the Annual Audit Summary published in November 2023 be noted.

Consideration was given to the report of the Interim Chief Executive.

RESOLVED that the report be accepted and the content of the Audit Wales Report, ‘Corporate Joint Committees – commentary on their progress’ be noted and the Governance & Audit Committee receive any future reports from Audit Wales on the progress of the CJCs.

Consideration was given to the report of the Head of Democratic Services, Governance and Partnerships.

The Head of Democratic Services, Governance and Partnerships reported a typing error on page 81 and confirmed this would be corrected and responded to points raised by Members for clarification and amendment in the final Governance Statement.

It was unanimously;

RESOLVED, subject to the foregoing, that the report be accepted and Option 2 be endorsed, namely that the Committee considered and challenged the content, and deemed it to be consistent with their knowledge and understanding of the wider issues affecting the Council, subject to the proposed amendments.

Consideration was given to the report of the Audit and Risk Manager.

It was unanimously;

RESOLVED that the report be accepted and the Governance & Audit Committee considered the action plan developed in response to the findings from the EQA, attached at Appendix A & B, and noted the progress made.

Consideration was given to the report of the Chief Officer Resources.

It was unanimously;

RESOLVED that the report be accepted and the Shared Resource Service Summary of Audit Activity 23/24 provided by Torfaen CBC, containing the SRS IT plan and progress made against it (Appendix A) be noted.