Issue - meetings

To consider and to provide feedback on the draft Annual Governance Statement for 2019/20 as set out in Annex 1.

Members considered and provided feedback on the Draft Annual Governance Statement 2019/20 as set out in Annex 1.

The Council was required to publish an annual statement on its corporate governance arrangements as part of the annual Statement of Accounts for 2019/20.

Cllr T. Schofield, Portfolio Holder for Finance, said that in future years the Draft Annual Governance Statement would be considered by the newly-formed Audit Committee. For 2019/20, the Audit Committee had asked Overview and Scrutiny to provide its comments because the Committee had oversight of risk and governance matters during that year. The Committee was asked to provide any feedback to be taken into consideration before it was signed by the Leader and Interim Head of Paid Service. The final statement would be presented to the Audit Committee for approval at its meeting on 26 November 2020 and included in the audited Statement of Accounts. 

It was noted that there was a delay in publishing the Draft Statement of Accounts 2019/20 on the Council’s website which was set by Accounts and Audit Regulations 2020 as 31 August 2020. The primary reasons for the delay were the competing demands on Finance team resources due to the pandemic, and the additional work that was carried out during this closedown to ensure that all matters raised in the 2018/19 audit were addressed, primarily in relation to fixed asset record-keeping and accounting. Members asked that this be referenced in the Annual Governance Statement.

Members also requested that the Committee’s comments on Service and Financial Planning 2020/21, considered by the Budget Scrutiny Panel, and set out in Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s Annual Report 2019/20 (approved by Council on 30 July 2020) be added to the Financial Planning and Management section of the Draft Annual Governance Statement. The text was that: ‘The Panel recognised and appreciated the significant amount of work that had gone into preparing the service and financial plans for 2020/21 and concluded that the budget proposals were sound, balanced and achievable. However, concern was expressed that the overall increase in the Revenue budget is unsustainable in the long term, unless additional revenue income sources are brought on stream.’

RESOLVED that: 

(i)    the delay to the publication of the Draft Statement of Accounts 2019/20, set out in the Minutes, be noted in the Draft Annual Governance Statement;

(ii)  the comments on Service and Financial Plans 2020/21 Budget in the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Annual Report 2019/20, set out in the Minutes, be included in the Draft Annual Governance Statement.

(iii)the updated Draft Annual Governance Statement be recommended for signing by the Leader and Interim Head of Paid Service and for adoption by the Audit Committee at its meeting on 26 November 2020.