Issue - meetings

Draft Annual Governance Statement 2020/21

Meeting: 10/06/2021 - Audit Committee (Item 6)

6 Draft Annual Governance Statement 2020/21

To enable the adoption of the Annual Governance Statement so that it can be included within the annual Statement of Accounts for 2020/21.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Interim Head of Finance explained that the Council was required to publish an annual statement on its internal control and corporate governance arrangements as part of the Statement of Accounts. It was good practice for this to be endorsed by the Committee that oversaw these arrangements.

 

Key information was shown in paragraph 5 of the report and this was explained. It was noted that consideration had also been given to COVID-19, its impact on governance arrangements, and the special measures put in place in response to the situation.

 

The final version would reference the most recent opinions from both internal and external auditors.

 

The Statement includes any areas of concern or requirement for improvement. Although no significant weaknesses had been identified, work was ongoing to continually improve, ensuring compliance with good practice.

 

The next step was to finalise the Statement for signature by the Leader of the Council and the Head of Paid Service. It would then be included in the audited Statement of Accounts which was due to be reported to this Committee in the Autumn.

 

RESOLVED that the Committee notes the Draft Annual Governance Statement 2020/21 as set out in Annex 1 to the report.