Agenda item
2018-19 Annual Governance Statement
- Meeting of Audit Committee, Tuesday, 21st July, 2020 5.30 p.m. (Item 5.1)
- View the background to item 5.1
Minutes:
Mr Paul Rock, Head of Internal Audit, Fraud and Risk stated the Annual Governance Statement had been revised several times and comments made by members of the Audit Committee had been taken into account. These were reflected in the revised Annual Governance Statement of 2018-19, which was being presented again for approval by the Audit Committee, following the May 2020 meeting.
Mr Rock said specific comments made in relation to Pensions administration, were cited under principal A, on page 5 and 24 of the statement; the resignation of a former councillor was on page 5 and the planning peer challenge was cited on page 18, under other inspections. Mr Rock explained there was a difference in the opinion given in the 2018/19 statement and his opinion for 2019/20 as the 2018/19 opinion was based on a non-scaled opinion and concluded the governance arrangements in place were adequate. Mr Rock said the 2019/20 opinion would be based on the body of work internal audit had undertaken and what he considered to be relevant, using the scaled opinion as set out in table 1, page 76 of the next report.
The Committee then heard from the Mayor John Biggs who said it was apparent the Annual Governance Statement had been to the Audit Committee on several occasions. He said following comments in July 2019, members of the Audit Committee as well as the Overview and Scrutiny Committee were given the opportunity to submit further comments. The Mayor said no comments were made until the Statement was presented again in May 2020 to the Audit Committee. He said the comments made by Councillor Wood had been added to the revised Statement and these were being presented to the Committee at this meeting.
Mayor Biggs said the ownership of the Annual Governance Statement laid with him and the Chief Executive and he believed the Statement fairly recorded the current position of the Council and therefore he did not feel there were any major omissions in the Statement. He said that upon election, he had made a pledge to root out maladministration and bad practice of the previous administration and considerable progress had been made to improve the governance of the Council. The Mayor said he was disappointed the Statement had not been approved in May but hoped the revisions made were satisfactory to members of the Audit Committee, to allow for the approval of the Statement.
Mr Will Tuckley, Chief Executive of London Borough of Tower Hamlets said he had given a substantial presentation at the last meeting and believed the statement gave a balanced view of the progress made since 2017/18. He said the Council had faced many challenges such as Children Services, Pensions Administration and Adult Social Care payments however good progress had been made to remedy these areas. He said more work was required to improve and strengthen governance in the Council, but this was work in progress. Overall, he believed the assessment made in the Annual Governance Statement was accurate.
In response to questions and comments from Members the following was noted:
- Ms Charlotte Webster commented that whilst the toing and froing of the Statement may not be ideal, it showed a degree of maturity in that Members have had the opportunity to comment upon it. She said the everyone had to come along with the process and accept the assessment made in the Statement, with the acknowledgment further work was required to strengthen the governance processes of the Council.
- Councillor Wood stated he was pleased his comments had been incorporated into the revised Statement. However, he felt the Council sometimes painted a slightly better position about governance than was the case. He said it was important for the Council to be more critical of itself but welcomed the changes made in the Annual Governance Statement.
- Councillor Francis said he also welcomed the revisions to the Statement but believed there to be a growing divergence between the spoken words, the written reports and the reality. Councillor Francis gave an example of where he felt information given to members was not specific and lacked detail. He said he had not provided comments in relation to the Annual Governance Statement other than in meetings because he felt there wasn’t a willingness for Officers to be straightforward with Members and the public. He said he did not support the Statement put forward and would abstain from voting for it.
- Councillor Haque said he welcomed the changes made but was frustrated the Mayor had questioned the professionalism of the Members of the Committee. He said this compromised the independence of the Audit Committee, whose role was to make comments on reports presented to them. Councillor Haque continued saying the function of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee was not in line with decision-making especially as the number of call-ins had decreased.
- Councillor Edgar said he was a new member of the Committee and whilst he had not been on the journey and was not familiar with all the changes made to the report, on balance he felt the report clearly stated the position of the Council with regard to governance and the adequate rating appeared to be the correct assessment.
- Councillor Ullah concurred with Councillor Francis and Councillor Haque that the number of call-ins had diminished since 2018/19. He said the reasons for this would be for the current Chair of Overview and Scrutiny to address. He said the Chief Executive and the Mayor ought to welcome the opportunity to be questioned especially as there was a need for openness and transparency.
The Audit Committee MOVED to:
Take a vote in relation to the Annual Governance Statement 2018/19 report with four members in support of the report and three members abstaining.
Therefore, the report was carried and it was RESOLVED
- That the 2018/19 Annual Governance Statement had been reviewed and agreed.
Supporting documents:
- 2018-19 Annual Governance Statement, item 5.1 PDF 249 KB
- Enc. 1 for 2018-19 Annual Governance Statement, item 5.1 PDF 433 KB