Mr David Dobbs, Head of Internal Audit, Anti-Fraud and Risk introduced the Annual Governance Statement (AGS) for 2023/24. Mr Dobbs stated the Audit Committee had remediated the backlog of AGS’s for previous years and was now in synchronisation with the accounts closure timetable. He explained the AGS formed part of the accounts closure process.

Mr Dobbs said the progress made against significant Governance issues identified in the previous AGS 2022/23 were listed on page 29 of the supplementary agenda. Recommendations from the LGA Peer Review and Best Value Inspection had been considered.

In response to comments and questions from members the following was noted:

·       Members commented the AGS Statement was well presented however thought that it could be more balanced with the positives and negatives that were identified by the Peer Review and the BV inspection. Mr Dobbs said the statement presented was seeking comments of members and that this would be further reviewed before being presented to the Committee at its July meeting. He said it was a public document and was anodyne in nature.

·       Referring to page 31 of the supplementary agenda members asked if more clarity to be provided about the ‘respective savings’. What were the risks if the savings were not delivered. Likewise referring to page 33 about the ‘reliance on agency’ staff, members wanted to know how much of a saving this would be.

·       Councillor Bustin stated the conclusion needed to be strengthened, with a more balanced view of the Council’s governance arrangements.

o   ACTION: Mr Dobbs said he would reflect on the comments made and would sense-check the AGS, by sharpening the conclusion and providing more information where appropriate.

·       Ms Lorraine, Corporate Director for Resources explained the AGS was a commentary on the governance processes in place. She said the Audit Committee’s role was to ensure the controls were effective and the statement met with CIPFA guidelines and was a true and fair reflection of the CURRENT situation, that situation would change over time and, at the point of approving the final signed statement, events would be updated e.g. the outcome of the BVI inspection would be clear and then reflected. She said individual views were subjective, but observations made by Audit committee members would be noted in the minutes and appropriate, reflected in the final document.

The Audit Committee RESOLVED to:

1.    Note the Annual Governance Statement for 2023/24 and the comments made by members, with Officers reflecting on the comments made before presenting the AGS with the Annual accounts.