Mr Will Tuckley, Chief Executive stated the Annual Governance Statement had been produced following a comprehensive and rigorous review of the Council’s code of corporate governance. Each Corporate Director had reviewed their risks and had retrospectively looked at issues to see how they had been addressed. Mr Tuckley said the statement built on the internal audit plan identifying the key changes required. Some areas had been strengthened such as the Consultation Hub, to ensure consultations were consistent and people had access to this. He said other successes had been the recruitment of an Independent Person to the Audit Committee and the sustained process of prosecutions in relation to fraud.

Mr Tuckley said in other areas such as the financial management of the accounts a great deal of work was necessary to improve processes and procedures. He said the Annual Governance Statement was clear on the key challenges facing the organisation, such as the aforementioned and issues to address the Pensions Administration Scheme however the Council had moved to a more mature place and was now aiming to address the issues to a higher standard.

Mayor John Biggs added he appreciated the work undertaken by the Audit Committee and said it was only right to hold to account the Council’s progress, which was now focussing on the internal administration arrangements and good governance processes, following the period of reputational damage. He said the Statement provided a critique of the journey the Council was on and whilst the Statement referred to the 2020/21 it was in the context of that journey. He thanked the Chair Councillor Val Whitehead for her Chairmanship and Mr Paul Rock, Head of Internal Audit for the report and said this would require sign off when presented with the accounts.

In response to questions from Members the following was noted:

·         Councillor Marc Francis stated he supported the Annual Governance Statement for this year as it was honest, straightforward and speaks of the issues that need to be dealt with.  He said issues such as democratic governance and accountability were commonplace in such a large organisation but hoped these would be addressed in the future.

·         In reference to the Annual Audit opinion, page 62 of the agenda, Councillor Wood asked what areas needed improvement. Mr Paul Rock responded stating the AGS was providing commentary on the 2019/20 position and at the time improvement was required in risk management, financial accounting, accountability and improvement in response times to internal audit reports and management actions. He said the audit plan submitted to the Committee in July 2020 listed a programme of work, which his team were undertaking. He said they were not looking at the same areas and unfortunately discovered new areas where they had to give limited assurance. Mr Rock said he hoped future audits would lead to reasonable and substantial assurances.

·         Mr Tuckley added that whilst he wished for reasonable and substantive findings from the Internal Audit team, the reports needed to reflect a higher quality of administration across the Council. Mr Tuckley said changes were required in the way processes are managed and the ‘reward and recognition’ scheme and PDR’s had to instil this change across the organisation. He said has a multi-faceted bureaucracy, changes had to be made to systems and processes as well has the culture. He said the Audit Committee played a crucial role in this and hoped going forward more areas would achieve better assessments’, but the job of internal audit was to focus on the risk and worries of the organisation.

·         Clarity was sought over the wording of ‘I can provide limited assurance’ given on page 62 of the report. Mr Rock said he would look at the wording on a yearly basis to ensure it was fit for purpose.

The Audit Committee RESOLVED to:

1.    Review and agree the 2019/20 Annual Governance Statement.