Agenda item

This report details the Annual Governance Statement (AGS) for 2019/20. 

The Head of Finance, Insurance & Risk explained that the Annual Governance Statement was part of the annual accounts process as required by the CIPFA Solace framework (Delivering Good Governance in Local Government). It provided a retrospective view of governance arrangements for 2019/20. It was acknowledged that a lot of change had occurred over the previous six months.  The statement was drawn from two main sources; the Head of Internal Audit Annual Report and the main risks from the Corporate Risk Register. The risks of significant concern detailed in the report were highlighted to Members and were summarised as around finance and the demand budget gap. These were acknowledged to pre-date the impact of Covid and had featured in the previous two budget years.

In response to a Member comment highlighting the risk associated with the long-term continued dependence on interim resources by Children’s Services, the Head of Insurance & Risk acknowledge that in common with other authorities recruitment of permanent staff for Children’s Services was a challenge.  This could not be addressed through a single solution but would continue to be the subject of a range of measures.

In response to a Member question regarding the risk to the Council posed by the financial failure of a local authority school, the Director of Finance and Risk acknowledged that this was being closely monitored. It was described how the Children, Families and Education Department had good financial tracking mechanism and that meetings were being held with schools. The assets of any local authority school that closed would return to the Council and therefore would be used to offset any deficit.

The Head of Insurance and Risk acknowledged the risk of the request to MHCLG for a capitalisation direction not being agreed. However, it was highlighted that the Annual Governance Statement was retrospective for 2019/20. It was envisaged that this would be included in the half year annual statement.

The meeting discussed the degree to which the impact of Covid on performance should be reflected in the Annual Governance Statement given this only occurred towards the very end of the period covered. It was suggested by a Member that as drafted, that this did not strike the right balance. The Head of Insurance & Risk acknowledged the difficulty of getting this right. The Director of Finance, Insurance and Risk suggested that the balance was correct but that it would be reviewed again before final sign-off. Ultimately this was for determination by the Leader and the Chief Executive. The Member stated they would provide some suggested revisions.

RESOLVED: The Committee AGREED the recommendations in the report:

1.    Approved the content of the Annual Governance Statement for the year 2019/20 at appendix 1 in the report.

2.    Agreed the statement on ‘outcomes’ in relation to ‘Issues raised in 2018/19 Statement and progress to date’. (Appendix 1, Table 2 in the report)

3.    Agreed the significant governance issues identified in relation to 2019/20 and the actions being taken to mitigate those risks.(Appendix 1, Table 1 in the report)