Agenda item

The Head of Policy, Communications and Governance presented the Annual Governance Statement for 2016/17 and a new Local Code of Corporate Governance for review and approval by the Committee prior to submission to the Policy and Resources Committee for agreement and then sign-off by the Leader of the Council and the Chief Executive.  It was noted that:

·  The purpose of the Annual Governance Statement was to provide assurance on the Council’s governance arrangements.  The Statement included a review of the effectiveness of the arrangements in place for 2016/17 and identified areas for action in 2017/18.

·  Action taken to address governance issues in 2016/17 included the introduction of a mandatory training module for data protection, new policies and guidance for all staff on information management, the introduction of a new Member Sounding Board to look at communication issues and how Members can be engaged and informed, and resolution of webcasting issues.

·  Overall the governance arrangements were sound, but there were areas where improvements could be made, including contract management.

·  The purpose of the Local Code of Corporate Governance was to set out the core principles of corporate governance and the arrangements in place to fulfil these responsibilities.  A new Local Code of Corporate Governance had been developed to reflect the “Delivering Good Governance Framework” introduced by CIPFA/SOLACE in 2016.  The format of the Annual Governance Statement had also been updated.

In response to questions and comments, it was explained that:

·  The effectiveness and costs/benefits of Investors in People accreditation was being looked at by the Employment Committee.

·  It had been found from audit work that there were weak controls in place for the management of cash at the Mote Park Café, but following implementation of audit recommendations, the controls in place had been re-assessed as “sound”.

·  Concerns relating to contract management would continue to be addressed in 2017/18.

·  The Annual Governance Statement would be amended to provide an explanation as to who the S151 and Monitoring Officers are and their roles and the Local Code of Corporate Governance would be amended to include references to the Parish Charter and the Statement of Community Involvement.

·  The Staff Handbook and the Councillor and Officer Codes of Conduct would be circulated to Members.

During the discussion, reference was made to correspondence received by Members from Parish Councils/Parish Councillors, which was considered to contain inappropriate language.  It was suggested that consideration be given to offering training to Parish Councils on equalities and Councillor Code of Conduct issues, possibly in conjunction with the Kent Association of Local Councils (KALC).  The Head of Policy, Communications and Governance undertook to look into the concerns raised, establish the issues, determine whether they might be addressed by the provision of training, possibly in conjunction with KALC, and keep Members informed.

RESOLVED:  That subject to the amendments made in the discussion, as outlined above, the Annual Governance Statement for 2016/17 and the Local Code of Corporate Governance 2017 be approved for submission to the Policy and Resources Committee for agreement and then sign-off by the Leader of the Council and the Chief Executive.