Issue - meetings

Annual Governance Statement Update

Meeting: 19/11/2018 - Audit, Governance and Standards Committee (Item 57)

57 Annual Governance Statement Update pdf icon PDF 56 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Mrs Angela Woodhouse, Head of Policy, Communications and Governance, presented her report which provided a summary of the progress of the Annual Governance Statement Action Plan for 2018/19 which was approved by the Committee at its meeting held on 30 July 2018.  Mrs Woodhouse explained that:

 

·  A number of areas had been identified for action including developing a clear and consistent strategic narrative with an agreed vision and priorities; audit reviews with weak assurance; the Stress Survey and corporate risks.

 

·  Progress had been made across all areas since July 2018 as follows:

 

Work on the development of a new Strategic Plan was continuing and the aim was to agree the new vision, priorities and outcomes at the December Council meeting.

 

Following the implementation of recommended actions, the audit reviews with weak assurance had now been rated as sound.

 

Updates on the corporate risks highlighted in the report had been reported to the Policy and Resources Committee in October 2018 and there had been no change to the risk ratings and plan controls in place.

 

A number of actions had been implemented in response to the Stress Survey, including the introduction of Mental Health First Aiders (Mental Health First Aider training would also be offered to Members).

 

In response to questions by Members, Mrs Woodhouse explained that:

 

·  The vision, priorities and outcomes for the new Strategic Plan would be reported to the Policy and Resources Committee on 28 November 2018.  It was identified during the development of the new vision that it should go beyond the five years of the Strategic Plan to ensure that it leads all policies and strategies of the Council and sets out where the Council wants to be in the future.  As such it was proposed that the Strategic Plan should cover the period to 2045. 

 

·  Once the vision, priorities and outcomes were approved, the next steps would include the development of an action plan. It was anticipated that the action plan would cover a five year period.  The full Strategic Plan document would be reported to Council in March 2019 alongside the Medium Term Financial Strategy.

 

·  The Annual Governance Statement Action Plan for 2018/19 would be amended to reflect the fact that the new vision would lead to not just the Local Plan, but other important documents such as the Medium Term Financial Strategy coming forward.

 

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.