Issue - meetings

The Head of Legal presented a report on the Council’s updated Annual Governance Statement (“AGS”) for 2020/21.  Councillors were asked to consider and approve the report which contained further actions to be undertaken during the course of 2021/22.  It was noted that an additional section had been added to the AGS to reflect the impact of the Covid pandemic over the course of the year.

It was noted that a list of questions had recently been sent to the Head of Legal to answer in respect of the AGS and that a response to these would be given in the form of a revised AGS at the next committee meeting on 2 November.

It was confirmed that the external auditor had received and reviewed the AGS and although they had not yet commented on its content they would be doing so during the course of the audit.

Councillor Langton proposed a further recommendation relating to the prioritising of the actions to be taken in 2021/22 and for a report to be presented at the next committee meeting.  The recommendation was seconded by Councillor O’Driscoll.  Upon being put to the vote, the recommendation was agreed.

R E S O L V E D – that:

·         the Committee notes the Annual Governance Statement as set out in Appendix A to the report; and

·         the Executive Leadership Team prioritises the actions to be taken in 2021/22 as set out from page 26 onwards in paragraph 16 of the Annual Governance Statement Action Plan and agrees owners and dates for these actions in a brief report to be presented at the 2 November Audit & Scrutiny Committee meeting.