Agenda item

The Committee considered a report of the Corporate Director Resources which sought approval of the draft Annual Governance Statement (AGS) for 2019/20 (for copy see file of Minutes).

The Risk and Governance Manager reported on the draft Annual Governance Statement to accompany the draft set of accounts, and that a final Annual Governance Statement would follow with the final set of accounts, adding that there would only be changes should be any material issues, noting the context of COViD-19 being a fluid situation.

The Risk and Governance Manager advised that the Annual Governance Statement demonstrated how far the Council complied with the principles

of good governance, and the review of effectiveness for 2019/20

concluded that the Council’s corporate governance arrangements in

place during the year were fit for purpose in accordance with the

governance framework.  He added that the review had concluded that five actions, listed in Appendix C of the Annual Governance Statement, should be included in the plan of improvements to strengthen governance arrangements during 2020/21.

In reference to a question from Councillor J Shuttleworth in relation to the Secretary of State underwriting in cases of fraud relating to grants, the Chief Internal Auditor and Corporate Fraud Manager noted the wording used by the Secretary of State, however, he added that if the Council thought there was an error then it would actively pursue the issue, with the Secretary of State standing behind Local Authorities that had made all reasonable steps in terms of recovery.

Resolved:

That the draft Annual Governance Statement to be approved.