Agenda item

This report supports the fulfilment of the Council’s statutory duty to produce an annual governance statement.

The report of the Chief Officer Financial Services supported the fulfilment of the Council’s statutory duty to produce an annual governance statement.

The Interim Annual Governance Statement was shared with the committee for information prior to finalisation following the period of public deposit on the Council’s website. It was noted there had been no issues raised in relation to the Annual Governance Statement. The final Annual Governance Statement will be submitted to the September meeting for the Committees approval.

Responding to questions from the Committee the following information was provided:

·  In relation to a question about the Ombudsman, the Committee were informed that the internal audit service was in the process of carrying out an internal audit of the Council’s complaints process. Responses from the Ombudsman provide an opportunity to give assurance on organisational learning. Where there is an Ombudsman judgement it is shared with the relevant officers and services to reflect on the control environment. The Committee were assured that there are mechanisms in place to address any issues raised by the Ombudsman and Internal Audit can provide further independent assurance and this is presented through the update reports to the Committee. Cllr Dowson suggested that the Committee may wish to look further at the successful learning from Ombudsman complaints at a future meeting if within remit. The Chair agreed to consider this suggestion.

·  It was noted that the peer review undertaken of the Council commented favourably on the partnership working that takes place in Leeds. The survey of internal control did look at partnerships and provided insight. It was acknowledged that there is a need to consider proportionate assurance in relation to partnership governance although controls in relation to partnerships are the same as other governance controls within the Council. It was noted that there is a conversation ongoing with the Corporate Leadership Team to look at what the most appropriate and proportionate assurance arrangements should be. This work is taking place over the summer and may feed into the final version of the Annual Governance Statement. In addition, the Chief Finance Officer informed the Committee that work is taking place as part of the budget process looking at how the Council can work more effectively in partnership, particularly working with the third sector, to maximise funding for the communities.

·  In relation to a question about aligning the Council’s governance with West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA), it was acknowledged that the Council would be working more closely with WYCA in the future. It was noted that the WYCA governance was not dissimilar to the Council’s due to the way it had been set up, therefore not massively different. However, it was acknowledged that WYCA is a separate and distinct authority and therefore has its own decision-making processes. It was noted that the Council is currently working with WYCA on governance and assurance around their funding that then comes through to local authorities, and for the Chief Finance Officer to have the level of assurance needed to sign off on the spending for schemes.

RESOLVED - To consider and note the contents of the Interim Annual Governance Statement.