Decision details

The Committee considered a report by the Senior Solicitor and Monitoring Officer regarding the Annual Governance Statement 2020/21 (circulated previously).

The Head of Governance advised the Committee:

·         The Devon Audit Partnership (DAP) had given an opinion of Reasonable Assurance.

·         A series of recommendations had been presented to the Governance Committee which included items around Member Training and Code of Conduct, a review of the Corporate Plan Priorities and an update to the procurement strategy.

In response to questions from the Committee, the Head of Governance confirmed that:

·         The Corporate Plan was being examined in detail with the Solicitor and Data Protection Officer and

·         The Corporate and Community Services team were reviewing the community engagement strategy.

The Internal Auditor explained that their role included the provision of an annual assurance report which referenced a number of external, independent bodies, such as the ombudsman. Their opinion agreed with the overall picture presented by the Accounts.

In response to questions from the Committee, the Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive advised that:

·         The DAP had audited the AGS and considered good practice at neighbouring Local Authorities and had incorporated this where applicable.

·         The Member Training programme was being reviewed. The training programme included a refresher for Governance, equality and diversity refresher, along with further training on the roles of Members

RESOLVED that the Annual Governance Statement 2020/21 be noted and proceed to Council for consideration.