The Committee considered a report by the Head of Governance regarding the Annual Governance Statement 2021/22 (circulated previously).

The Head of Governance advised the Committee:

·       In conjunction with Internal and External Audit, compliance with the Framework in meeting the principles, where governance can be seen in action, and the assurance received and issued identified, had been assessed in detail and were included in full in Appendix A.

·       During the year Internal Audit undertook 18 audits with the reports then sent to Senior Management Team for review. Their overall opinion was ‘reasonable assurance’ that a generally sound system of governance, risk management and control was in place. 

·       Any areas that had been identified for improvement were detailed within the report.

In response to a question, the Head of Governance confirmed that all elements of the audit process were reviewed and assessed together.

In response to a question regarding the placing of items on an agenda, the Chair confirmed that all proposed items were discussed at the Chair’s meeting and that his agreement was sought prior to the publication of the agenda.

In response to question regarding the level of detail within the reports and whether they could be rationalised to simplify the process and reduce costs, the Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive advised that the reports had been reduced significantly. However, whilst officers were working with the auditors to reduce the length of some reports, certain reports had to be presented with a high level of detail owing to the decisions that were required to be taken by the Committee.

RESOLVED that the Annual Governance Statement 2021/22 be approved and proceed to Council for consideration.