Agenda and draft minutes
Venue: Conference Room 1A, County Hall, Ruthin
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APOLOGIES Minutes: None received. |
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DECLARATION OF INTERESTS PDF 116 KB Members to declare any personal or prejudicial interests in any business identified to be considered at this meeting. Minutes: No declarations of
interest were raised. |
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URGENT MATTERS Notice of items, which in the opinion of the Chair should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency pursuant to Section 100B(4) of the Local Government Act 1972. Minutes: No urgent matters. |
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To receive the minutes of the Corporate Governance Committee meeting held on 06 March 2019 (copy enclosed). Minutes: The minutes of the Corporate Governance Committee meeting held on 6 March 2019 were submitted. Matters Arising – · The governance in schools was raised and how the hopeful outcome of the e learning and training sessions only increasing by 5%, made the pf reaching of 100% completion by November unlikely. · The CIPFA Practical Guidance questionnaire breakdown was queried as to whether it had been circulated. The Chief Internal Auditor (CIA) responded stating that it had been an oversight and would be circulated to members following the meeting. · Concerns with non-report related items such as members training that were not being monitored due to them not being noted in the forward work programme. It was agreed that the matter would be discussed at the end of the meeting. RESOLVED
that the minutes of
the Corporate Governance Committee meeting held on the 6 March 2019 be approved
as a correct record. |
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ANNUAL GOVERNANCE STATEMENT 2018-19 PDF 111 KB To consider a report by the Chief Internal Auditor (copy enclosed) on the Annual Governance Statement 2018-19. Additional documents:
Minutes: The Chief Internal
Auditor (CIA) introduced the report (previously circulated) which was to
demonstrate good governance. The Council was required to show that it was
complying with the core principles set out in the revised Framework for Delivering
Good Governance in Local Government (Wales) 2016 edition. The Annual Governance
Statement (AGS) was prepared using a self-assessment and reports on the
Council’s governance and improvement arrangements for 2018-19; along with
progress in addressing the improvement actions contained within the AGS
2017-18. It was a statutory
duty to publish an AGS in compliance with the Accounts and Audit (Wales)
Regulations 2014; which would allow the committee the opportunity to comment on
this years ‘annual governance statement’. The Annual
Governance Statement 2018-19 (Appendix 1) was developed by performing a
self-assessment of the Council’s governance arrangements against the Framework
for Delivering Good Governance in Local Governance (Wales) 2016 edition. This
was conducted by an officers group representing the key governance functions
from across the Council. The AGS referenced various evidence sources and
assurance sources such as the Internal Audit Annual Report, External Audit
reports, and risk registers. Members were made aware that the AGS was concise
and aimed to give a flavour of the work required. The CIA
guided members through the Annual Governance Statement 2018-19; the following
matters were discussed – ·
Review
of Effectiveness and the Review and update of the Money Laundering Policy. It
was queried which areas in the Council raised concerns in respect of money
laundering. It was clarified that the policy had been recently updated. Money
laundering was the concealment of the origins of illegally obtained money. The
policy was for members of staff to raise any concerns with suspicious actions
by members of the public. ·
Another
query with regards to the Review of Effectiveness section and the lack of a timetable
within the report. It was clarified that it would be included in the updated
report which would be returning to the committee in November. ·
The AGS
2018-19 was commended as a document and it was suggested that the document
could be circulated to all elected members to raise awareness of the work that
the Corporate Governance Committee carry out. ·
Training
was raised and whether lay members would be included in training organised for
the committee. The CIA agreed to explore the training requirements, for all
members of the committee, no training had been arranged, but the CIA would look
into training for lay members. ·
The
Internal Audit review of Contract Management in 2018/19 was queried what
timescale was allowed for the work to be completed Responding it was stated
that the work would be completed as long as it would take basis. RESOLVED –
that the Corporate Governance Committee approves the draft annual
governance statement for 2018-19 and notes the progress made on the action plan
from 2017-18 |
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WAO AUDIT PLAN 2019-20 PDF 110 KB To consider a report by the Chief Finance Officer (copy enclosed) on the 2019 Audit Plan Denbighshire County Council. Additional documents: Minutes: The Chief Finance
Officer (RW) introduced the report (previously circulated) on the 2019 Audit
Plan Denbighshire County Council which had been prepared by the Wales Audit
Office (WAO). The report sets out the planned programme of work for both the
WAO’s financial audit and performance audit programme. The report also dealt
with matters such as the fee for the work, details in respect of the audit team
and the timetable for the work. The Wales Audit
Office (WAO) representatives (ME) and (GB) gave a
summary of the contents of the 2019-20 Audit Plan – Denbighshire County Council,
which included – ·
Audit
of accounts ·
Performance
audit ·
Certification
of grant claims and returns ·
Fee,
audit team and timetable ·
Future
developments to the audit work The WAO
representatives provided the committee with an overview of the contents of the
report. During discussions the following matters were raised – ·
There
had been changes to the audit team, Derwyn Owen was the new Engagement Director
and Engagement lead. Matthew Edwards was the new Financial Audit Manager.
Another change not highlighted in the report was that Jeremy Evans would be
replacing Sara-Jane Byrne as the Performance Audit Manager; due to an internal
restructure. ·
It had been
identified that two WAO officers had family members working within the Council
and following a risk assessment they would not be allowed to audit work in
relation to the departments where families worked. ·
The
Social Services budgetary and cost pressures were raised and how thorough a
review would be carried out. It was clarified that the review would not look at
the quality of work carried out, but the budgetary pressures. A meeting would
be organised with senior management and discuss Social Services budgetary and
cost pressures with the aim to develop a project brief. It was suggested that a
verbal update could be returned to Corporate Governance at a later date. ·
Municipal
Recycling was queried in terms of whether the review would take the changes to
waste collection by the Council into consideration. It was explained that the
WAO would look review waste arrangements and how the Council engages with
communities on recycling and whether the Future Generation Act was taken into consideration
during the work. The Committee
commended the Wales Audit Office Representatives for the report RESOLVED that the committee note the content of the
report. |
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WAO REPORT ON USE OF DATA IN DENBIGHSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL PDF 1 MB To receive a report by the Strategic Planning Team Manager (copy attached) on the use of data in Denbighshire County Council. Minutes: The Strategic Planning Team Manager (SPTM) introduced the WAO report (previously circulated) on the Use of Data by Denbighshire County Council. There had been a review of the usage of data nationwide and the report focused on the usage of data within Denbighshire. The committee was assured that many of the key issues with data usage were common issues for many counties across Wales. The key issues highlighted in Denbighshire were - Vision, Leadership and Culture, Data Protection, Skills and Capacity; and Evidence-based decisions. A data audit had been carried out which identified areas where data was stored. The Council had complied with the Data Protection Act 2018 which required that data was kept secured and monitored. Data sharing protocols were in place, and 97% of Council staff had completed the mandatory GDPR training. The following matters were discussed in more detail – · Communication between Departments was highlighted as a concern, and the sharing of data. It was queried why some departments could not share information amongst themselves; and if data could be shared with third parties. It was stated that information could be shared if the correct process was followed; this applied to third parties as well. · The GDPR training was queried as to whether the training was available for elected members and lay members, it was not known whether the training was available for members and the SPTM would circulate information about this. · Data sharing was reiterated as a concern in regards to sharing with external bodies, especially with the recent raise in cybercrime. It was asked whether Denbighshire could ensure that the data was kept secure whilst being shared. Data protection was taken very seriously by the Council with many protective measures in place by the IT department, and information being transferred would also be protected. · Members were reminded that data was only collected for a reason, and those whose data was collected would be made aware of that reason, and whether the information would be shared. RESOLVED that the committee note the content of the
report. |
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CORPORATE GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE WORK PROGRAMME PDF 278 KB To consider the committee’s forward work programme (copy enclosed). Minutes: The Corporate Governance Committee’s Forward Work Programme (FWP) was presented for consideration (previously
circulated). The committee
scrutinised the FWP and wondered whether any items could be deferred to alleviate
the heavy agenda at the June meeting. No items were deferred. It was clarified
that the ‘Service Challenge – Service report’ and
‘Summary of the Alternative Delivery Model’ would discuss the same matters and
therefore the ‘Alternative Delivery Model’ could be removed from the FWP. In respect
of Training for members it was queried whether members could attend a pre
briefing session prior to meetings which had large issues to debate. Members
agreed that pre briefing sessions would be beneficial and a good use of time
for officers and members. It was
suggested that the forward work programme could be scrutinised to identify
items which could benefit from members briefing prior to the meeting. In July
there was a treasury report, it was deemed that training was not be required
until the full report would be brought back to the committee in November. The
safeguarding report which was scheduled for July was deemed as being
appropriate to hold a briefing session. Members
raised training was carried regularly for elected members, but it was deemed
that additional training could be beneficial to Corporate Governance members.
An agenda management session was deemed as being beneficial for members. (GW to
liaise with Democratic Manager to arrange training dates) The name of
the committee was raised, and why the auditing aspect of the meeting was not in
the name. It was stated that the Council could change the name of the
committee, and in a white paper it was suggested that the Committee could be
called the Corporate Governance and Audit Committee. The committee could request
a name change in its annual report to Council. 05 June – ·
The appointment
of chair and vice chair would be added due to the meeting being held in the
next municipal year. Future items
– ·
Schools
with financial issues could be discussed in the autumn. ·
Use of
capital contingency was also to be included on the forward work programme in the
autumn. RESOLVED
that, subject to the above, the Corporate Governance Committee approves
the Forward Work Programme. |