Agenda and draft minutes

None.

To appoint a Chair of the Governance and Audit Committee for the ensuing year.

The Monitoring Officer reminded members of the regulations of the Governance and Audit Committee stated clearly it was only independent Lay Members of the Committee that were eligible for the role of Chair of the committee.  

Nominations were sought for Chair of Governance and Audit Committee for the municipal year 2025/26.

Lay Member Nigel Rudd nominated Lay Member David Stewart for the role of Chair of the Governance and Audit Committee. This nomination was seconded by Councilllor Bobby Feeley.

There were no other nominations received.

RESOLVED that Lay Member David Stewart be appointed as the Governance and Audit Committee’s Chair for the ensuing year.

To appoint a Vice Chair of the Governance and Audit Committee for the ensuing year.

Nominations were sought for Vice Chair of Governance and Audit Committee for the municipal year 2025/26.

Councillor Ellie Chard proposed, Councillor Mark young for Vice Chair. This was seconded by Councillor Carol Holliday.

There were no other nominations received.

Resolved that Councillor Mark Young be appointed Vice Chair of the Governance and Audit Committee for the ensuing year.

The Chair, Lay Member David Stewart declared a personal interest in relation to all items on the agenda as he was a recipient of a Clwyd Pension Fund Pension.

Lay Member, Nigel Rudd declared a personal interest as he was a member of the Conwy County Borough Council Governance and Audit Committee.

Councillor Ellie Chard declared a personal interest in relation to all items on the

agenda as she was a recipient of a Clwyd Pension Fund Pension.

The Chair wanted to raise a concern regarding the Llannerch bridge. He asked if the committee required assurance around the project management of the process. Specifically, around if a preliminary risk assessment was normally carried out before this sort of project be approved. In this case had the aquifer and other technical matters been taken account for in the risk assessment. Which may have possibly avoided some of the revenue spent on the project.

A request had been received from Councillor Chris Evans that the Governance and Audit Committee review the project. The Chair stated the views of Councillor Evans were valid and a review might be justified with the most appropriate way of conducting that review would be via the internal audit department. A review could be conducted under the proposed internal audit of Capital Projects.  He proposed that the project be conducted by the internal audit team, this proposal was seconded by Councillor Mark Young.

The Chief Internal Auditor confirmed it could be included as part of the planned audit work.

Councillor James Elson stressed the importance of conducting a  review.

RESOLVED that the Llannerch Bridge Capital project be included as a Capital Project within the planned audit work for 2025/26.

To receive the minutes of the Governance and Audit Committee meeting held on 30 April 2025 (copy enclosed).

The minutes of the Governance and Audit Committee held on 30 April 2025 were submitted.

Matters of accuracy –

Page 8 – Minutes – The paragraph which stated ‘The Monitoring Officer confirmed he had been in contact with the Democratic Services Manager. Who was in the process of drafting a response. The issue was around the mechanism in place to ensure all Lay Members had a method of contributing to the response to the consultation. Further work was required to establish a mechanism to ensure Lay Members had the opportunity to respond prior to the discussion taking place by the Democratic Services Committee’ was in relation to reports from the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales.

Page 12 - Medium Term Financial Strategy plan 2026/27-2028/29 – the ‘new system’ as detailed was not the principal reason for the delays incurred but it compounded the problems faced when balancing the accounts.

Page 12 - Medium Term Financial Strategy plan 2026/27-2028/29 – the resolution should have read 'The Committee considered, approved and provided feedback on the updates listed in the report on whether the Council has robust processes in place to make effective decisions in a timely manner to deliver balanced budgets in future.’

Matters arising – The Chair relayed an email he had received from former Lay Member Paul Whitham. In which it offered his genuine thanks expressed at the last meeting. They had been greatly appreciated by himself and his family.

Page 8 – Nigel Rudd asked if there was any update on the recruitment of a new Lay Member. In response the Chair confirmed the panel would consist of the Chair, Vice Chair and Councillor Bobby Feeley assisted by the Chief Internal Auditor and Corporate Director Governance and Business. The advert was due to go out imminently, unfortunately there had been a delay due to capacity.

In relation to the elected Member vacancy, the Monitoring Officer confirmed he would liaise with the Democratic Manager to ensure correspondence with the political party group leader had taken place to nominate a Councillor to take the seat on the committee.

Page 11- Medium Term Financial Strategy Plan 2026/27-2028/29 – the Head of Finance confirmed the funding had been transferred from Westminster to Cardiff. At present it was still only estimates on what the cost would be to the public sector. The level of funding was around 75% with Welsh Government topping it up to 85% with reserves. Discussions within Welsh Government were ongoing on how that funding was distributed. Denbighshire County Council was not reliant on the funding to balance the budget for 2025/26. The funding would be additional funding in year and additional funding used to bridge the gap in 2026/27. The impact is the additional cost which the authority did not have last year. Correspondence with further details was hoped to be received soon.

Page 12 – Internal Audit Update – The Chair endorsed the hard work of the Internal Audit.

RESOLVED that subject to the above, the minutes of the meeting held on the 30 April 2025 be received and approved as a true and correct record of the proceedings.

To consider a report by the Strategic Planning and Performance Officer (copy attached) to provide end of year analysis of progress and challenges with key performance objectives.

The Lead Member for Corporate Strategy, Policy, Equalities and Strategic Assets alongside the Head of Corporate Support Service: Performance, Digital and Assets, the Insight, Strategy and Delivery Manager and the Strategic Planning and Performance Officer presented the Council Performance Self-Assessment 2024 to 2025 and Performance Update Report October 2024 to March 2025 (previously circulated) to the Committee.  They explained that the report presented the Council’s Performance Self-Assessment for 2024 to 2025, providing an end of year analysis of achievements and challenges with the Council’s key performance objectives (the Corporate Plan themes), together with the Authority’s October 2024 to March 2025 Performance Update.

The Committee was guided through the report which consisted of an Executive Summary highlighting performance against objectives and the seven governance areas; the Performance Update Report October 2024 to March 2025; details of the improvement activities identified through discussions to date, along with the new Citizen Voice report.

The Lead Member reflected that the Council should be proud of what had been achieved in difficult circumstances over the past twelve months, with clear evidence of Councillors and staff delivering to high standards. She highlighted the five key achievements over this period and the four key challenges and areas for improvement as detailed in Appendix I.

The Head of Corporate Support Service: Performance, Digital, and Assets thanked the Strategic Planning Team for producing the documentation. Feedback was sought on the content of the draft reports, prior to the reports being presented to further committees and seek approval of the final documents by Council in July.

Eight improvement actions had been identified though discussions about this report and details of each were included in the cover report. In addition to the eight detailed in the report a further improvement had been added which was – assess the cost alternative arrangements for meeting our statutory duties in relation to seeking stake holder feedback currently met through the annual stakeholder survey to improve confidence and data gathering.

The Strategic Planning and Improvement Officer provided further context, advising that 21% (17) of corporate plan indicators had been categorised “red” and the team would be working to pre-empt indicators in the future to prevent deterioration and undertake further work to make reports more user-friendly and easier to navigate.  She elaborated on several areas of excellent performance - “greens,” performance trends against various other performance indicators, together with “red” areas where challenges were faced.

These included positive work which had taken place in housing. New housing had been completed in Prestatyn along with a new police station.

According to Welsh Statistics, Denbighshire ranked 2^nd highest in North Wales for the number of affordable homes per 100 people and in the top 5 in Wales.

Prevention was an important goal across the authority and in collaboration with partners. An indicator was collected on the number of people that are supported through talking points that are then prevented from needing adult social care. 94% of those that used talking points did not need further support from adult social care.

Good statistics around tourism had been recorded including revenue from tourism and the number of tourists in the authority.

Education had also seen positive feedback with a reduction in disengaged pupils being below the Wales average, and more positive feelings from pupils attending schools.

Members heard work had been done on the benchmarking on sickness absence with a very low sickness absence, third lowest in Wales.   

The Monitoring offered some context on the role of the Committee. The Local Government and Elections Wales Act 2021 required Section 91 each year the council set out a report. With  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

AT THIS JUNCTURE (11.22 AM) THERE WAS A 10 MINUTE BREAK.

THE MEETING RECONVENED AT 11.32 AM

To receive a report by the Chief Internal Auditor (copy attached) regarding the Annual Governance Statement 2024 – 2025.

The Chair welcomed the Lead Member for Finance, Councillor Delyth Jones to her first meeting of Governance and Audit Committee.

The Lead Member introduced the report (previously circulated). She reminded members the report was the annual papers. It was a statement that all authorities were required to comply with, with core principals of the framework for delivering good governance in local Government Wales. The paper had been prepared using the self-assessment and reports on the authorities governance and improvements arrangements for 2024/25, along with reports produced on the progress made on the actions noted in the annual governance statement for the previous year.    

The report was an important document that assisted the reader in identifying and celebrating areas where the authority had performed well and other areas requiring further improvement.

The Annual Governance Statement was presented to Audit Wales as part of the final statement of accounts.

It was a statutory duty to prepare an annual governance statement. The Lead Member welcomed comments and discussion on the papers.

The Chief Internal Auditor thanked the Lead Member for the introduction and along with the Insight, Strategy and Delivery Manager provided members with further detail.

He explained that previously he had produced the report solely, following the comments of the committee last July suggesting the task be a lot of work for one person to undertake, a corporate governance officer group had been established to support the production of the Annual Governance Statement.

The report was prepared to support the Statement of Accounts and provided the committee with assurance that the council’s services are operating effectively and that there are public controls in place to ensure the council demonstrates good governance arrangements throughout the financial year.

The new Global Internal Audit Standards outline the Chief Internal Auditor should support the production of the annual governance statement but should not be solely responsible for producing the report. He explained the Insight, Strategy and Delivery Manager would be taking lead on this report going forward with his support.

The new Global Internal Audit Standards were to replace the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards, and all councils had until 31 March 2026 to fully implement all the changes to become compliant.

As required by the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021, the Council completed its peer-led Panel Performance Assessment in September 2024. The report and action plan were accepted by Council in December 2024.

Agreed actions responding to the recommendations now being taken forward through the Council’s continuous improvement process with progress reported bi-annually to the Senior Leadership Team, Cabinet and committees.

Details of the external Internal Audit assessment had been included in the report including the agreed actions and recommendations. It was hoped in the next 12-18 months the internal audit team would be fully compliant with Public Service Internal Audit Standards.

Members attention was directed to some areas that needed amending. Point 7.2.1 stated ‘The draft accounts for 2022/23 were signed by the Head of Finance on the 6 September 2023 and then by the Chair of the

Governance and Audit Committee.’ It was stressed the Chair has not signed those draft accounts. That statement would be removed from the report. Also in 7.2.3 finance officers had requested a change to the wording. It should read ‘Denbighshire County Council’s accounts for 2021/22 were unqualified though there was an issue around how assets had been accounted’ replacing the as (in the report) with though.

The Chair stated, in his opinion the document was one of the most important reports the committee receive. It detailed the effectiveness of the councils governance arrangements across the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

To receive a report by the Chief Internal Auditor which provided the Committee with the Internal Audit Plan for 2025-26 (copy attached).

The Lead Member for Finance, Councillor Delyth Jones alongside the Chief Internal Auditor introduced the Internal Audit Plan report (previously circulated).

The report provided members with the Internal Audit Plan for 2025-26. Regulations required authorities to have an accurate record of an adequate and effective system of internal audit of their accounting records and system of internal controls. The independent internal audit functions was designed to provide assurance to all involved charged with good governance that records and controls are adequate and effective.

Members were reminded that the Chief Internal Auditor was charged with producing the internal audit plan on an annual basis and present to the committee.

Members heard previous Internal Audit plan reports had been included as part of the Internal Audit Strategy report. It was felt that the internal audit plan warranted being separate to allow for member discussion.

Within the new Global Internal Audit Standards, it stated the Chief Internal Auditor should present an annual plan within the first 3 months of the financial year.   

The process undertaken to produce the Internal Audit plan included a meeting with each Head of Service to discuss any issues or if a particular area would benefit from an internal audit review. A review of the corporate and service risk registers took place during those discussions. Often internal auditors would identify similarities across Denbighshire, and it would become a themed audit across the authority.

The Mid and North Wales Auditor group and Welsh Chief Internal Auditor Groups which meet to discuss areas of concern. Which in doing so may raise an area to review.

Also, external journals released also raised areas in need of review or investigation.

Members heard all those areas fed into the assurance mapping spreadsheet. That mapping process looked at scoring against, the Corporate Service priorities, risk register inherent, risk register residual risks, management and Scrutiny reports, performance reports, financial impacts, external regulatory reports and internal audit reports. One the information was included it was scored which provided an overall score of the audit need rating. The score was out of 600, initially all reviews that receive a score of 500 or more are included on the plan and then if capacity permitted the reviews with a score 400-500 would be reviewed and included.

The plan for 2025/26 had been broken down into seven areas, members were guided to the report which provided details of each area. Details of each area were provided.

The Chair thanked the Chief Internal Auditor for the work that had gone in producing the audit plan and for the explanation of how the work was prioritised. He welcomed the process that was undertaken to reach the audit plan. Members heard that it had been noted in future reports members would have sight of the internal audit assurance mapping spreadsheet to provide further knowledge and understanding of the process and ensure resources in the internal audit team could accommodate the proposed planned work.

Members heard at the beginning of the work to produce the annual plan the Chief Internal Auditor calculates how many working days per auditor, minus any annual leave, bank holidays, college days and a figure for sickness. This provides an overall figure to allocate days to complete audits. The plan also allowed some flexibility and days for any special investigations received and work towards the 2026/27. He stressed items and areas of review may become apparent during the year and the plan would have to change accordingly.

Work with the Corporate Executive Team to address any concerns or areas they wish to review with regards to Denbighshire Leisure Limited would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

To receive a report by the Head of Finance and Audit providing an update on the statement of accounts (copy attached).

The Lead Member for Finance introduced the report (previously circulated). She guided members through the paper and stressed the point that the council had a statutory duty to produce statement of accounts annually that complied with approved accounting standards. The report provided an update on some ongoing issues the committee were aware of. It was emphasised to the committee the issues described in the report related to one specific area of technical accounting in relation to unusable reserves. Therefor it did not materially impact on the authorities’ budget setting and financial planning.

It was important to note officers had worked proactively with Audit Wales and had an agreed strategy to resolve the issue.

The Head of Finance thanked the Lead Member for the introduction, she guided Members to the table illustrated in paragraph 4.11. It detailed the current position for the financial years 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25. It provided details of actions being taken to address the issues.

The Chair confirmed the information and issues provided in the report were known issues to the committee. They had previously been provided by the Head of finance as verbal reports. He stated at the July meeting, the draft annual Governance and Audit report was to be presented. The Chair explained he intended to include in that report details of the Statements of Accounts. He confirmed he would be stressing the delays were due to technical accounting matters and had no impact on the Council’s overall financial position or budgets.

The report confirmed the work officers were doing to address the issue with 2022/23 balance alongside guidance from CIPFA. It was estimated the work to address the historical cost accounting issues would take between 6-8 weeks to complete. That work was due to commence in July, before an update to the statements can take place and Audit Wales complete the necessary audit work of the accounts. It was estimated the earliest time a conclusion to the 2022/23 audit could be presented to committee would be January 2026. His was dependant on other parties timelines and availability to complete the necessary work.

The Chair stressed an important reason for the delays to be included in the annual Governance and Audit report was to avoid political exploitation against the authority.

Once the completed work to resolve the historical issues had taken place, it would put the authority in good stead to move forward. The work had to be completed fully and to the standards to ensure going forward the issued did not affect future years accounts. Work and communication with Audit Wales had taken place during the whole process to ensure all officers are aware of the position of the accounts from 2022/23 and subsequent years.

The Head of Finance suggested an amendment to the forward work programme for the July meeting to receive the 2023/24 Statement of Accounts for initial consideration. To ensure work on these accounts did not fall to far behind.

The Audit Wales representative stressed the frequent communication with the finance officers and were supportive of the proposed work proposed by Denbighshire County Council.

It was stressed the new finance system had compounded the issue, as the historic issues are on the old system prohibiting the move to the new system. It was not related to the issue, but did contribute to the compounding of the issues. Changes to any systems that had been in place for numerous years would take time to bed in. It was hoped that the new system would make the process easier and be beneficial for officers.

The Chair emphasised the acquisition of the new financial  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

The Governance and Audit Committee’s Forward Work Programme (previously circulated) was presented for consideration.

Members were reminded that the Chair, Vice Chair and Chief Internal Auditor met monthly to discuss the forward work programme.

The Monitoring Officer confirmed a report was due to be presented to Council on the 8th July to agree the cycle of meetings for the next 12 months. The forward work programme would be amended to reflect those changes once agreed.

The Head of Finance confirmed the report title for the Statement of Accounts in the July meeting should read Statement of Accounts 2023/24. She also confirmed the Approval of the Statement of Accounts report needed to be moved below, to be allocated. The Head of Finance agreed to work with the Chair and Chief Internal Auditor to amend the forward work programme to reflect the necessary changes required to the Statement of Accounts reports.   

Members noted some changes to reports being deferred this had been due to capacity issues.

The Chair confirmed the annual Governance and Audit report for 2024/25 would be presented at the July meeting as a draft before it being presented to County Council.

The Chair highlighted that an information report on Performance and Management guide had been removed. He queried with officers why this had happened and was informed that it had been sent to members. Members agreed to have it sent to members outside the meeting.

The Chair encouraged members to contact him with any comments on the forward work programme for consideration.

The Monitoring Officer confirmed the Performance report was due to be presented to Performance Scrutiny in January 2026 so if required it could be included in the Governance and Audit forward programme in the new year.

RESOLVED: that subject to the above, the Governance and Audit Committee

Forward Work Programme be noted.

To receive for information the Audit Wales report – Sustainable Development? – Making best use of brownfield land and empty housing, along with the organisational response (copy attached).

The Chair introduced the Audit Wales report on Sustainable development? - Making best use of brownfield land & empty buildings for information.

He reminded members the Audit Wales report had been previously shared in March 2024. Included in the papers was the management response to that report.

The Chair raised concern on the time it had taken for the management response to be formalised and presented to the committee.

The Monitoring Officer noted the concerns of the committee. In response he stated officers were looking at how the delay had occurred to ensure it didn’t happen again in the future.

RESOLVED that the Governance and Audit Committee note the information report.