Agenda item

To receive a report by Head of Corporate Support Service: Performance, Digital and Assets (copy enclosed) to allow the committee input into draft Management Response to the Panel Performance Assessment.

The Head of Corporate Support Service: Performance, Digital and Assets (HCSSPDA) alongside the Lead Member for Finance, Performance and Strategic Assets introduced the Panel Performance Assessment (PPA) (previously circulated).

Officers stated that the report was For the Governance and Audit committee to be provided with the PPA report (Appendix 1), a draft of response statements (Sections 4.6 and 4.7) and the Action Plan (Appendix 2) setting out responses to the recommendations in the Panel Performance Assessment (PPA) report for the committee to discharge their duties under the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021, namely:

1. To receive a copy of the report (Appendix 1).
2. To review the statutory statements, the Council must make in response to the Report (Sections 4.6 and 4.7) and make recommendations for changes to the statements as it deems appropriate.
3. To review the actions the council intends to take (Appendix 2) and make recommendations for changes as it deems appropriate.

The Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 requires that principal councils must make arrangements for a Panel appointed by the council to assess the extent to which it is meeting its performance requirements at least once between two consecutive ordinary elections (May 2022 and anticipated May 2027), i.e. once per County Council’s term. In addition to fulfilling the statutory requirement, an effective PPA can inform the council’s improvement journey, building on the annual self-assessment and supporting it to look to the future through a different lens. The PPA has allowed to test thinking with impartial expert peers who provide alternative perspectives through independent, objective challenges in making their recommendations. The WLGA ran the Panel Performance Assessment on DCC’s behalf between 9th – 12th September 2024 – the first PPA in Wales.

The committee was informed of the draft statement that “the extent to which we accept the conclusions in the report” is as follows: “The Council accepts the report and its conclusions. It notes that the Assessment was a useful process and appreciates the thoughtfulness and the thoroughness of the Assessment team. For future Assessments, we would welcome greater content in the final report on the evidence seen which has led to each recommendation. A general observation, which reflects across a number of our responses in the Action Plan, is that we would like to have seen more emphasis in the process and report on how we are building community and council well-being and resilience for anticipated future challenges, in line with the Well-being of Future Generations goals and ways of working.”

The draft statement for the “extent to which the council intends to follow any

recommendations contained in the report” were as follows: “The Council accepts the report and its conclusions. It notes that the Assessment was a useful process and appreciates the thoughtfulness and the thoroughness of the Assessment team. For future Assessments, we would welcome greater content in the final report on the evidence seen which has led to each recommendation. A general observation, which reflects across a number of our responses in the Action Plan, is that we would like to have seen more emphasis in the process and report on how we are building community and council well-being and resilience for anticipated future challenges, in line with the Well-being of Future Generations goals and ways of working.”

Following the introduction, members discussed their suggested amendments to the PPA report –

• Point 3.1 of the PPA report states that the Committee should note and provide feedback on the Panel Performance Assessment Report (Appendix 1). The committee recommended including a more detailed list of invitees to Panel sessions during fieldwork week as an appendix.
• About point 4.6, The draft statement for “the extent to which we accept the conclusions in the report”, the committee suggested a small change to include the word welcome. Therefore, the sentence would read as “The Council welcome and accept the report and its conclusions.”
• Relating to point 3.3, ‘For Committee to review the actions the council intends to take, the ‘Action Plan’, and make recommendations for changes as it deems appropriate (Appendix 2)’ it was suggested that officers review the action plan to make the sentences more succinct and more straightforward.

There were other general suggestions, which were as follows.

• Add a fifth column “By when” to provide a timeline in which these actions will be completed
• Adjust response to Recommendation 1 in order to include reference to the briefing of individuals (political and operational) who represent the Council on external bodies or events so that they may advocate well for the Council and its mission. 
• Receive the draft internal audit report on partnership working and reflect the draft recommendations from that report within this action plan around recommendations 5 and 6
• Adjust the response to Recommendation 6 to mention using this improvement to support any partnerships the Council is involved in.
• Adjust response to Recommendations 6, 7 and 8 to reference how the Council will also work closely with private businesses.
• Adjust response to identified strength 6.1 bullet points 1 and 2 to include reference to this strength being important to the ongoing corporate governance health of the organisation.
• Adjust the response to Recommendation 4 to mention succession planning when mentioning workforce planning.
• Adjust response to identified strength 6.1 bullet point 3 to refer to actions #4, #5, #6 and how these actions contribute to sustain this identified strength

RESOLVED that the Governance and Audit Committee have considered the report's recommendations: 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3.  Officers would prepare a document to reflect these recommendations before submitting the PPA report to the Cabinet.