Issue - meetings

The Chairman of the Governance and Audit Committee presented the report to Council which provided an overview of the work of the Governance & Audit Committee during 2020/21.

Despite working under the constraints of lockdown, necessitating the holding of virtual meetings, the Committee had fulfilled its obligations as set out in its terms of reference. The Chairman summarised some of the activities the Committee had undertaken including a self-evaluation exercise to identify any aspects that required improvement in order that the Committee could be a more effective body. This had proved to be a useful piece of work and had led to some improvements in the way the Committee operated.

The Chairman of the Committee took the opportunity to thank the outgoing Monitoring Officer for all his support over the past year.  These comments were echoed by other Members.

Members of the Committee thanked the Governance and Audit Committee Chairman for the way he engaged his Members and managed his committee.  Members welcomed the introduction of full Committee pre-briefings, which it was considered, had greatly improved Members’ ability to engage.

Having being moved and seconded it was

RESOLVED that the work undertaken by the Governance and Audit Committee during 2020/21be noted.

Members heard from the Corporate Policy Manager & Deputy Monitoring Officer regarding the work undertaken by the Committee during 2020/2021. It was explained that guidance provided by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy (CIPFA), advised that audit committees ought to present an annual report to Council, highlighting their work and demonstrating compliance with their terms of reference. The report provided Council with an oversight of the Committee’s activity during 2020/21 and followed a similar report to the one submitted to Full Council in June 2020. It covered the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, a list of activity and miscellaneous pieces of work including the public question and the amendment of the honours scheme to include adoption of the district.

Members expressed their thanks for a clear and transparent report, as well as highlighting how the virtual committee arrangements had been successful. It was suggested that details of the roles and responsibilities of, for example, the Chief Finance Officer, could be shared with Members.

With no further comments it was

            RESOLVED that

a)    the work undertaken by the Governance and Audit Committee during 2020/21, as detailed in the report, be confirmed; and

b)    the submission of the report to Full Council be approved.