Issue - meetings
Annual Governance Statement for 2023/24 and Action for 2024/25
Meeting: 25/07/2024 - Audit and Governance Committee (Item 14)
14 Annual Governance Statement for 2023/24 and Action for 2024/25 
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Purpose:
The report provides the Audit Committee with an updated Annual Governance Statement for 2023/24 and an Annual Governance Action plan for 2024/25.
Recommendation:
That the Audit and Governance Committee resolves to:
1. Approve and agree the updated Annual Governance Statement for 2023/24 and Annual Governance Action plan for 2024/25;
2. Receive updates on the progress against the key actions at future meetings.
Invited:
Andrea McCaskie, Director of Governance, Monitoring Officer
Cheryl Sloan, Business Manager for Governance, Risk and Business Continuity
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Andrea McCaskie, the Director of Governance, introduced the report that provided the Audit Committee with an updated Annual Governance Statement for 2023/24 and an Annual Governance Action plan for 2024/25 which formed part of the Statement of Accounts.
It was explained that The Annual Governance Statement was backward looking, detailing the governance arrangements which were in place for the previous financial year (2023/24). This also showed the progress which was made against the Annual Governance Action plan for 2023/24. Regulation 4 of The Accounts and Audit Regulations 2011 required the Council to produce an Annual Governance Statement (AGS), setting out the Council’s governance arrangements. The Annual Governance Action plan, was forward looking, setting out the areas of improvement / focus for the current financial year (2024/25).
There were 9 key actions within the 2024/25 Annual Governance action plan, these included:
· Freedom of information
· Complaints process
· New service delivery models
· Council constitution
· Emergency planning and business continuity
· Risk management
· Review of Audit and Governance committee
· Financial management
· Procurement
The plan identified the specific tasks that will be undertaken in the respective areas of focus and set timescales for their completion. The Action Plan would also include a RAG rating to show whether the actions are on target, off target but action being taken to ensure delivery or off target and no action has yet been agreed to resolve the situation. Updates on progress will be presented to future Audit and Governance Committee meetings.
Based on various questions and queries from Members the following points were explained:
· Martin’s law was based around arena security which came into practice after the terrorist incident in Manchester which was part of business continuity and emergency planning. This was to ensure the change in legislation was implemented.
· There were three stages of escalation for complaints at West Oxford District Council currently and this was re-examined to ensure good practice.
· HR policies mirrored Publica policies to ensure the transition for staff after the Publica split would be less problematic. The policies would be updated as required as and when, once the split was complete. Copies were kept on the intranet that went through Oct 2023 Executive and would be on the intranet as well. Officers would ensure Councillors knew where to find them.
· The bulk of the statement was demonstrating the evidence around good practice and that it was being implemented. The action plan drew attention to the areas that required focus and potential attention.
· The record of the meeting were the approved minutes; and regarding regulatory matters it was very important to capture what the decision actually was. However, Officers would find out how long recordings were kept.
RESOLVED that the Audit and Governance Committee AGREED to:
1. Approve and agree the updated Annual Governance Statement for 2023/24 and Annual Governance Action plan for 2024/25;
2. Receive updates on the progress against the key actions at future meetings.