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1.1 Apologies were received from Nigel Aurelius, Deputy Chief Executive.
2.1 Councillor Ashley declared a personal interest as he was in receipt of a pension from the Greater Gwent (Torfaen) Pension Fund. 2.2 Michael Kelleher declared a personal interest as he was in receipt of a pension from the Greater Gwent (Torfaen) Pension Fund. 2.3 Kathryn Pegington declared a personal interest as her husband was in receipt of a pension from the Greater Gwent (Torfaen) Pension Fund. 2.4 Councillor Williams declared a personal interest as he was a member of the Pensions Committee.
3.1 The minutes of the meeting held on 19 October 2022 were confirmed as an accurate record.
4.1 The HoIA&P confirmed that he would arrange a date for the training session regarding the complaints process, referred to within the action sheet. 4.2 The Committee noted the action sheet.
5.1 JR outlined the report on the Audit of Accounts 2021-22. She stated that the Auditor General for Wales intended to issue an unqualified opinion on the accounts, and she thanked officers for their co-operation and support during the challenging year. 5.2 The deadline for completing all audits of accounts in Wales had changed to 31 January 2023, due to the time it had taken to resolve issues regarding non-current assets. 5.3 JR provided updates regarding the corrected misstatements within the report and confirmed that relevant amendments would be made prior to sign off. The uncorrected misstatement would be corrected within next year’s accounts, as agreed with management. 5.4 Following questions from the Committee, the DFS made the following points: • The Council would be taking advantage of the temporary reliefs for reduced disclosures related to infrastructure assets, as referred to in paragraphs 15 to 17 of the report. He added that the vast majority of councils in the UK would also be doing this and that they were awaiting more detailed guidance from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA). • With regards to the summary of corrections in Appendix 3 of the report, the values were significant and sizeable; however they were less significant when compared to the whole balance sheet. • Some of the corrections above related to the activities of officers and he reassured members that lessons were being learned and mitigations were being put in place for the future, such as training and system changes; however he was unable to guarantee that they would not occur again. • Some of the corrections were due to national issues that occurred after the Council had produced its accounts in May 2022, with new advice and guidance becoming available from governing bodies. 5.5 The Governance and Audit Committee agreed to note the content of the report.
6.1 The DFS outlined the report on Torfaen County Borough Council’s Statement of Accounts for 2021/22. 6.2 The DFS confirmed that the final Statement of Accounts would be presented to Council on 24 January 2023 for approval, and the Auditor General for Wales would then sign off the audit. The Statement of Accounts was available in Appendix 1 of the report and Appendix 3 of the report outlined the responses from management to Audit Wales’ queries during the audit period. 6.3 Following questions from the Committee, the DFS made the following points: • A mixture of prudence and opportunity had resulted in the increase of reserves and provisions. Significant money from Welsh Government (WG) in order to support the delivery of council and school services during the exit of the pandemic had allowed base budgets to be freed up and money to be moved into reserves. This had put the Council in a good position regarding the 2023/24 budget. • The transactions relating to members, as outlined on page 115 of the agenda, were small amounts but it was important that members declared all relevant interests. • Reserves would continue to be used for one-off projects and supporting initiatives regarding council services. 6.4 The Governance and Audit Committee: (i) Noted the position of the 2021/22 external audit process; (ii) Reviewed the Council’s Statement of Accounts; and (iii) Noted the requirement for the Chair of the Governance & Audit Committee to sign, alongside the Chief Financial Officer, the Council’s Letter of Representation.
7.1 The GFOC outlined the report on the Council’s Capital Strategy to 2027/28, which provided a high-level overview of capital expenditure, capital financing and treasury management activities. The GFOC confirmed that the Capital Strategy had been considered alongside the County Plan. 7.2 Following questions from the Committee, the DFS made the following points: • Cost increases and delays on projects had been seen during the current financial year, such as Maendy Primary School and Pontypool and New Inn Railway Station. The above was due to external and inflationary factors. • The Council’s commercial estate was made up of legacy investments from many years ago and provided a significant revenue income without issues, and the Council was not looking to transfer these assets. Transferring these assets could provide short-term capital; however the related lost income in the revenue budget would then need to be reprioritised. 7.3 The Governance and Audit Committee agreed to note the Capital Strategy and related appendices.
8.1 The B&DSSM outlined the report, which enabled members to note new recommendations and proposals for improvement received from Audit Wales and other external regulators / inspectorates since the last update report. 8.2 The B&DSSM confirmed that since the last update in October 2022, five new reports been received by the Council from its external regulators and inspectors. The above included one local report and four national reports, and they were outlined within section 4 of the report. 8.3 Following questions from the Committee, the B&DSSM made the following points: • It was possible for the chairs of the overview and scrutiny committees to consider and agree the most appropriate forum for considering the Social Enterprises and Poverty in Wales reports. • He was confident that the Equalities Team would consider areas of good practice regarding the Equality Impact Assessment report, and members would have the opportunity to scrutinise the Council’s response to this recommendation when the report returned to the Committee in the future. • It was important to consider resource implications relating to reports; however improvement should always be seen as a positive. The Council had agreed with the identified areas of improvement regarding the local report and would be expected to take this report forward. It was possible that some of the national reports applied more to other local authorities, and thus may not create too much additional work. 8.4 The HoIA&P confirmed that the Council participated in the National Fraud Initiative and displayed a strong commitment to counter fraud, and he believed that the Council was one of the 13 Welsh local authorities referred to in paragraph 4.4.1 of the report. He added that matching also took place between the Housing Benefits Team and the Department for Work and Pensions. 8.5 The Governance and Audit Committee agreed to note the new recommendations / proposals for improvement received and accepted by the Council since the last update report.
9.1 The B&DSSM outlined the report on the Council’s approach to performance management and the progress made developing a new Performance Management Framework (PMF) for the Council. 9.2 The B&DSSM confirmed that significant work had taken place over the previous 12-18 months regarding performance management, resulting in the PMF within Appendix 1 of the report. The PMF provided a high-level overview of the key components that together defined the Council’s approach to performance management. During the last 12 months significant changes and development had taken place across many of the key components of the PMF, and the most significant changes were outlined in paragraph 4.2 of the report. 9.3 Following questions from the Committee, the DFS, HoIA&P and B&DSSM made the following points: • The B&DSSM confirmed that links would be included within the PMF in due course, and this is what paragraph 4.5 of the report referred to. • The B&DSSM explained that the PMF would put the onus on service areas to ensure a much greater emphasis on performance monitoring, analysis and reporting. The above would need to flow from individual service plans to the very top of the Council. • The B&DSSM expected to report back to the Committee regarding the PMF in the future and he was happy to be guided by members in terms of what they would like included within the report. The HoIA&P added that the above could be covered by a specific agenda item or it could be included within the Annual Governance Statement. • The DFS confirmed that the new Portfolio / Project Management Office (PMO) included new posts with experience of PMO skills and had been supplemented by new posts filled by internal staff. The PMO came at a cost; however it aimed to make savings through improvements. 9.4 Councillor Williams suggested that a Members Seminar regarding the PMF would be beneficial in order to raise awareness. 9.5 The Governance and Audit Committee agreed to note the progress made to date on the development of the Council’s approach to performance management, documented through the Council’s Performance Management Framework.
10.1 The HoIA&P outlined the report, which provided a quarterly update on the progress made to date against the Annual Operational Plan for 2022/23. The progress in terms of jobs completed and planned to date was outlined in Appendix A of the report, and the opinions on the work carried out to date. 10.2 The HoIA&P confirmed that the achievement of the overall plan was at 40% against a target of 65% and the achievement of the core plan was at 69% against the annual target of 100%. He was hopeful that the 65% target would be met but there was a small risk that it could be just missed. The core plan target would be met. 10.3 The HoIA&P confirmed that there were no significant issues to raise with the Committee and that there had been no high priority recommendations identified during the current audits undertaken. 10.4 Following a question from the Committee, the HoIA&P explained that the target for the overall plan had been reduced to 65%; however this could increase for 2023/24. He added that work carried over from the previous year had not been a significant factor in terms of the amount of work achieved during the current year. 10.5 The Governance and Audit Committee agreed to note the content of the report.
11.1 The HoIA&P presented the work programme and confirmed that it contained the items that were expected to be considered by the Governance and Audit Committee throughout the year; however it was subject to change. 11.2 The HoIA&P confirmed that he intended to present the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards (PSIAS) update during the Committee’s next meeting on 29 March 2023. BR added that Audit Wales would present their quarterly update and annual audit summary at the above meeting. BR confirmed that the work programme around performance audits for 2022/23 was on track. 11.3 The Governance and Audit Committee agreed to note the content of the work programme.
12.1 The next meeting is scheduled to take place on 29 March 2023.
13.1 The Committee agreed to the exclusion of the press and public from the meeting as presentations and meeting papers were not for publication because in accordance with paragraph 14 of Schedule 12a of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended by the Access to Information Variation Order Wales 2007), it contained information about a particular individual and information relating to the financial and business affairs of particular persons including the Council and in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemptions outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.
Councillors must say when they have a personal link to something being discussed, such as a job, a property or a family member. A prejudicial interest is one strong enough that the councillor usually leaves the room and takes no part.
Declarations are read from the minutes once they are published.
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