Issue - meetings

(Chief Internal Auditor) To review and comment on the attached report.

The Chief Internal Auditor, S Marsh advised the Committee that there was a mandatory requirement to publish and an Annual Governance Statement (AGS), this provided detail of how governance arrangements had worked 2021/22 and would accompany the Statement of Accounts.  The AGS set out the governance framework, and the effectiveness of the framework had remained fit for purpose. The progress and action for the significant issues identified in 2021/22 were detailed. Covid was mentioned in the report, but this had not impacted on the governance arrangements. The governance issues for 2022/23 were identified as: economic issues; statement of accounts; financial management code review, and the common themes from the service areas were business continuity and financial regulations.

The Committee asked if remote working had affected the audit programme and operational process between departments, they were advised that there had been no impact on the audit programme, there had been different ways of working, officers were very accessible, data could be used to provide a good level of assurance, and there had been a concerted effort to ensure cross department working.

Resolved:

(1)         The Committee reviewed, commented, and recommended the draft Annual Governance Statement for 2021/22.