Agenda item

The purpose of the report is to present the Committee with the Annual Governance Statement 2019/20 (Appendix A) and accompanying Action Plan (Appendix B).

During the discussion, the following points were raised:-

·       Councillors queried where they could find the Annual Report mentioned on page 35 of the agenda.

The Monitoring Officer advised that she would add it to the library section of Mod.Gov for Councillors to access.

·       Councillors queried when they would see the results from the Performance Report.

The Director for Internal Operations advised that the scorecard could be brought to the next meeting of the Committee, but that it was normally taken to the Scrutiny Committee and the Executive for debate.

·       Concern was raised on some of the deadline dates stated in the report for work to be carried out on the improvement on public participation and transparency.

The Monitoring Officer advised that the work had already been carried out, but that it required sign off by the Constitutional Working Group.  She was aware that officers needed to be clearer on why some items were discussed in confidential session and she was keen to get the necessary work signed off and publicised.

·       Councillors queried whether their training schedules had been compiled and when their 1-2-1s would resume.

The Monitoring Officer advised that the 1-2-1s were postponed due to the lockdown period caused by the Covid Pandemic, however, officers were due to reschedule them via Zoom virtual sessions, which would help gather the information required to draft a comprehensive training programme for Councillors.

·       Councillors requested sight of the induction packs from the start of the municipal year.

The Monitoring Officer advised that they were available on Mod.Gov for Councillors to view and that information was normally added to the system after all the member briefings, so that Councillors had access to all the information.

·       Concern was raised that Councillors would not receive the risk management training by the deadline date stated in the report.

The Monitoring Officer understood their concern but advised that action was required if Councillors were expected to act upon recommendations included within the committee reports.

·       Councillors requested clarity on who they should contact for certain queries and what their limitations were as Councillors.

The Monitoring Officer gave clarification that Councillors should contact either the Member Case Manager or a member of the Governance Team if they were unsure who to contact within the Authority.

·       Concern was raised that officers assumed Councillors knew certain rules and procedures, which they didn’t know and that some clarification was required.

The Monitoring Officer advised that she hoped this would be picked up through the Councillor 1-2-1s when they were carried out.

·       Concern was raised that both Councillors and officers were not aware of what the Corporate Objectives were and how that was fed down from the Chief Executive and Senior Management Team.

The Monitoring Officer advised that the Chief Executive had carried out several staff briefings during lockdown, which had been recorded and sent out to all staff and uploaded to Sharepoint for staff to access, along with any email communications that had been sent out.  The information given to staff was also included in the Councillor weekly newsletter.

·       Councillors suggested that all Councillors, old and new, should be given basic Planning training and advised what their responsibility was as a Ward Member.

The Monitoring Officer reminded Councillors that training was given during their induction sessions, but that it could be repeated for those that were not able to attend.

Resolved that the Audit, Governance and Standards Committee approved the draft Annual Governance Statement and Action Plan for 2019/20.