To seek the view of the committee as to whether the Annual Governance Statement (AGS) for 2021/22 properly reflects the internal control environment the council is operating in and the appropriateness of actions identified to improve.

Appendix 1 - Annual Governance Statement 2021/22 is included in the supplement.

Further to the consideration of a draft at the 12 October 2022 meeting (minute 31 of 2022/23 refers), the Head of Strategic Finance presented the revised Annual Governance Statement 2021/22; the document had been circulated in a supplement to the agenda. 

The committee was advised that the final iteration had been reviewed in terms of the use of Plain English, included a statement against each principle to confirm the effectiveness of the arrangements, provided clarification on Hoople Ltd, and included an update on children’s services.  It was noted that the Annual Governance Statement would form part of the Annual Statement of Accounts.

The committee welcomed the revisions and thanked officers for their hard work.

RESOLVED:

That the committee has determined that the Annual Governance Statement 2021/22 properly reflects the risk environment the council is operating in and that actions identified represent an appropriate response.