Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

Special, Governance and Audit Committee - Tuesday, 14th January, 2025 12.30 pm

Venue: Multi-Location Meeting - Council Chamber, Port Talbot & Microsoft Teams. View directions

Contact: Naidine Jones  Email: n.s.jones@npt.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Chairperson's Announcement/s

Minutes:

The Chairperson welcomed all to the meeting.

 

2.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 137 KB

Minutes:

 

Members highlighted in relation to Item 6 Audit Wales – Closure of Accounts, it stated, additional work was required to be undertaken by the Finance team, the accounts were found to be correct. Audit Wales did make a recommendation for the Council to review the relevant policies and procedures around the presentation of internal recharges. Officers confirmed that the outcome of this work would be brought back to committee by the end of this financial year.

 

Members queried the process for the minutes of meetings. It was explained that there was a standardised process across the Council for all minutes.  The minutes were a public record of the decisions taken at the meeting not a verbatim record.  A full record of the meeting was held on the NPT website.  These recordings are stored on the website with no expiration date.  Members had the opportunity to bring any issues on the accuracy of those minutes when raised at the subsequent meeting.

 

Members referred to page 9, Internal Audit Update Report 2024/25 and asked that a fuller more detailed response be provided in future in with regards  “Responses from Directors/Heads of Service/Headteachers to Limited/No Assurance Internal Audit Reports"

3.

Forward Work Programme pdf icon PDF 407 KB

Minutes:

The Forward Work Programme was noted.

 

Members noted that a further report “Relationships between Standards Committee and Governance and Audit Committee would be put on the agenda for the February meeting of this committee. The report had already been considered and approved at the last meeting of the Standards Committee.

 

In addition, it was agreed that Officers would programme in to the Committees FWP for members to undertake a Self Assessment on how effective and productive they felt the Committee was..

 

Discussion took place on the amount of items for consideration at meetings and whether there was an opportunity for more meetings to be programme in. 

 

 

 

 

 

4.

Audit Wales - Digital by design? Lessons from our digital strategy review across councils in Wales - August 2024 pdf icon PDF 441 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Audit Wales officers provided Members with an overview of the recently published report - Digital by Design? Lessons from our digital strategy review across councils in Wales, as detailed in the circulated papers.

 

They explained that the thematic report had been produced following a digital strategy review in 2023 of each of the 22 local authorities individual Digital Strategy arrangements to secure value for money and align to the sustainable development principles. The Committee previously received the outcome of Neath Port Talbot Council review January 2024.

 

The thematic report has identified five key lessons relating to evidence, collaboration, resourcing, impact and learning.  They are seen as common areas for improvement and represent the main opportunities for councils to strengthen their application of the sustainable development principles and securing value for money.

 

Under the five key lessons identified in the report, Audit Wales has included several practice examples for council’s to note.

 

Officers highlighted that Neath Port Talbot was identified as a practice example in three of the five key lesson areas and that when the Neath Port Talbot audit findings were presented in January 2024, there was only one recommendation highlighted in an overall positive report.

 

Members were pleased to see NPT being recognised as an exemplar of good practice and noted the progress that had been made through the NPT Digital, Data and Technology strategy, which is reported on annually to Cabinet, also addressing the recommendation highlighted above.

 

Members subsequently asked if they could have more information in relation to Artificial Intelligence.

 

Officers explained that an All-Members Seminar was undertaken last year on the Digital, Data and Technology Strategy which included elements on Artificial Intelligence. 

 

Officers are in the process of arranging an All Member seminar with Democratic Services on Artificial Intelligence use in NPT Council and an overview of the new MyNPT resident account.

 

Members thanked Officers for all their hard work.

 

 

 

 

 

5.

Self - Assessment 2023/2024 pdf icon PDF 394 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members received an overview of the Self-Assessment 2023/2024, as detailed in the circulated report.

 

It was explained that the document is user friendly and the content written in a way that ensures that Officers are held to account for the information they add to the report.

Officers stated the capacity within the team has now strengthened. The aim is to bring the annual report to the Committee by September 2025.

 

Members highlighted that it is difficult to read the document if you are looking at it from a mobile phone, or an iPad.

 

Members asked in relation to Leadership and Management, do Officers have regular appraisals with staff and are they taking place.

Officers stated there is work to do to strengthen the appraisal process. Officers have had sight of the staff survey that was undertaken last year and the percentage of staff who believe to have had an appraisal is not as high as expected. Officers mentioned there will be a report taken to Governance and Audit Committee in due course.

 

Members asked was the procurement strategy approved in 2024. Officers stated that it was approved in the Summer of 2024.

 

Members asked in relation to ‘In the summary of performance 23/24’, it states it has 63 aims altogether, 42 were on track and 3 were off track, what has happened to the other aims. Members also mentioned it states there is more work to do, does that mean off track.

 

Members mentioned the detail of the elements and didn’t find the narrative to be compelling to support the change, Members asked Officers to explain this.

 

Members asked in relation to the improvement action plan, will there be interim reporting of progress against the individual actions, it would be helpful to see this progress.

 

Officers stated in terms of the dashboards they do need to improve on that piece of work and to hold individual workshops for each directorate.

 

In terms of the Corporate Plan, Officers have moved from 2022- 2027 version and are now in 2024-2027 version, continuing through the Corporate Plan there were five year aims initially, Officers are carrying through those aims through the Corporate Plan to meet the wellbeing objectives. The strategic priorities sit underneath the aims. Officers explained they want to make sure that have a mechanism for when they get to 2027.

Officers explained in relation to the 63 aims, this was looked over a year period, whereas a lot of priorities are over 3-4 years. Officers mentioned they need to be clearer with regards to the off track/more to do/on track.

 

In relation to the Improvement Action Plan, members referred to the Action Description which stated Develop a Medium-Term Financial Strategy, 2021/2022 self-assessment to achieve by March 2023. Members asked was that March 2023, ongoing and well overdue or should it be March 2025 which aligns with the rest of the dates in the document.

 

Officers stated it was due by March 2023, but it is well overdue due to the lack  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Private Report of the Head of Legal Services.

Report of the Head of Legal Services.

- Committee Resolved into Open Session -