Agenda, decisions and minutes

The Chairperson welcomed all to the meeting.

The following Members made a declaration of interest at the

commencement of the meeting.

Agenda Item 6, Audit Wales Report – Urgent and Emergency Care: Flow out of Hospital – West Glamorgan Region (March 2025):

Councillor M. Crowley as he works part time for Swansea Bay Health Board.

M. Spanner as his wife works for Wales Ambulance Services Trust which is referenced in the paper.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on the 15^th July 2025, were approved as a true and accurate account.

The Forward Work Programme was noted.

The Chair noted the importance of having a Forward Work Programme for the Committee, and highlighted that a liaison between the Governance and Audit Committee and the Standards Committee will be picked up in due course.

Decision:

That the report be noted.

Members received an overview of the circulated report.

Members queried whether under the section “Review of Risk Management Arrangements”, if the minutes of the Governance and Audit Committee featured in part of the work or whether any members of the committee were spoken to. Officers from Audit Wales clarified that they had reviewed a sample of minutes and interviews were undertaken with both Officers and Members in informing the piece of work.

RESOLVED:        That the report be noted.

Decision:

That the report be noted.

Members received an overview of the circulated report.

Officers provided an update in respect of the recommendations provided in the report and the Authorities current position to these as the report provides a snapshot in time.

Members commended the work of Social Services on this matter and highlighted issues within the health service.

Members queried whether the findings from the report would be reviewed going forward over the next number of years and what happens next. Officers confirmed that monthly ministerial priority 1 meetings take place in order to review ongoing statistics and assist in navigating issues. It was also noted that officers focus daily is on ensuring that people are being discharged from hospital and meeting the targets set out.

Members queried how the development of a regional programme risk log would interact with that of a local Neath Port Talbot risk register. Officers confirmed that this was an ongoing piece of work however they would expect that any risk entered in to the regional risk log that belong with Neath Port Talbot, are then owned by the authority and update the register.

Members commented that it would be useful for future conversations if the segment of the Neath Port Talbot risk register relating to the relevant report was also brought to the meeting.

RESOLVED:        That the report be noted.

Decision:

That the report be noted.

Members received an overview of the circulated report.

Officers confirmed amendments that were to be made prior to publishing.

Members commented that they felt that the wording within the improvement actions could be less generic. This was noted by officers.

Members queried whether under Section 5, in relation to the council using an appropriate documented option appraisal methodology to demonstrate value for money on its decisions, did any part of this look at post investment appraisals similar to a benefits realisation framework. Officers confirmed that this is not in place yet, however Audit Wales are undertaking a review of capital planning of approximately 6 councils in Wales and pending the outcome of the review a template would be put in place.

Members noted that the wording in relation to the Financial Management Code of Self-Assessment were not compelling in line with the green status given to the items. Officers confirmed that discussions around this have taken place and advice from Audit Wales has been sought for best practice as it is difficult to compare costs across local authorities where people prepare their management accounts differently and people prepare their statistical returns in different ways, but the point was noted.

Members asked how the Authority ensures that annual appraisals were be carried out and completed. Officers acknowledged that there was still some work to be carried out in respect of the appraisal process to ensure that all staff were afforded the opportunity to receive one and this work is ongoing. It was also confirmed that the appraisal process can now be captured using ITrent.

Members questioned how the appraisal process would work for those teams with high volumes of staff but low numbers of supervisory positions. Officers acknowledged this challenge and noted that they would work with service managers to find the best approach to be taken.

RESOLVED:        That the report be noted.

Decision:

That the report be noted.

Members received an overview of the circulated report.

Audit Wales noted an uncorrected misstatement on page 7. Under the auditing standards, Audit Wales are required to report this and request an amendment and where it's not amended, request in writing the reasons why and the Authority has done that through the letter of representation on page 33 of the report.

Officers provided context in relation to the uncorrected statement in that it was not adjusted as time frames meant they would subsequently miss the publishing deadline for the Governance and Audit Committee and would require a further special meeting, and a decision was taken to bring these accounts forward on the basis the accounts were not materially affected and Audit Wales would issue a unqualified opinion.

Members questioned Audit Wales as to whether there was a root cause that the local authority need to consider going forward to try to help this area in the future in relation to the IFRS standards. Audit Wales clarified that IFRS 16 is relatively new and such expect lessons to be learned and errors to be lower in future years. Officers supported this.

Members queried to what extent Audit Wales take an ITGC approach to the audit and whether any GRC tooling was used to look at the segregation of duties. Audit Wales clarified that their IT specialist did look at the system in terms of the segregation controls and the inputs and the outputs for the system.

Members also queried whether the authority had a matrix in place that identifies low to high risk conflicts within roles allocated in finance. Officers noted that there was no matrix in place and agreed to discuss with members outside of the meeting to work on best practices moving forward.

RESOLVED:        That the report be noted.

That the:-

·       Letter of representation, included in Appendix 1, be approved.

·       Final 2024/25 Statement of Accounts as included in Appendix 2, be approved.

·       Chair of Governance and Audit Committee provide their electronic signature for both the Letter of Representation and the Statement of Accounts.

Members received an overview of the circulated report.

RESOLVED:        That the:-

·        Letter of representation, included in Appendix 1, be approved.

·        Final 2024/25 Statement of Accounts as included in Appendix 2, be approved.

·        Chair of Governance and Audit Committee provide their electronic signature for both the Letter of Representation and the Statement of Accounts.

That the draft Self-Assessment be reviewed and that any changes to the conclusions or actions go to Cabinet, for consideration for approval on 29th October 2025.

Members received an overview of the circulated report.

Members queried whether the Authority had a set target for where they wanted to be in relation to each category set out in the report. Officers confirmed that there was no set target and the Authority would like to be leading in all categories, however the Authority continues to look to demonstrate continuous service improvement in these areas.

Members challenged Officers as to whether a rating of mature was correct in relation to risk management arrangements. This was noted by Officers who confirmed there is still work to be done in embedding the document as a live working document within the organisation and advised that more detailed conversation surrounding this piece of work would take place once the Audit Wales report has been brought forward on the matter. Members queried whether the Authorities scoring was in line with Audit Wales findings. Officers clarified that scoring was subjective and felt that the scores being at the lower end of mature was correct, however with the outcomes and actions of the Audit Wales report it is hopeful the Authority can strengthen its position.

Members queried whether the Audit Wales report was finalised and when it would proceed to the Governance and Audit Committee. Officers clarified that it was finalised but going through the process of a management response and would come to the committee on the 28^th of October.

Members noted that ratings and self-assessment is inextricably linked to your risk appetite depending on where the authority is as an organisation and as such when fixing the risk management framework, the Authority should assess the risks to where the Council needs to be, helping better inform decisions next year. Officers noted that there was no specific guidance given in relation to corporate self-assessment however it is important that the Authority continues with a consistent approach to ensure it understands how it is progressing.

Members queried why the Authority assesses itself as leading in terms of leadership and management or leading in terms of getting the best of the workforce, yet over 50% of our staff would say they're not getting regular appraisals and of the ones that are having appraisals, only 40% said they're looking to the future. Officers clarified that looking at the evidence provided overall would indicate why the Authority put itself into the leading category, however a significant area of work has been identified in respect of staff appraisals.

Members noted that items listed as due to be achieved in March 2025 are listed as ongoing for an action plan for 2025/26. Officers noted this and confirmed that the this could be amended to read as implementation as opposed to ongoing. It was agreed to take this as an amendment to the report.

Members asked when the next staff survey would be undertaken. Officers clarified that the next survey is due to be launched 15^th September 2025.

Members requested clarity on how remote working staff such as school cleaners  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

Decision:

That the report be noted.

Members received an overview of the circulated report.

Members queried what section 106 is as it is referenced in the report but is unsighted. Officers clarified that section 106 is a legally binding agreement between a developer and a planning authority. The agreements are often referred to as planning obligations and are used to ensure agreed development obligations (works/restrictions/contributions) are met for the benefit of the locality. A number of Council services feed into the section 106 process e.g. Planning and Legal.

Members also noted that a joint expert review has been commissioned by the Chief Executive in respect of additional learning needs out of county education placements and questioned where this would be reported to. Officers clarified they will liaise with the relevant Heads of Service to confirm and provide response to Committee.

Members asked officers whether they are still confident they are on track to deliver the plan by the end of the year. Officers confirmed that they are currently forecasting the Authority to achieve the 85% plan target by year end, however this is a forecast and other impacts may affect this. The Committee will be updated if there are any changes to this.

RESOLVED:                 That the report be noted.

There were none.

That pursuant to Section 100A(4) and (5) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded for the following items of business which involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 12 and 15 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A of the above Act.

RESOLVED:        that pursuant to Section 100A(4) and (5) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded for the following items of business which involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 12, 13 and 14 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A to the above Act.

Members received an overview of the private circulated report.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

Decision:

That the report be noted.

Members received an overview of the private circulated report.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.