The Interim Group Manager – Chief Accountant submitted a report, the purpose of which was to present to Audit Committee the Annual Governance Statement 2019-20 (AGS) for approval and inclusion within the unaudited Statement of Accounts 2019-20.

By way of background, he advised that Regulation 5 (2) of the Accounts and Audit (Wales) Regulations 2014 requires an authority to undertake, as part of its arrangements for corporate governance, an annual review of governance and report on internal control.

The Interim Group Manager – Chief Accountant added that, good corporate governance requires the active participation of Members and Officers

across the Council. These arrangements are reviewed on an annual basis and the findings used to update the AGS. This helps to ensure the continuous improvement of the Council’s corporate governance culture. The inclusion of the AGS within the Statement of Accounts also provided an overall appraisal of the controls in place to manage the Council’s key risks and identifies where improvements need to be made.

The draft AGS 2019-20 had been reviewed by the Corporate Management Board (CMB) as well as by Cabinet also. The document was attached at Appendix A to the report.

A Member referred to page 219 of the AGS and the role of Councillors as critical friends of corporate governance. He noted that due to Covid-19 and the subsequent closure of the Council Offices, Committee meetings had to be cancelled until such time that they re-commenced remotely via Skype.

He asked the representatives from Audit Wales what their perception was of governance arrangements in BCBC (compared with other neighbouring authorities) throughout the Covid-19 crisis, especially in relation to the continuation of holding meetings remotely and the role of Members in the decision making processes of the Council. He asked this, as the pandemic had put extra challenges on local authorities to which Members had a duty to actively respond to.

A representative from the Wales Audit Office advised that Covid-19 and lockdown had led to the cancellation of meetings for some time due to Council Offices having to close because of social distancing and in order to reduce the spread of the virus.

She added that all Councils in Wales had now started holding Committee meetings remotely, albeit at a different pace, though all were now convening meetings through the likes of Skype or Microsoft Teams. She was not of the opinion that BCBC had been slow to act in this regard, when compared to other welsh authorities, she added.

The Head of the Regional Internal Audit Shared Service added that in respect of the holding of Audit Committees since lockdown which the Member also made reference to, BCBC had started holding meetings of this Committee before any of the other local authorities that made up the Shared Service.

RESOLVED:              That Committee approved the draft Annual Governance Statement 2019-20 with a minor amendment to include reference to the Welsh Government regulations in relation to virtual meetings at Appendix A to the report and agreed its inclusion within the unaudited Statement of Accounts 2019-20.