Issue - meetings

Surrey County Council has a statutory duty under the Accounts and Audit (England) Regulations 2011 to publish an Annual Governance Statement (AGS).  The AGS provides a comprehensive assessment of governance arrangements and the internal control environment.  Once signed by the Leader of the Council and the Chief Executive, the AGS is incorporated into the Statement of Accounts and the Annual Report.

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Council Overview and Scrutiny Committee]

1.       That the 2013/14 Annual Governance Statement, attached as Annex A to the submitted report, be approved and signed by the  Leader and the Chief Executive for inclusion in the Statement of Accounts and Annual Report.

2.       That the Audit and Governance Committee continue to monitor the governance environment and report to Cabinet as appropriate.

Reasons for Decisions:

There is a statutory duty to annually review and report on governance.  The identification of issues in governance and internal control and a responsive approach to addressing those issues is viewed as best practice.

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Council Overview and Scrutiny Committee]

The Chairman of the Audit and Governance Committee was invited to speak. He began by thanking the Leader of the Council and the Chief Executive for attending the recent Audit and Committee where they had a wide-ranging and detailed discussion on the Annual Governance Statement. This had included progress made in the last twelve months, the role of select committees, support for the flood recovery work, Looked after Children and the Care Act, school place planning and making assets work harder. Prior to the meeting, he had requested an additional sentence be included at the end of bullet point (3) – Children in Care Health and Dental Checks:

‘Further work is required to clear a backlog of health assessments for children placed outside Surrey.’

This was agreed.

RESOLVED:

1.       That the 2013/14 Annual Governance Statement, attached as Annex A to the submitted report, be approved and signed by the  Leader and the Chief Executive for inclusion in the Statement of Accounts and Annual Report.

2.       That the Audit and Governance Committee continue to monitor the governance environment and report to Cabinet as appropriate.

Reasons for Decisions:

There is a statutory duty to annually review and report on governance.  The identification of issues in governance and internal control and a responsive approach to addressing those issues is viewed as best practice.