Agenda item

To report to Full Council the commitment and effectiveness of the Corporate Governance Committee’s work from April 2019 to March 2020.

Members considered the Corporate Governance Annual Report presented by the Internal Audit Manager. She highlighted two issues that the Committee may wish to consider; an independent person forming part of the Committee and production of an action plan.

Members asked questions, made comments and received responses as follows:

·         Councillor Booth expressed the view with regard to the possibility of an Independent person forming part of the Committee, it is something that should be considered and the position advertised. He added that it will strengthen the governance arrangements and the Committee will receive the views from an external person’s perspective.

·         Councillor Benney stated that to have an Independent person appointed will be good as long as it brings real value. He added that if somebody can be found that is suitably qualified then it will be a good idea.

·         Councillor John Clark referred to section 12 of the report where it highlighted that only 4% of other councils have an Independent person. He stated that from a Chairman’s point of view, the current members of the Committee have a breadth of knowledge between them and it is something that could be considered but he would like to see it postponed and reconsidered in 2021.

·         Councillor Booth stated that he agrees with the Chairman with regard to the postponement. He added that if this is something that is considered going forward a person specification could be drawn up to ensure that the correct person is appointed.

·         Councillor Benney expressed the opinion that it does need to be the correct person who is appointed and there needs to be a real purpose and need for somebody to be appointed. He agreed with Councillor Clark, that in the current climate, the postponement   until 2021 is the right thing to do.

·         Councillor Wicks expressed the view that part of the process would be to profile the type of person that is required. He added that if sufficient applications are received, then a screening process would need to be carried out and if nobody fits the profile, then the appointment process should stop.

·         Councillor John Clark, stated that as the Chairman he suggests that this is revisited in 2021, when the Covid 19 pandemic has hopefully retreated, which would make the process easier, if it was decided to look for an outside Independent person.

·         Councillor Booth referred to the action log which had been presented. He added that this could be the first item to be added to that log so it would be good practice to ensure areas of concern or focus can be tracked.

·         Councillor John Clark expressed concern with regard to point 24 of the Corporate Governance self-assessment exercise where it the states that the Committee does not have an action plan to improve any areas of weakness. He added that he does not like to see that point highlighted as a no and stated that he would rather see the classification as partial than no.

·         Councillor Booth stated that an action plan would be beneficial, as it could address other areas in the report that are partial recommendations and focus on what the Committee needs to be looking at.

The Committee AGREED to forward the Corporate Governance Annual Report for 2019/20 to Full Council.