i)       that the draft Annual Governance Statement for 2019/2020 be agreed and forwarded to the External Auditors for comment; and

ii)      that the final Annual Governance Statement be presented to Audit Committee when it considers the Statement of Accounts.

The Annual Governance Statement has been prepared in order to meet the requirements of the Accounts and Audit (England) Regulations.

None.

This decision will be implemented immediately.

The preparation of the Annual Governance Statement provides the opportunity for the organisation to review its processes, controls and objectives and to provide assurance to Members, Senior Officers and stakeholders as to the reliability of its statement of accounts and the probity of its operations.  The Annual Governance Statement, signed by the Leader of the Council and the Chief Executive is included in the Council’s Statement of Accounts as required by regulations and in line with best practice.

The Statement is wide ranging and sets out publicly the extent to which the Council complies with its own code of corporate governance, including how it monitored and evaluated the effectiveness of its governance arrangements during the year.  The Statement for 2019/2020 takes account of governance changes including the ceasing of the Elected Mayor model of governance and commencement of the Leader and collective Cabinet decision making model of governance, with further temporary changes to the Leader of the Council making Executive decisions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.  With resulting legislation changes and the use of technology the Council has been able to return to collective decision making.

Prior to consideration of the report, the report was duly published in advance giving all Members, including Audit Committee Members the opportunity to comment.  The feedback was taken into account by the Chief Finance Officer prior to making the decision.

None.