To submit the report of the Senior Manager Revenues and Risk.
Minutes:
The Senior Revenue and Risk Manager gave a presentation on the functions
to be carried out by the Committee. He drew attention to the fact that the
committee was now known as the Audit and Governance Committee and the change of
name reflected the evolution of the committee's role and functions since
establishing the Audit Committee in 1999. He noted, following the decision by
the Council in its meeting on 2 March 2017, that the committee had the added
function of scrutinising issues involving the Council's internal operations.
He mentioned that training for committee members about the committee's
responsibilities would be held on 14 June. He explained that the members would,
ideally, have received training before the first meeting, but that this would
not be possible because of the need to arrange this meeting so that the Council
could respond to the Boundaries Commission about the review of election
boundaries in Gwynedd in good time.
He presented the
Committee's draft Operational Arrangements for comment and adoption. He
provided details on the new draft Operational Arrangements which are based on
the requirements of the Local Government Measure (Wales) 2011 and the Statutory
Guidelines which support it. He emphasised that the committee was not a
scrutiny committee as was required by the act and that scrutiny was an
additional role. He explained that the committee, in accordance with the
measure, had been scrutinising financial matters but that the committee,
henceforth, would also scrutinise matters involving the Council's internal
operations such as corporate strategies, partnerships, consultation, business
transformation, efficiency arrangements and the workforce. He mentioned that an
informal workshop for committee members would be held, after the formal meeting
of the Council on 22 June, to identify scrutiny matters for the year.
A member noted that she was glad that this committee would be
undertaking the additional scrutiny role, and taking a high level overview of
the Council's operations.
A member enquired as to the committee's requirement to raise awareness
across the Council of matters involving risk management, internal management
and corporate governance in order to fully carry out its function. In response,
the Senior Revenue and Risk Manager noted that one way the committee could
raise awareness was through the Controls Improvement Working Group, where
officers were called before the committee if the committee was dissatisfied
with the arrangements for managing risk, internal management or governance
within the Council's departments.
In response to an observation by a member about the consistency of
arrangements when preparing for scrutiny committees, and the arrangements of
the Audit and Governance Committee as it undertook the additional scrutiny
role, the Members Manager - Democracy Service stated that a workshop would be
held to identify matters to be scrutinised by the committee for the forward
work programme for the year in accordance with the arrangements for the
scrutiny committees. It was noted that the arrangement of holding preparatory
meetings five weeks in advance of the scrutiny committee meetings had ended and
that a meeting to prepare for items for scrutiny at the following meeting would
be held at the end of the committee meeting. This arrangement would also be put
in place for this committee.
A member noted that the committee should operate from a position of
having an overview of risk to the Council, rather than focusing on individual
matters. The Senior Revenue and Risk Manager reiterated the comment and noted
that the committee's role was to look at the Council's day to day arrangements,
not individual risks.
RESOLVED to adopt the
Operational Arrangements.
Supporting documents: