Agenda and minutes

To receive from Members declarations as to disclosable pecuniary, other registerable and non-registerable  interests in relation to any Agenda item. See Notes below.

No declarations were received.

To receive the report of the Corporate Governance Committee Terms of Reference Working Party.

With the aid of a report prepared by the Director of Finance & Corporate Resources (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) the Committee received and noted a report (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) that presented the findings of the subgroup established to (Minute 55 refers) review of the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the Corporate Governance Committee (CGC) and also the committee membership (inc. the size of the committee and whether this was effective. The main points covered in the discussion maybe summarised as follows:

By way of background, the Director of Finance & Corporate Resources reported that the Local Government Association (LGA) peer review of Internal Audit undertaken in March 2023 had identified the Committee’s Terms of Reference had not been regularly reviewed and therefore may not reflect current legislation and Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) recommendations.

Members noted that the subgroup had considered the existing ToR for the CGC against the model ToR as recommended by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) for audit committees. The model ToR it was noted covered all the current legislation requirements and the CIPFA recommendations. However, whilst linked to governance did not cover additional responsibilities which CGC holds for the Council in relation to Constitutional, Conduct and Regulatory Arrangements. Accordingly, the subgroup recommended that the model CIPFA ToR should be adopted, with an additional section added to incorporate those duties relating to Constitutional, Conduct and Regulatory Arrangements (a copy of the revised ToR is appended in the Minute Book). In addition, Members agreed that the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the Corporate Governance Committee should be regularly reviewed against CIPFA best practice standards and other examples of best practice from across the sector to ensure continuous improvement.

The Committee also recognised that its membership of CGC at twelve members plus two independent members is a larger committee than is considered to be ideal and accordingly the subgroup having (i) reviewed and compared existing terms of reference with those model terms provided by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), (ii) identified areas not covered by the existing terms and decided to include them as a separate section; and (iii) additional section added for constitutional conduct and regulatory arrangements, including duties of the Committee within Huntingdonshire District Council (HDC).

Accordingly, the Committee having considered and commented on the report RESOLVED to

(a) endorse a variation to the Terms of Reference of the Corporate Governance Committee;

(b) endorse the proposal to amend the Committee’s membership as detailed in paragraph 2.1; and

(c) recommend that the Terms of Reference of the Committee be reviewed on an annual basis to ensure they remain current.

To receive a feedback report from the Chief Executive detailing the LGA Governance Peer Challenge Feedback Report.

With the aid of a report prepared by the Director of Finance & Corporate Resources (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book). The Committee receive the LGA Governance Peer Challenge report that provided an update on progress against the recommendations since 28th February 2024. The main points of the discussion are summarised as follows:

By way of background, the Director of Finance & Corporate Resources reported that the Committee was reminded that the Council had invited the Local Government Association (LGA) to undertake an Audit Peer Challenge in March 2023. The LGA peer review team made a number of recommendations during the review and an Action Plan was developed to address these points.

Members also noted that there is an expectation that the LGA peer review team would return to assess progress on recommendations within six months. Accordingly, following appointment of the new Chief Executive and growing national interest in local government governance, audit and risk, the Council invited the peer review team to return to assess progress and provide independent advice on questions posed by the Corporate Government Committee and consider any new recommendations that should be implemented.

Accordingly, the peer team returned on the 28th of February 2024, having reviewed a number of documents prior to their arrival and whilst on site, gathered more information from twelve meetings; during which they had met with twenty-seven people, which included a range of elected Members and Officers.

Members noted that the peer team made five further actions the first concentrating on progress of the initial seventeen actions from the March 2023 visit, and the remaining four were new, having regard to wider corporate governance aspects. Members agreed that the report also had provided helpful insight and wider observations and requested updates on the progress of those incomplete actions. Accordingly, the Committee noted that:

v  Action 1 the assessment of the training needs of the committee and the completion of a skills matrix will be completed by mid-May. Members noted the very positive support provided by the Vice-Chair Councillor Harvey in facilitating in the completion of this task.

v  Action 2 in regard to the terms of reference; and Action 5 the role of the corporate governance committee within HDC this has now been completed (Item 57 refers).

v  Action 6 the skills matrix review of the Senior Leadership Team will have been completed the end of April.

v  Action 9 on the risk register, and the creation of the audit plan for next year is ongoing and will be reported to the Committee on 29^th May 2024.

v  Action 10 Noted that the risk management maturity exercise is ongoing.

v  Action 12 A calculation of auditor’s chargeable time is being worked on and will be completed as part of the Annual Audit Plan. The skills and knowledge assessment are still to be undertaken but a skills matrix for the Internal Audit team has been started to capture the qualifications, experience, skills and preferences for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58.