Issue - meetings

The Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015* require councils to produce an Annual Governance Statement (AGS) to accompany its Statement of Accounts.

The AGS concludes that BCP Council “has effective and fit-for-purpose governance arrangements in place in accordance with the governance framework”.

After considering all the sources of assurance (for governance arrangements), BCP Council Corporate Management Board identified that the following significant governance issues existed:

·       Dedicated School Grant

·       Department for Education Statutory Direction for special educational needs and disability (SEND) services

·       Mandatory Training

An action plan to address these significant governance issues has been produced and is being implemented. An update against the action plan will be brought to Audit and Governance Committee in January 2026.

*and as amended by the Accounts and Audit (Amendment) Regulations 2024

Only minor amendments to the Local Code of Governance have been necessary to keep pace with the Council’s changing governance arrangements.

The Audit Manager presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'M' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

The report set out the Annual Governance Statement (AGS) for 2024/25 which was required to accompany the Council’s Statement of Accounts. The report also detailed the minor amendments made to the Local Code of Governance to ensure it was kept updated. It was noted that the draft AGS had already been published as part of the public inspection of the accounts prior to a final version being submitted to the external auditor. The AGS concluded that the Council had effective and fit-for-purpose governance arrangements in place in accordance with the governance framework. The Committee was advised of the process by which the Council’s Corporate Management Board (CMB) identified three significant governance issues, namely the Dedicated Schools Grant, the Department for Education Statutory Direction for special educational needs and disability (SEND) services and Mandatory Training. An update against actions being implemented to address these issues would be brought to the Committee in January 2026.

The Audit Manager provided an update on two issues removed from last year’s AGS and explained why a fourth issue from this year’s AGS relating to housing delivery budget monitoring had been removed. It was noted that other potential issues had also been considered and discussed by CMB but not included. These were detailed in the report for transparency. Members were asked to note typographical amendments to be made to the final AGS, in paragraph 14 of the report to replace the word ‘four’ with ‘three’ and in Table 1 of the AGS to read ‘Dedicated Schools Grant’.

Committee members focussed their discussion on actions to address the issue of mandatory training. One suggestion was for this matter to be raised with Group Leaders. The Monitoring Officer gave an update on recent discussions at the Standards Committee to progress the training programme for councillors. There was now a standing item on that committee’s work programme to review progress and it was noted that the statistics were improving. Standards Committee was also looking at how to improve the accessibility and quality of the training provided. The Chair welcomed the suggestion that the Chair of the Standards Committee be invited to a future meeting to update members on progress.

The Chief Executive highlighted the importance of cybersecurity training in reducing the likelihood of erroneously causing a security breach and the  serious consequences for the Council when mistakes were made. Committee members asked that a reminder be sent to all councillors advising them what to do/what not to do and who to contact should they receive an email which raised any concerns. It was noted that training statistics currently included staff who only worked for the Council a few days of the year and that this was being looked at. A member questioned the volume and value of some of the training required. The Chief Executive explained  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32