Issue - meetings

This report provides an update against the Annual Governance Statement (AGS) Action Plan which identified actions to be taken to address the significant governance issues identified in the 2024/25 AGS.  

Progress against the agreed action plan is as follows: 

Dedicated School Grant (DSG) - The DSG deficit continues to increase, with an accumulated DSG deficit of £113.3m as of 31 March 2025. This is predicted to grow to £183.1m by the 31 March 2026. A detailed update report was taken to November Children’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee. A further report is going to the January committee which includes potential suggestions for mitigations.  

Department for Education Statutory Direction for special educational needs and disability services (SEND) – February 2024 – a revised SEND and Improvement Plan was signed off in September 2025. This is reviewed monthly and reported to the SEND Improvement Boards. The local area SEND inspection by Ofsted and CQC took place in November, and the final report will be published in February 2026.  

Mandatory Training – training completion rates for Members has increased slightly but still falls below the expected rates.   

The Head of Audit and Management Assurance (HAMA) presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'H' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

The report provided an update against the Annual Governance Statement (AGS) Action Plan which identified actions to be taken to address three significant governance issues identified in the 2024/25 AGS. Ultimately the aim of the action plan was to resolve the issues to such an extent as to remove them from future AGSs.

The HAMA commented on progress against the action plan as follows:

·       The Dedicated School Grant (DSG) deficit remained a significant issue for the Council and other local authorities and would require national as well as local solutions for long term resolution. It was therefore likely to remain on the AGS for 2025/26.

·        In response to the Statutory Direction there was a revised SEND and Improvement Plan which was reviewed monthly and reported to the SEND Improvement Boards. The Improvement Plan was due to be updated once the outcome of the Ofsted and Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in November 2025 was published next month. Depending on the outcome, the issue may or may not be included in the AGS for 2025/26.

·       It may be possible to remove the issue of Mandatory Training from the AGS for 2025/26 but this would require increased impetus from Members and officers between now and the end of March.

With regard to mandatory training, Members noted that the Chair of the Standards Committee was due to provide an update to the next Audit and Governance Committee on 26 February.

RESOLVED that the Audit & Governance Committee note the progress made to address the significant governance issues on the BCP Council Annual Governance Statement Action Plan 2024/25

Voting: Agreed with no dissent