Issue - meetings

Report of the Director – Finance and Corporate Services

The Director – Finance and Corporate Services presented the Annual Governance Statement report and the Council’s Annual Governance Statement signed by the Leader and Chief Executive in Appendix 1, which is published alongside the Council’s Statement of Accounts in accordance with the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015.

The Group noted that any changes prior to the publishing of the final Statement of Accounts would be brought back to Governance Scrutiny Group for review and recommendation.

The Director – Finance and Corporate Services highlighted some of the principles in Appendix 1 around the Constitution, policies and procedures, risk management development of staff and councillors and the delivery of an annual training programme.

The Group were asked to consider the significant governance issues identified, including the impact of Covid, the cost of living crisis and new standards being introduced within the CIPFA Financial Management Code. I addition, the Director – Finance and Corporate Services advised the Group that there are still ongoing risks and uncertainties around the Ratcliffe on Soar power station, Freeport and Development Corporation.

It was noted that the Annual Governance Statement was currently at the draft stage.

One Member of the Group felt the Statement didn’t really explain in detail what the Council had achieved or its aims of what it wanted to achieve and asked whether a comparison against last year’s report would be helpful. The Director – Finance and Corporate Services explained that the purpose of this report is to explain the governance position of the Council’s accounts and is not an annual report such commentary is provided in the Narrative Statement within the Council’s Financial Statements.

Councillor Thomas asked a specific question in relation to the power station site, Freeport and Development Corporation projects and what are the likely financial regarding business rate income. The Director – Finance and Corporate Services advised that there is always a risk with any new project and that the Council’s expectations are that the closure of the power station would not have a detrimental effect on business rates as it is anticipated that the Freeport and development of this site would bring further business rate streams, however it was noted that this is difficult to predict or evaluate and such income is dependent on the speed at which the site becomes operational.

Councillor Gowland asked a specific question in relation to risks around Emergency Planning and also whether the Council is likely to meet its carbon zero targets and whether this should be considered a risk if targets are not met in time. The Director – Finance and Corporate Services proposed to take this this back to the Director – Neighbourhoods with a view to amending the Annual Governance Statement in its final version within the Statement of Accounts for November Governance Scrutiny Group.

It was RESOLVED that the Governance Scrutiny Group reviewed and approved the Annual Governance Statement 2022/23 (Appendix 1).