Agenda item

To submit the report of the Senior Manager Revenues and Risk.

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.