It was reported that the
Governance and Audit Committee had a duty to review and assess the risk
management arrangements, internal control, performance management and the
Council's corporate governance and as part of that duty, there was an
expectation to consider the reports of external review bodies such as Audit
Wales, Estyn and Care Inspectorate Wales. In addition,
committees were expected to assure themselves that arrangements were in place
to monitor and evaluate progress against any recommendations in those reports.
The 'Missed opportunity? - Social Enterprises' report was
submitted, along with the response of managers who outlined what the Council
intended to do to respond to the recommendations within the report.
It was explained that the work
of developing a strategy and vision had commenced by holding a joint
face-to-face meeting with representatives from the Third Sector Liaison Group
in Gwynedd. A workshop had been held where attendees (Third Sector, Officers and Councillors) were given an opportunity to contribute
towards the development and co-production of priorities for action. The next
step would be to analyse the observations gathered, to hold another meeting in
October to develop the vision in full and to share a further update with the
Committee within 6 months.
Gratitude was expressed for the report.
In response to a question
regarding what a social enterprise was, it was noted that a recent meeting was
held with third sector organisations that are part of the Gwynedd Third Sector
Liaison Group who represent people in society - examples in Gwynedd would be Mantell Gwynedd, GISDA, Menter Fachwen. In an additional observation, a suggestion was
made to list examples of social enterprises in the managers' response document in order to understand the broader context. The Audit Wales
Officer added that it was difficult to set a definition of the term, but that
it was a not-for-profit body to ensure social value. Reference was made to 1.24
of the report where it was noted that the best websites by local authorities
included a 'clear definition noting what is a Social Enterprise'.
In response to an observation
that the report was generic and that it was not suggested that an opportunity
had been missed, it was noted that there was conflict between local and
national work, and although the report seemed generic, that recommendations led
to local opportunities.
During
the ensuing discussion, the following observations were made by members:
·
That the work of
social enterprises was very commendable; however, as Local Authorities disposed
of assets and lost control, this could lead to enterprises dismantling the work
of Local Authorities.
·
That there were good
examples of social enterprises in the county and if they were managed
correctly, the social benefit was a positive one.
RESOLVED to accept the report.
Note: 11b - suggestion to include
names / examples of Gwynedd
Social Enterprises in the response in order to understand
the broader context