Issue - meetings

To inform the Corporate Committee of the requirements of the Statutory Annual Governance statement (AGS) and provide a draft statement relating to the 2011/12 financial year for review and approval.

The committee were asked to approve the draft Annual Governance Statement as part of their responsibilities. The committee had, over the course of the year, received regular reports on the sources of assurance to enable this. Members were asked to consider the statement and action plan and  were provided with the following assurances:

• There were no significant governance issues to report in the 2011/12 governance statement, but a number of key actions had been identified for work to be continued into 2012/13.

• There was a much improved governance regime in place at Alexandra Palace.

• There were no high priority audit recommendations or actions from previous years’ governance statements outstanding.

• That for 2012/13, the team responsible for compiling the governance statement would be seeking to achieve the same level of assurances for the council’s governance arrangements. These were statutory expectations to be achieved with or without a Chief Executive in place.

The interim Chief Financial Officer gave his further assurance to the committee that he was confident of the effectiveness of the   systems in place for: internal control, financial planning, and probity.

The report contained a table setting out the areas where governance arrangements would need to be in place and be effective during 2012/13, following on from work started in 2011/12.  The committee agreed that there should be a report back to the September meeting on the progress of establishing governance structures to deliver the agreed outcomes and objectives of the regeneration programme following the riots.

RESOLVED

That the draft Annual Governance Statement be approved.