Agenda item

The Chair introduced the Governance Review Improvement Plan (GRIP), which encompassed governance-related improvements, including financial and directorate governance. This item aimed to provide an overview of the GRIP, its structure, progress, and next steps.

The GRIP had been commissioned in March 2025 following internal and external audit reports in late 2024 and early 2025. It addressed recommendations related to financial and directorate governance, especially in light of the Council’s Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) savings targets approved in February 2025. It was sponsored by the Chief Executive.

The GRIP was structured into three workstreams:

Each workstream reports would progress to the Corporate Governance Group, a statutory officer group, which met monthly and reported to the Corporate Management Team (CMT). The GRIP document was a live, evolving control document with updates at each Corporate Governance Group meeting. The Audit Committee would also receive updates at every meeting.

The Finance Modernisation Programme was embedded in Workstream 1; a new MTFS app had been rolled out to support directorate-specific savings tracking; spend controls were integrated into the broader governance framework; and a uniform planning format had been introduced for business and finance plans to ensure alignment from strategy to individual performance.

Members asked how the Council would ensure that the GRIP’s values, such as timeliness, inclusivity, openness, honesty, were embedded in the organisational culture. Officers responded that the GRIP was transparent and open to Member feedback; internal and external auditors were engaged for ongoing input; and the Corporate Governance Group played a key role in monitoring cultural alignment. There had been positive results from the recent staff survey, which could be presented to the Committee; and increased visibility of senior leadership.

Members asked about the delay in publishing the 2024/25 final accounts. Officers expected submission by mid-August 2025 due to the need for high assurance and accuracy.

Members requested access to the Directorate Governance Internal Audit Report. It was noted that the report could be shared with Committee Members.

The Chair asked if Internal Audit were happy with the GRIP and actions taken in response to the Directorate Governance report. Internal Audit officers noted that they were happy, that the actions were appropriate, and progress was satisfactory. It was acknowledged that full implementation would take time, but initial steps were strong. Members noted they were happy with the GRIP.

The Chair asked if the Council had considered governance areas more broadly. Officers noted that Workstream 3 was specifically created to address broader governance. Governance could be a broad topic and could be difficult to define. This was why there were three workstreams – there were three statutory officers (Head of Paid Service, Section 151 Officer and Monitoring Officer). Other possible areas of review included parts of the Constitution such as the Members’ Code of Conduct, as this may be being updated by Central Government; Member Complaints; the Scheme of Delegation; exempt schedules and Cabinet reports.

The Chair asked and officers clarified that the Head of Internal Audit attended the Corporate Governance Group in relation to risk.

GRIP updates would be added to each Audit Committee meeting. The document would be updated dynamically to reflect new audit recommendations or governance developments. A staff survey briefing could be scheduled for the November Committee.

RESOLVED: That the work on the Governance Review Improvement Plan be noted.