Issue - meetings

Report by the Assistant Chief Executive.

11.1     The Committee considered a report by the Assistant Chief Executive regarding the Annual Review of the Corporate Governance Statement, together with the comments from the Audit Committee reported by the Chief Executive.

11.2     The Committee RESOLVED – to

·           approve the action plan for the next year;

·           note that  items identified to enhance governance arrangements are reflected in Business Plans and that implementation will be monitored through the year;

·           confirm that Members are satisfied with the level of assurance provided to them through this report and the Council’s governance framework and processes;

·           confirm that there are no further significant governance issues that should be included in the Council’s Annual Governance Statement; and

·           approve the Annual Governance Statement for signature by the Leader and the Chief Executive and publication within the Statement of Accounts.

Report by the Assistant Chief Executive.

4.1       The Chief Executive introduced the report. The review of the Corporate Governance Framework report is presented to the Committee each year to ensure the Council has effective governance arrangements in place and forms part of the Annual Governance Statement (AGS). The report will be presented to the Governance Committee for approval on 17 July 2018.

4.2       The Committee noted that in Appendix 3 of the report there is an action to develop the Council’s approach to transparency and to respond to the Government’s open data agenda. The Committee asked if there was a conflict between this requirement for openness and the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The Chief Operating Officer explained that GDPR is more concerned with personal data and the open data agenda is chiefly about business or organisation information and data, so there is little conflict.

4.3       The Committee commented that there did not appear to be a corresponding action on transparency and the open data agenda in the action plan in Annex A. The Chief Executive explained that as this is an overarching requirement it is being picked up across the organisation.

4.4       Councillor Philip Daniel stated that the Local Government Transparency Code was less demanding than the standards for Central Government level (e.g. the Scottish Government has already published a report on open data), and expressed a view that East Sussex County Council (ESCC) should seek to apply the higher standards, in particular, on risk and obligation transparency with respect to contracting. The publication of the risks the Council is exposed to through major contracts may be of particular relevance in the wake of the Carillion collapse.

4.5       The Chief Executive responded that ESCC complies with the Local Government Transparency Code and that an assessment would need to be done of the relative importance and value to be added by diverting resource away from other activities into this area. The Chief Operating Officer added that the Procurement Team can do an initial assessment and report back through the Audit Committee as necessary. The Chief Executive confirmed that she would draw the Audit Committee’s comments to the attention of the Governance Committee.

4.6       The Committee discussed the training provided for Members as referred to in the bullet point in section 4 of the Annual Governance statement (Appendix 3 of the report). The Chair stated that from his point of view, a comprehensive training programme had not been provided for newly elected Members. The Chief Executive outlined that Governance Services had put in place a comprehensive training programme both following the election and on an ongoing basis since. It was noted there was an issue with the take up of the training on offer, rather than the provision. The Committee commented that it would be helpful to have more online training resources as they can be accessed flexibly by Members. The Chief Operating Officer responded that there is already some online training provision, which is accessible to staff and Members. The Chief Executive said  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4