In order to meet the statutory requirement set out in the Accounts and Audit (England) Regulations 2011, Regulation 4(3), the Strategic Director – Transformation and Resources, on behalf of the Chief Executive, presented for the Committees consideration and debate a draft Annual Governance Statement (AGS) and indicated that a final version would be presented to the 17 September 2014 meeting. He commented that it was necessary for the Council to have approved and adopted a Code of Corporate Governance that complied with the principles of the CIPFA/SOLACE Framework: Delivering Good Governance in Local Government and to report publicly through the AGS the extent to which the governance processes outlined in the Code were operating effectively in practice.

He outlined the approach taken in the production of the AGS and indicated that the Internal Audit team had been responsible for undertaking the relevant assurance work. He set out the sources of evidence and documentation that had been provided by Internal Audit and commented that the review of the AGS and the accompanying assurances were important roles for the Committee.

The Conservative Group Spokesperson expressed concern that an officer group, namely the Chief Executive’s Strategy Group (CESG), retained ownership of the AGS and he questioned a number of comments set out within the document. In particular, he expressed his view that the Council was not ‘stable, well-led, open and far more inclusive’. He believed that there was little opportunity for pre-scrutiny to be undertaken and questioned also the legitimacy of the Council’s decision to join the Combined Authority, on the basis that reference to it had been to the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, rather than to its full and proper title. He suggested that dedicated planning sessions to develop the future direction of the Council should be open to all Members of the Council. Further questions with regard to the decision making process of the Standards and Constitutional Oversight Committee were answered by the Head of Legal and Member Services. Members also expressed concern that the controlling political group should have taken the Chairs of each of the Policy and Performance Committees.

The Liberal Democrat Spokesperson commented that although there had been some improvement, as indicated in the AGS, more work was required on how best to hold the Cabinet to account. He accepted the outcome of the recent local government elections, yet believed that the public wanted assurance that there would be effective checks and balances in place. He highlighted the reputational risk to the Council of Scrutiny Chairs, being members of the ruling group, expressing a view in relation to an executive decision. He referred also to Principle 6 of the AGS and commented that the Council had failed to engage with local people and other stakeholders upon a number of issues, in particular, street lighting being turned off against the advice of the Police and funding for school crossing patrols being sought from schools without any prior consultation.

Members also expressed a view that the Labour Group may have felt compelled to take the Chairs of Scrutiny Committees because of a lack of engagement by opposition groups, particularly when afforded the opportunity to participate training events. Members commented that there were clear signs of improvement and hoped that this Committee would continue to benefit from its Members working together on a non-political basis and to continue to improve the Council’s engagement with local people and stakeholders.

The Strategic Director thanked Members for their comments, which were a good example of the Committee’s stewardship and would inform the final draft of the AGS. He emphasised the significant progress that had been made by the organisation, which had been echoed by the LGA. The CESG considered regular performance monitoring reports, which were also presented to each Policy and Performance Committee, who also had opportunity to undertake pre-scrutiny in line with their work programme. He also proposed to explore how best to improve the way that information from the Council and its partners was presented to the public.

On a motion by Councillor Abbey, seconded by Councillor Doughty, it was –

Resolved – That subject to the comments made by Members being noted, the final Annual Governance Statement be presented to the 17 September 2014 meeting of the Committee.