Agenda item

The Performance Manager presented the report, the purpose of which was for the Governance and Audit Committee to review the Council’s draft Self-Assessment for 2021/22 in advance of consideration at a meeting of the Council in January 2023, in accordance with the requirements of the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021. The Performance Manager informed Members that further to approval of the Self-Assessment, the document must be subsequently published within 4 weeks.

The Performance Manager provided an overview of the report and noted that the Council has a strong record of self-awareness / self-reflection within a culture of continuous improvement and meeting statutory requirements.

The Performance Manager advised Members of the areas of improvement that were identified from the Self-Assessment, namely:

1.    Financial Planning and Resilience;

2.    Workforce Planning;

3.    Cost of Living;

4.    Making RCT Resilient to the challenges of Climate Change;

5.    Narrowing the Attainment gap for pupils living in poverty;

6.    School Attendance;

7.    Modernising and integrating health and social care services and      transforming the Council’s residential services for children;

8.    Continuing to regenerate the town centres and supporting local businesses; and

9.    Supporting those in housing need.

The Performance Manager went on to inform Members that the Self-Assessment seeks to challenge the status quo and to deliver an open and honest assessment of the Council’s functions and governance. The Performance Manager advised Members that this culture of constructive challenge and support, continual organisation self-awareness and the pursuit of excellence across the Council aims to ensure services are delivered efficiently and effectively.

To conclude, the Performance Manager fed back that the Self-Assessment demonstrates the Council meets the performance requirements of the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021.

A Member requested further information on the key challenges facing the Council.

The Chief Executive commended the Self-Assessment and indicated that it represented an excellent summary of the Council’s position, supported by robust performance management arrangements and good governance throughout the course of the year. The Chief Executive referred Members to the 9 areas for improvement, these providing an overview of the key challenges facing the Council, and noted that actions to address these areas are built into service planning and delivery arrangements.

Mr M Jehu requested reassurance from the Chief Executive that the 9 priority areas are not dealt with in isolation but as a collective with partner organisations.

The Chief Executive emphasised the importance of working collaboratively to tackle these areas and advised that with regard to the Council’s strategic partnership landscape, there are developments being progressed, for example,  bringing Public Services Boards together across the region into a single arrangement to support more effective and efficient arrangements;  the Regional Partnership Board that is taking forward the integration of Health and Social Care agenda; and on-going work with the Health Board, noting the very challenging operating environment and current pressures currently being experienced. The Chief Executive added that there is a clear commitment from partners across agencies to work together and deliver the required improvements.

Following discussion, the Governance and Audit Committee RESOLVED to:

-     Note the significant amount of detail contained within the Self-Assessment and the mature and robust governance and performance processes in place which enabled its production.

-     Declared themselves satisfied with the Chief Executive’s responses to questions in respect of organisational capacity to deliver the bigger challenges within the nine themes emerging from the Self-Assessment and also the value of collaboration with partners to seek and deliver improvements in these areas of work.

-      Make no recommendations for change prior to consideration by full Council.

-      Noted that the Self-Assessment would be published within four weeks of a version being approved by full Council.