Agenda item

To receive the report of the Chief Executive

The Chief Executive presented his report which set out the Council’s annual self-assessment for 2021/22 following it’s consideration by the Governance & Audit Committee on the 7^th December 2022. The Local Government & Elections (Wales) Act 2021 requires that a draft of the self-assessment must be made available for review by the Governance & Audit Committee prior to Council’s consideration and once agreed by Council it must be published within 4 weeks of being finalised.

The Chief Executive referred to paragraph 3.2 of the report which sets out the relevant duty within the Act which is met by self-assessment and requires each Council in Wales to keep under review the extent to which it is meeting the performance requirements of the Act, that it is the extent to which it is exercising its functions effectively, is using its resources economically, efficiently and effectively and its governance is effective.

The Chief Executive added that as Members are aware that this Council has a strong track record of self-awareness and self-reflection and is therefore well placed to respond to the requirements of the Legislation. He advised that as this is the first statutory self-assessment under the legislation with no prescribed model in place, the report before Members includes the huge volume of performance information which is routinely reported to Members in a number of ways, such as the quarterly performance reports as well as many other reports to Council and Cabinet concerning policies and stakeholder feedback

The Chief Executive commented that as the assessment period covers the Pandemic, it reflects the change to the Council’s performance arrangements during this time and details it’s immediate and direct focus on services and its response and recovery whilst maintaining robust monitoring of the delivery of its priorities, which is detailed in the report. He referred to the Councils’ requirements to take ownership of their improvement, to build reflection on performance and action to improve into the system. He added that this Council is well placed to meet that requirement due to its strong self- evaluation performance arrangements which have been in place since 2016.

The 2021/22 self-assessment represents the opportunity to take stock of the council ‘s services and corporate functions and consideration of the robustness of the management and monitoring arrangements in place and provides Members with the assurance that the council is meeting its statutory requirements to reflect on performance and take action to improve where necessary.

The Chief Executive referred to the comments of the Governance & Audit Committee upon its consideration of the Council’s self-assessment which sought no material changes to the assessment but did seek assurance that the Council is able  to address the challenges described in the nine key themes emerging from the self-assessment and the cross-cutting partnership which is required to deliver the council’s response to the themes.

In conclusion, as supported by the evidence provided, the Chief Executive advised that the Council can demonstrate that it meets the performance requirements of the Local Government (Wales) Act 2021.

Following discussion and consideration of the report, it was RESOLVED to:

1. Consider that the draft Self-Assessment is an accurate and robust reflection of the position of the Council and its services and meets the requirements of theLocal Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 Part 6;

2. Consider the observations of the Governance and Audit Committee on 7 December 2022; and

3. Approve the Annual Self-Assessment 2021/22 incorporating the Council’s Corporate Performance Report, and its publication within four weeks of approval.