Issue - meetings

In accordance with a recommendation made by the Corporate Governance and Audit Committee at its meeting on Thursday 28 September 2017, the Council is requested to resolve to note the annual report of the Corporate Governance and Audit Committee on Chichester District Council’s governance arrangements and the Annual Governance Statement 2016-2017 appended thereto.

The Council received the recommendation made to it by the Corporate Governance and Audit Committee (CGAC) at its meeting on Tuesday 28 September 2017 as set out on the face of the Council agenda, the details in respect of which were contained in the CGAC annual report and the Annual Governance Statement 2016-2017 appended to it which were circulated with the Council agenda.

Mrs Hamilton pointed out that this item was purely for noting by the Council.  

Mrs Tull (Chairman of the CGAC) formally moved the CGAC’s recommendation of the Cabinet and this was seconded by Mrs Kilby (Cabinet Member for Housing Services).

Mrs Tull summarised the CGAC’s annual report with particular reference to (a) the three highest risks identified in CDC’s Corporate Risk Register, namely (i) business continuity, (ii) cyber attack across the entire estate and (iii) non-achievement of the 50% recycling target by 2020 and (b) the seven principles of good governance, which were summarised in the report and set out in greater detail in the annual governance statement.  

On behalf of the Council Mrs Hamilton confirmed that the annual report of the CGAC on CDC’s governance arrangement and the Annual Governance Statement 2016-2017 appended to it were formally noted.

The committee is required to report to Council each year on the effectiveness of the Council’s governance arrangements. The committee is therefore requested to consider this annual report and to recommend it to Council for approval.

The committee considered the report circulated with the agenda.

Mr James presented the report.

The Annual Governance statement had been prepared following a review of the governance arrangements of the council to ensure that the core principles of corporate governance were being achieved. A review of the council’s policies and procedures had taken place to gain assurance that appropriate governance arrangements were in place and were working satisfactorily. Some risks had been identified in the report - business continuity, cyber risks and non-achievement of recycling targets. Overall Mr James was satisfied that corporate governance, along with supporting controls and procedures, were working effectively and were strong across the council.

The report on the Internal Audit section in Appendix 2 formed part of the Corporate Governance Statement. The service would have to comply with the Public Service Internal Audit Standard (PSIAS) and this council would be subject to a peer review by Hastings Borough Council before submission. Members should be assured that key controls were in place across the council and this was supported by the Internal Audit service which has the responsibility to review and independently report to the Council and to this committee.

The committee made the following comments and received answers to questions as follows:

·             Concern re cyber security prevention and recovery processes – A multi-layered approach to security was in place to ensure that the council’s IT systems were not accessed. As part of the Public Services Network (PSN) we regularly test and keep updated with security information and there is a robust approach to patching. Our insurers, Zurich, would be giving a presentation to officers shortly on IT security and the recent Wannacry virus which had affected the NHS and other large business.

·             Concern that there was no reference to the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) in this report – There is currently a corporate working group in place to ensure that we comply with GDPR by the implementation date of May 2018. Mr N Bennett, the council’s Monitoring Officer, had been nominated the Data Protection Officer and was leading this group. Every service department needed to complete a questionnaire detailing the data they held, why they held it and for how long and whether consent has been obtained from the data subject. A policy document was in development at present to comply with requirements by May 2018. Retention policies would be reviewed as part of this process. From an audit point of view, the council needed to demonstrate that a policy was in place and that consent had been obtained from data subjects to allow us to hold that data for that specific purpose. The data that members hold needed to be taken into account. Mrs Belenger undertook to raise this with the working group.

·             Brexit could impact  the 50% recycling target but officers were still working towards this target with WSCC and other partners.

·             There were seven staff dismissals this year compared to six last year - the majority in Contract Services.

·             Commuted sums  ...  view the full minutes text for item 149