Agenda item

1.1            The Performance and Programme Manager advised the Governance and Audit Committee that they were required under the terms of reference to receive and consider inspection reports from external regulators and inspectors and to make recommendations; where necessary, the Committee are required to monitor implementation and compliance with agreed action plans.

1.2            There are three external regulators: Audit Wales, Care Inspectorate Wales, and Estyn. Each body is responsible for providing assurance that the Council is fulfilling its statutory duties and providing value to the public.

1.3            The report covered the regulatory reports / inspections completed by each body between December 2022 and March 2023 including a summary of the Council’s response (where applicable) and any additional actions which the Council was undertaking to respond to the recommendations.

Comments of the Committee:

1.4            D Reed referred to page 113, second para, under the Newport City Council action table.  The Working Group concluded that there were not sufficient resources to undertake self-evaluations as recommended by Audit Wales and assumed that Audit Wales was aware of this.  The Performance Programme Manager advised that this was not correct, and that once Audit Wales published a report it was up to the Council how to implement.  The working group felt it would be better to establish a cost-of-living steering group through the Strategic Director for Social Services to consider factors such as the Marmot review and public services board, and to prioritise and determine actions going forward. The Performance Programme Manager confirmed that this was a national report, and the Council chose to make alternative arrangements.  Gareth Lucy, Audit Wales added that because this is a national report, Audit Wales would maintain contact in terms of recommendations and ongoing discussions.

1.5            D Reed also referred to page 114, Carbon Reduction monitoring of progress, which stated that it was to be completed by March 2023.  The Policy Programme Manager confirmed that this was completed.

1.6            Dr Barry mentioned that it was a clear and easy to follow report.  There were a couple of recommendations that were in progress, but the heading stated that they were completed, such as Carbon Reduction 114, Equality Impact Assessment 116, Asset Management 117.  The Performance Programme Manager noted the comments and would make this clearer.

1.7            Dr Barry also referred to page 116, the performance management data comparisons with other LAs and wanted assurance that the HR data was in line with other LAs. The Head of People, Policy and Transformation advised that they were working with WLGA and Data Cymru and as there was no bench marking data, in the interim the Council had to work to informally to compare data.

1.8            D Reed referred to page 115, in the report overview it stated that most NFI participants displayed a strong commitment to counter fraud, with 13 of the 22 LAs identifying 95% of the fraud and error outcomes, which meant nine of the authorities delivered the remaining 5%.  D Reed enquired whether Newport one of the of the 13 LAs or nine. The Policy Programme Manager confirmed that Newport was one of the 13. Gareth Lucy, Wales Audit gave some context advising that it did not mean that the other nine LAs did not engage with the process but reflected the outcomes of their activity. The Head of People, Policy and Transformation advised the Chair that we had received the final counter fraud report, which would be added to the next collated update.

1.9            The Chair referred to Appendix 2, the Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW), and the Children’s Provisions, and enquired where any recommendations that may come from those inspections would be picked up. The Policy Programme Manager confirmed that they would be captured within Social Services and reported to the Executive Board, Directorate Management Team and shared with the Cabinet Members for Social Services. 

1.10         The Chair stated that the Committee could not be assured that the Council was fulfilling its duties in this area without seeing the recommendations of the CIW inspection.  The Chair considered that any confidential information could be anonymised for this purpose.  The Performance and Programme Manager took comments on board and would seek clarification from the Monitoring Officer to ensure that there was no breach in legislation if this information was divulged. The Chair understood and would not want confident information to be divulged, however the ability to identify any trends would support continuous improvement.

Recommendations:

The Governance and Audit Committee considered the regulatory activity completed within the report and accepted that where recommendations have been raised the Council was taking necessary action.