This meeting of the Isle of Anglesey Council Governance and Audit Committee was scheduled to include the presentation of the Annual Letter from the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales for 2023/2024, and the nomination of a councillor to the North Wales Corporate Joint Committee’s Governance and Audit Committee. In addition, scheduled reports included updates from the Head of Internal Audit and Risk on the Committee's action log, the effectiveness of the committee, the Internal Audit Update, and a review of the committee's work plan.

Nomination to the North Wales Corporate Joint Committee

The committee was scheduled to nominate one councillor to serve on the Governance and Audit Committee of the North Wales Corporate Joint Committee, and one councillor to serve as a substitute. The committee was also scheduled to consider whether to nominate any lay members to the same committee.

The North Wales Corporate Joint Committee is a statutory joint committee that includes representation from the six local authorities in North Wales: Isle of Anglesey County Council, Gwynedd Council, Conwy County Borough Council, Denbighshire County Council, Flintshire County Council, and Wrexham County Borough Council. It was established on June 30 2022. The committee has statutory duties in relation to strategic planning and transport and is expected to shortly take over responsibility for the North Wales Growth Deal from the Economic Ambition Board.

The North Wales Corporate Joint Committee Regulations 2021 require the committee to have its own Governance and Audit Committee, which will consist of nine members: six county councillors, one from each constituent council, and three lay members.

Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (PSOW) Annual Letter

The committee was scheduled to note and accept the Annual Letter from the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales (PSOW) for 2023/2024.

The Annual Letter for Isle of Anglesey County Council reported 38 service complaints made to the PSOW about the Council in 2023/2024, none of which were investigated. The report notes that this is the third highest number of complaints per capita in Wales. The Ombudsman made 26 recommendations to the Council during the year.

The report pack also highlighted the increase in the number of complaints made to the PSOW about the Isle of Anglesey County Council’s handling of complaints. The letter stated:

24% of the complaints about IOACC, in 2023/2024, related to IOACC’s handling of complaints (9 complaints)

The report noted that this is consistent with the previous year’s performance and suggested a likely contributing factor could be corporate staffing issues.

Update on the Governance and Audit Committee's Effectiveness Review Action Plan

The committee was scheduled to consider a report on the progress being made with implementing recommendations made by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) following its review of the Governance and Audit Committee’s effectiveness in 2024.

At its meeting on 18 April 2024, the Governance and Audit Committee considered a report regarding the outcome of work undertaken to fulfil the requirements of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy’s (CIPFA) Position Statement: Audit Committees in Local Authorities and Police 2022. This recommends that audit committees evaluate their impact and identify areas for improvement.

Of the ten recommendations made by CIPFA, the report states that ten actions had been fully implemented, two have been noted and one action remains in progress. This is:

the provision of training for officers on reporting to Committee

Internal Audit Update

The committee was scheduled to consider a report providing an update on the audits completed since the last update in August 2024. The report also included the current workload of Internal Audit and priorities for the short to medium term.

The report highlights three key pieces of assurance work completed by the Internal Audit team, for which copies of the assurance reports were circulated to members of the committee under separate cover:

• Partnerships Oversight
• Counterfraud controls within Revenues refunds
• Cybersecurity Assessment Framework Review

Update on the Council's Work to Deliver the Net Zero Strategic Plan in 2023/24

The committee was scheduled to receive the ‘Towards Net Zero – Annual Report 2023/24’, which details the Council’s progress in managing the risks of climate change and its progress towards achieving ‘net zero’ during that year.

Key achievements noted in the report include:

• Securing £14M in Welsh Government grant funding to upgrade heating systems and improve energy efficiency in 27 council assets
• Adding 28 new homes to the Council housing stock, which are built to carbon-neutral standards
• Extending the EV charging network across the island
• Improving active travel routes in Holyhead and Trearddur Bay
• Establishing a tree nursery near Llangoed to support the Council's plan to plant more trees.

The report also highlights the reduction in the Council's carbon emissions. The Council's total carbon emissions in 2023/24 were 42,022 tonnes CO2e. This is a reduction of 19.7% compared to the maximum emissions in 2021/22.

Anglesey Schools Annual Information Governance Assurance Report 2024

The committee was scheduled to be informed of the level of data protection compliance and risk in relation to schools.

The report presented the Schools Data Protection Officer’s analysis of the key information governance (IG) issues between November 2023 and November 2024, and summarised current priorities.

It stated that since the last report, issued in November 2023, schools have had the necessary policies and procedures in place to be compliant with requirements under data protection legislation. However, the report recommends:

Action needs to be taken to formalise refresher training arrangements with schools to ensure that staff receive data protection training on a regular basis and to ask schools to provide evidence of data protection training attendance, including dates.

Annual Corporate Health and Safety Report 2023/24

The committee was scheduled to consider a report updating it on the Council’s activities with regards to Corporate Health and Safety during 2023–24.

The report provides an overview of health and safety activity at the Council during this period, including an analysis of accidents and incidents, key achievements, and a strategic action plan for 2024/25.

The report highlighted the two adverse issues that impacted the Council in 2023/2024: the revised instructions from Welsh Government regarding buildings containing reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), and the outbreak of bird flu.

It stated that both of these issues were addressed effectively due to cross-section work within the Council.

External Audit – Monitoring Report

The committee was scheduled to be assured that recommendations attached to external audit reports have been given due consideration by the Council Services and that the relevant ones are being implemented.

The report details the Council’s response to external audit reports and associated recommendations published by regulators. The reports included in the document are:

• Time for change – Poverty in Wales, a report by the Auditor General for Wales.
• ‘A missed opportunity’ – Social Enterprises, a report by the Auditor General for Wales.
• ‘Cracks in the Foundations’ – Building Safety in Wales, a report by the Auditor General for Wales.
• ‘Together we can’ – Community resilience and self-reliance, a report by the Auditor General for Wales.
• Sustainable development? – making best use of brownfield land and empty buildings, a report by the Auditor General for Wales.
• Digital Strategy Review, a local report.
• Use of performance information: service user perspective and outcomes, a local report.
• Setting of well-being objectives, a local report.

FOR INFORMATION ONLY: Audit Wales Work Programme and Timetable – Quarterly Update 30 September 2024

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on the Audit Wales Work Programme and Timetable as of 30 September 2024.

The report outlined the status of the delivery of Audit Wales’ work programme, providing details of work relating to the Annual Audit Summary, financial audits, performance audits and local government national studies. It also includes updates on the work of Estyn and the Care Inspectorate Wales across Wales, and lists the Audit Wales national reports published since September 2023.

Review of Forward Work Programme for 2024-25 v4

The committee was scheduled to consider the draft Forward Work Programme for 2024–25. The committee was asked to consider whether the work programme meets the committee’s responsibilities in accordance with its terms of reference.

The draft programme included a provision for a private meeting with the internal and external auditors without officers present.

The document states that:

At least once during an electoral cycle a panel performance assessment will take place in the period between ordinary elections of councillors to the council. The council may choose to commission more than one panel assessment in an electoral cycle, but it is not a requirement of the legislation. (The Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021).

Exclusion of the Press and Public

The committee was scheduled to consider excluding the press and public from the meeting to discuss the Annual ICT Security Report 2023/24.

The report pack states that:

"Under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, to exclude the press and public from the meeting during the discussion on the following item on the grounds that it may involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Schedule 12A of the said Act and in the attached Public Interest Test”.

The attached Public Interest Test argued that:

“Placing information about the Council’s cyber security arrangements into the public domain would be likely to increase the risk to the security of the Council’s network and the integrity of its data. The information could be exploited by criminals and other parties who seek to undermine the Council’s security measures. The likelihood of harm to the business affairs of the Council, arising from disclosure is high resulting in prejudice to the commercial and financial interests of the Council. The public interest in ensuring the security of data holdings is strong.”

The report pack recommends that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.