Here's a summary of the Governance and Audit Committee meeting, which included discussions on the council's performance assessment, complaints handling, financial updates, counter-fraud measures, planning service review, and risk management. The committee agreed to collaborate on a response to the Panel Performance Assessment, and showed support for the work being done to address fraud and improve the planning service.

Panel Performance Assessment Report

The committee reviewed the council's draft response to the Panel Performance Assessment (PPA) report, which is required by the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021¹. The PPA assessed the council's effectiveness, use of resources, and governance.

Paul Orders, Chief Executive, summarised the PPA's positive findings, which recognised Cardiff as a well-run and ambitious council with strong leadership and effective governance. The panel made three recommendations:

1. Review the balance of scrutiny activity, shifting from pre-decision scrutiny to more thematic approaches and embedding diversity.
2. Develop a renewed narrative linking economic growth more explicitly to stronger, fairer, greener initiatives.
3. Strengthen the connectivity between the council's change programme, medium-term financial plan, and workforce strategy.

Councillors discussed the recommendations and the council's proposed responses, which are summarised on pages 49 and 50 of the Public reports pack. Councillor Kate Carr raised concerns about the risks and opportunities of shifting from pre-decision to thematic scrutiny and how to involve the right people in the process. Paul Orders responded that the panel's concern was with the balance of scrutiny, and that a careful risk assessment of reports was needed to ensure that not everything required pre-decision scrutiny.

Councillor Rodney Berman raised concerns about the level of input that members have into shaping the overall work programme of the Economy and Culture Scrutiny Committee.

The committee agreed that Councillor Chris Burns and Gavin McArthur would collaborate on a response to the PPA report, reflecting the discussion points raised during the meeting.

Council Complaints and Compliments

The committee reviewed the Council Complaints and Compliments Arrangements and Annual Report. Isabel Bignall and Rory Williams presented the report, highlighting the implementation of the HALO system for managing complaints. The report noted a 16.1% increase in complaints compared to the previous year, with 71% responded to within 20 working days. 61.4% of complaints were upheld.

Councillor Berman raised concerns about the increasing number of complaints over a five-year period, particularly in street scene services, and questioned whether the council was learning from these complaints. Isabel Bignall responded that the council was aware of the issues and that waste services were working on addressing them. She also noted that housing was under constant pressure and that they were putting a plan of action in place to address the volume of complaints.

Dr. Janet Wademan asked about the lessons learned from the HALO commissioning programme that could be transferred to other transformation programmes. Isabel Bignall responded that HALO is being used as a ticketing system for the IT service desk and that it has been a very good value product for the authority with the enterprise licence in play.

Dr. Wademan also asked how the council recognises compliments and motivates staff. Isabel Bignall gave the example of waste management, where compliments are passed on to the team and recognised in toolbox talks.

Financial Update

Chris Lee provided a financial update, focusing on the month 4 spend position and budget preparation for next year. The report projected a total council overspend of £3.8 million, with key overspends in children's services, education, and income shortfalls in planning, transport, environment, and economic development. The budget gap for 2026-27 had reduced slightly to £38 million, but the medium-term gap had increased due to additional learning needs pressures. The report assumed a 2% increase in Welsh Government support and a 5% annual increase in council tax.

Counter-Fraud Annual Report

Chris Pyke presented the Counter-Fraud Annual Report 2024/25, highlighting the introduction of a Counter-Fraud Oversight Group and refreshed fraud awareness training. Councillor Cowan asked about the tangible benefits arising from the oversight group. Chris Pyke responded that it provided an opportunity to explore in more detail the activities and progress in terms of different initiatives, as well as to get that strategic direction very clearly set and discussed at that subset of SMT.

Dr. Wademan asked about the level of uptake of the refreshed mandatory fraud awareness training. Chris Pyke responded that he did not have the figures to hand, but that he would provide them in the next report to the committee.

The committee noted the report and the fighting fraud checklist and self-assessment.

Planning Service Review

Andrew Gregory and Simon Gilbert presented the Planning Service Review. Alison Rees from Audit Wales was also in attendance. The review covered process and governance, but did not review planning applications or building control. Simon Gilbert noted that eight of the nine recommendations were fully accepted, with the ninth recommendation being fully accepted with the exception of one bullet point out of four.

Councillor Cowan raised concerns about staff training and the disconnect between members and the planning department. Andrew Gregory responded that they were aware of the communication issues and were looking at digital and other types of structural communication systems to overcome them.

Dr. Wademan raised concerns about the lack of sufficient training when a new ICT system is introduced. Simon Gilbert clarified that the software is a third-party provider and that they are engaging with them in terms of training modules.

David Price asked about the reasons for not fully agreeing with recommendation 8, which stated that all planning applications submitted by officers or people associated with officers of the council should go to planning committee by default. Simon Gilbert responded that there was a reluctance to present all planning applications and that they felt that the current scheme of delegations that requires all elected members' applications and chief officers' applications to go to committee was appropriate.

Gavin McArthur asked for confirmation that the planning committee would be formally tracking the progress on the recommendations. Andrew Gregory responded that they would be directly engaged and involved in completing the management actions and the order.

Councillor Carr suggested a mapping out of where the various bits sit, so what will come back to this committee to check audit recommendations have gone through, which we are confident we know what that mechanism looks like, but where other bits will go to other committees or if not where the gaps are.

Audit Wales Work Programme and Timetable Update

Sam Clements from Audit Wales presented the Audit Wales Work Programme and Timetable Update.

Draft Annual Governance Statement

Ian presented the Draft Annual Governance Statement 2024/25. Gavin McArthur suggested including the new counter fraud oversight group and the improved equality impact assessment process in the report.

Risk Management Annual Report

Dean presented the Risk Management Annual Report 2024/25. Gavin McArthur suggested looking at the trends throughout the year and the progress towards meeting the risk appetite of the authority across the board.

Dr. Wademan asked about the implications for the public regarding flooding and staff shortages, and whether the budget allocations were right. Ian responded that they were bringing in junior employees and supplementing them with external organisations. He also noted that they have to work with the money they are given and try to find ways of supplementing that.

Treasury Management Annual Report

Anil presented the Treasury Management Annual Report 2024/25. Dr. Wademan asked whether the accounts of the CJC were imminent. Anil responded that the 2023-24 accounts have now been approved by Audit Wales and the corporate joint committee and that the 2024-25 accounts are now following the same time scales as this council and the other partners with the view to approval October November 2025.

Outstanding Actions, Correspondence and Work Programme Update

The committee noted that there were no outstanding actions, and that the Audit Manager had reviewed the correspondence and determined that there were no matters for the committee to consider in its work programming. The committee also noted the work programme update.