The Director (Corporate Services) sought approval from Members of the Finance and Audit Committee of the Annual Governance Statement for the 2017-18 financial year.

The Assistant Director (Corporate Services) that the Council’s current Code of Corporate Governance was adopted by Full Council in February 2017 and the Annual Governance Statement provides the outcome of the an annual review of the effectiveness of the council’s governance framework against the Code. The Annual Governance Statement (AGS) is required to be presented to the Finance & Audit Committee annually as the Committee charged with governance.

Members should have received an email last week which held links to all the associated documents used as evidence to support the preparation of the Annual Governance Statement. A summary of the information provided is included on page 95 of the report and page 97 – 105 pertains to the draft Annual Governance Statement.

The recommendations on page 104 outline the control issues that require attention but the review had not identified any significant issues, rather it had identified ways to improve the controls that are already in place.

A point was raised by a Member that there should be one policy hub online that all Members can have access to in which all Gravesham policies are located; it would be useful as Members could direct constituents to various policies in all areas of the Council.

The Assistant Director (Corporate Services) advised the Committee that there is a policy library published on the website which holds all public-facing policies as well as a Netconsent policy hub that GBC officers have access to. The Assistant Director (Corporate Services) advised she would consult with Ben Turner to see if Members had access to the Netconsent hub. Ben Turner is also currently compiling a review of corporate policies to ensure that all of Gravesham policies are up to date with any exchanges that have occurred over the last year.

Resolved that Members:

·         Noted the findings of the review of the Councils governance arrangements for 2017-18

·         Approved and supported the Annual Governance Statement for the 2017-18 financial year