Agenda item

5.1

The Director of Legal and Governance submitted a report outlining the Annual Governance Statement for 2016/17. The Council was required to produce, and have signed off, as part of its annual accounts, an Annual Governance Statement. The statement was intended to identify any significant control weaknesses and also to set out how the Council intended to address any weaknesses identified.

5.2

Eugene Walker, Executive Director, Resources, introduced the report. He commented that there were no major failures outlined in the statement. However, there were issues highlighted which was good practice to outline in the statement.

5.3

One of the significant issues was the overspend in social care. There was an increasing demand in adults and children’s social care which had a significant impact in 2016-17 and would continue to affect budgets in the future. However, measures had been taken to try and address the overspend.

5.4

A further issue which had been highlighted was a legal judgement regarding equality in licensing policy. Although, the Council had been compliant at the time of the original decision, the legal judgement meant a need to take steps to ensure compliance in the future, which had been taken.

5.5

Following a query from a Member of the Committee as to whether the recent Adult Social Care grant from the Government had made any difference to the overspend in social care, John Mothersole, Chief Executive, commented that the funding had been received after the year outlined in the statement. It would help with the general overspend but the main pressures related to Learning Disabilities and Looked After Children. There was a need to take a longer term view. Demand could not be reduced but earlier intervention could stop issues further down the line. Pressures in social care had been increasing across the country which was why the Government intervention in respect of funding was needed.

5.6

Resolved: That:-

(i)        the Committee notes the contents of the Annual Governance Statement for 2016/17 and that this had been signed by the Council Leader, Chief Executive and the Executive Director, Resources and that the statement formed part of the Annual Accounts; and

(ii)       the Chair’s opening script at future meetings of the Licensing Committee be amended to reflect the change in the equality duty arising from the recent legal judgement.