Agenda item

Cllr Chaplin joined the meeting at 10.30am

The report, which asked Members to approve the Annual Governance statement for 2021/22 at Appendix 1 of the report, and to approve the amended Code of Corporate Governance at Appendix 2 of the report, was introduced by the Head of Law.

The Authority had heard earlier from the External Auditors that they had not been able to complete the Value for Money element of the 2021/22 audit but that they had considered the Annual Governance Statement and to date had not identified any issues and did not contemplate finding any issues that would lead to anything other than an unmodified clean opinion.

Members raised the following points:

·         The Authority’s rigorous approach to corporate governance was welcomed, particularly in the light of the recent public interest report which had been published regarding breaches of corporate governance by Cheshire East Council in 2014/15. 

·         Corporate governance could be included in training for new Members.

·         Member involvement in this area could be increased via the Governance Review Working Group.

·         It would be useful for Members to have a concise summary of the main points of the Code of Corporate Governance to aid understanding.

The Head of Law confirmed that Member’s suggestions would be considered and that lessons learned in public interest reports were always studied. She also reminded Members that the Member Code of Conduct and the Nolan principles were their key sources of guidance. 

The recommendations set out in the report were moved, seconded, put to the vote and carried.

RESOLVED

1.    To approve the unaudited Annual Governance Statement for 2021/22 for sign off by the Chief Executive Officer and the Chair of the Authority at Appendix 1 of the report.

2.    To approve the Code of Corporate Governance set out in Appendix 2 of the report.

3.    To authorise the Head of Law & Monitoring Officer, following consultation with the Chair of the Authority, to make minor changes to the Code of Corporate Governance each year following publication of the Annual Governance Statement.