Agenda item

To consider Item 12

The Director of Legal and Governance advised Members that the Accounts and Audit Regulations required the Annual Governance Statement to be approved in advance of the adoption of the Statement of Accounts. Once approved, it would be submitted to the Chief Fire Officer and the Chairman of the Authority for signature.

The Annual Governance Statement had been set out to reflect the seven principles of Good Governance as contained in the guidance issued in 2016 jointly by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) and the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE). In addition, CIPFA issued a bulletin in February 2021 recommending that an Annual Governance Statement for 2020/21 should include: adaptations to reflect new ways of working and emergency arrangements; changes to ‘business as usual’ activities, including cessation or reduced frequency or scale of activities; and longer-term changes to priorities, programmes, strategies and plans as a result of the impact of the pandemic on the organisation and the local area.

As a result, Members were advised that the Annual Governance Statement set out how the Authority and its officers adapted to the challenges and practicalities of decision making at Member and officer level; and how certain aspects of work were deferred; how the service did things differently, and also how the service extended beyond its statutory duties to give greater support to the ambulance service; and creating new partnerships with health and social care providers. 

Members were advised that the Annual Governance Statement included a link to a letter from Her Majesty’s Inspector Matt Parr praising the work of the service’s employees for undertaking additional roles to protect its communities; and that it reproduced the Chief Internal Auditor’s Opinion and the acknowledgement of the Chief Internal Auditor of the service’s  response to Covid-19 both internally and externally in providing additional support to the public.

The Director of Legal and Governance advised Members that Appendix A presented an update on progress against the governance issues intended to be addressed in 2020/21. One area completed in the year was a review of its internal governance board arrangements to complement the establishment of a Project Management Office function. Three other areas had been reprioritised and given new completion dates and there were four additional areas to be addressed in 2021/22.

A Member asked about the review of the statutory Data Protection Officer (DPO) function and the Director of Legal and Governance advised that the decision was taken corporately that when a position becomes vacant, it was not automatically filled. As Members were aware, the Authority was under financial pressures and if there was a way of reviewing how a role was delivered more effectively and economically, that was something that would be explored. It was a statutory post, but the Authority was looking at how it could be delivered differently on a service contract, or in a partnership with another local authority.

A Member praised the format and content of the Annual Governance Statement when compared to others that he had seen in other authorities.

A Member asked what things had been done differently through the pandemic and was advised by the Director of Legal and Governance that the Authority had adapted in many ways, one being in terms of holding remote Authority, Committee, and Internal Board meetings, leveraging that technology to allow for more remote working, and remote reporting into those bodies. One of the benefits was reducing the carbon footprint.

A Member asked around ‘Core Principle B - Ensuring openness and comprehensive stakeholder engagement.’ Due to Covid-19 access to fire stations had been restricted, how could the Service use this opportunity with new technology to engage with the public in different ways, were there any plans, on how this could be done differently in the future.

The Director of Legal and Governance advised Members that the Protection Team had given some very successful online seminars to business owners and employers regarding their responsibility under the Regularity Reform Fire Safety Order.

The Chief Fire Officer advised that the Authority was managing four vaccination centres across Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes and had been very successful engaging with health authorities and local authorities, supporting them to vaccinate people across the communities. The Authority was also using this as an opportunity to engage with vulnerable members of the community to give advice on fire safety and fire prevention.

RESOLVED –

1.               That the Annual Governance Statement 2020/21 be approved.

2.               That the progress on the implementation of recommendations of the previous Annual Governance Statement (Appendix A to the Annual Governance Statement) be noted.

3.               That the priorities for 2021/22 (Appendix B to the Annual Governance Statement) be agreed.