Council needs more formality, says report (From Western Telegraph)

Pembrokeshire County Council needs more formality, says report

1:50pm Saturday 4th February 2012 in News

Improvements to scrutiny, transparency and accountability are needed at County Hall, according to a Wales Audit Office report released this week.

The Auditor General’s inspection into corporate governance at Pembrokeshire County Council was launched in September, following critical reports from Estyn and Care and Social Services Inspectorate for Wales.

The investigation found a lack of clarity and understanding relating to some roles, along with some lack of transparency.

The report says greater formality is needed within the council.

It’s conclusion states: “The council has a positive culture of trust and respect that has delivered benefits; however, too much informality and lack of consistently effective challenge has weakened accountability, leaving the council open to risk.”

The report made seven recommendations, including clarifying roles, and ensuring documentation is kept of meetings and decisions.

It also states councillors should be ‘appropriately informed of any issues of concern’, and examples were found of councillors not being informed about serious issues before reading about them in the local press, or of information being incomplete, infrequent, or too late in the democratic process.

Auditor General for Wales Huw Thomas was satisfied the council did not need to overhaul its systems of governance.

“The public can be confident that the council is complying with its statutory requirements to improve.

“Having said that, there is a need for the council to address some management practices, like introducing more formal mechanisms to properly hold itself to account for decisions made and actions taken.”

Council Leader Cllr John Davies welcomed the report, and accepted the recommendations, stating the investigation indicated the council’s systems of governance and management ‘are in good health’.

“Over the lifetime of this council, we have been encouraged to simplify our processes and to work to cut bureaucracy and red tape.

“We have sought to do this to ensure that our resources are targeted at frontline services and this has resulted in the report’s finding that the council needs more formality.”