Cyngor Gwynedd council held their Governance and Audit Committee on the 14 December 2023.These committee meetings are not webcast so not available to the public nor Councillors to view on the website.
Gwynedd's Digital Strategy Review was discussed. Geraint Owen, the senior officer with responsibility for the strategy bemoaned the fact that the timing for the review was tight and that the council did not at the time of the audit have a plan whilst acknowledging the previous Digital Strategy had come to an end in 2018...
The corporate director rejected Audit Wales's observation on the Council’s decision to not consult with the pubic to develop a Digital Strategy – he noted that there had been a consultation period on the Council Plan and that establishing a Strategy was part of that Plan. He also highlighted his opinion that the report created a misunderstanding of the developments in the field and that they need to avoid this in the future.
Wales Audit responded to the director by asserting that the consultation did not have sufficent focus on the digital field and reiterated the fact that Gwynedd council produced no evidence of reporting on progress or value for money and that the new strategy should adopt these monitoring elements.
Geraint Owen wished it noted that he did not agree with Wales Audit and on the point of ensuring value for money - it was recognised that the Strategy had not been refreshed since 2018, so in that respect it was difficult to understand how it would have been possible to monitor the achievement of a document that did not exist.
Dewi Morgan, the Head of Finance, attempted to support the director by adding - that a further discussion was needed on the definition of 'value for money', that is, discuss how value for money and productivity can be measured within the Local Authority.
Regardless of the protestations of the Executive officer, the Digital Strategy Review is scathing -
https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru/documents/s39725/Appendix%201%20Digital%20strategy%20review.%20Gwynedd.pdf
A call for the Committee to support permanent revenue bids for realising the Digital Strategy was voted down.
Senior officers informed the meeting that the audit of the council's final accounts was not yet completed. The Chair expressed her disappointment...
The full minutes of the December meeting can be found in the agenda pack for the Governance and Audit Committee held on the 18th January, 2024 and can be found here -
https://democracy.gwynedd.llyw.cymru//documents/g4962/Public%20reports%20pack%2018th-Jan-2024%2010.00%20Governance%20and%20Audit%20Committee.pdf?T=10
At the January 18th meeting, Gwynedd council's accounts were finally released alongside warnings that the financial situation is dire. Members of the Committee pointed out the disconnect between the public reports of the senior officers and the reality of the situation facing the council which was shared to members behind closed doors by the CEO, Dafydd Gibbard.
The accounts show the usuable reserves are just over £133.5 million pounds down from the previous years £142.5 million.
Councillor Ioan Thomas, Cabinet Member for Finance presented the Savings Review report, the Revenue Budget and the end of November 2023 Capital Programme review which calls for an increase in borrowing and an increase in the use of grants and contributions to balance the departments overspends.
The review of Gwynedd council's scrutiny arrangements authored by Ian Jones, Head of Democracy Services and Vera Jones, Democracy and Language Services Manager was also presented. Tensions between members became high for this discussion with some Councillors complaining that scrutiny does not work. Mention was made that there can not be real democracy without proper scrutiny and that the Plaid Cymru group were in effect shutting down democracy.
Councillor Edgar Wyn Owen tried to rubbish the claims until it was pointed out that he himself was elected unopposed in his constituency of Waunfawr. In all 28 councillors were elected without a vote being cast - 19 of them Plaid Cymru members.
The Governance and Audit Committee is an important meeting and should be webcast by the council or at the very least the recorded Zoom meeting should be made available on Gwynedd's website for Councillors and the public to view...
Something is very wrong within Gwynedd council...
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