Issue - meetings

The Mayor has accepted this urgent item to present to council an internal audit report that was considered by the Governance Committee last week. The report highlighted two internal audit reviews that had been given limited assurance ratings and highlight weaknesses in the governance framework of the Commercial Services directorate.

To receive and consider the report of the Chief Executive.

The Executive Leader, Councillor Alistair Bradley presented a report of the Chief Executive that presented the Audit and Risk Interim Report that was considered by the Governance Committee on 18 January to highlight the findings of two internal audit reports that received limited assurance ratings.

Councillor Bradley explained that he had been made aware of issues within the directorate in 2022 by the former Chief Executive who indicated he wanted to investigate further. The Executive Leader did not request further information as it was a Chief Executive function. Proposed management actions were now in place and action had already been taken to rectify issues.

The Executive Leader explained that he was happy to answer Councillor Alan Cullens questions fully but had not provided a response before the meeting as he wanted to circulate the response to all members and potentially the public. A written response would be provided outside of the meeting, taking into consideration the confidential nature of the appendices.

The Leader of the Opposition, Councillor Alan Cullens explained he first became aware of the report when it was presented to Governance Committee at South Ribble and asked if the report could be made open if confidential information was redacted.

The Executive Leader explained he had seen the report week commencing 13 January and it had been shared with the Labour Group on 16 January, the opposition group should have been provided with the report at the same time as the Executive Leader. With reference to the Governance Committee at South Ribble it was explained that their meeting was held before the one at Chorley.

In response to the query on making the report open, the Monitoring Officer explained that it would be difficult to redact information from the report as issues were intrinsically linked.

Members debated the reports, including Councillors Sam Chapman, James Nevett, Debra Platt and Aidy Riggott. With members commenting on the further considerations within the report such as reporting the data breaches to the Information Commissioners Office and a report of potential fraud being logged with the Police.

Councillor Bradley proposed and the Deputy Leader, Councillor Peter Wilson seconded, and it was Resolved (Unanimously)

1.    Council notes the Audit and Risk Interim Report set out at Appendix A and note the proposed response set out in this report.