- Councillor M W Winstanley (Chairman)
- Councillor R M Bleakley
- Councillor B J Fagan
- Councillor T W Halliwell (Cabinet Champion)
- Councillor Ms P L Holland
- Councillor J Miller
- Councillor C Rigby
- Councillor C Sweeney
- Mr T Addison (Independent Member)
- Mr W Anderton (Independent Member)
36 Apologies for absence: Councillors Mrs K Aldred, J Haley and P Prescott and Mr P Connor (Independent Member).
37 Minutes: The minutes of the meeting of this Committee held on 2 August 2007 were approved as a correct record.
38 Annual governance report: The Committee considered a report of the Council’s annual governance report which summarised the work carried out during the audit of the 2006/07 accounts, the conclusions reached and the recommendations made that discharged the statutory audit responsibilities to those charged with governance.
Members asked questions to which the Director of Finance and Information Technology and the Distict Auditor responded.
Resolved: The Committee:-
- accepts the report now submitted;
- delegates to the Director of Finance and Information Technology, in consultation with the Chairman, authority to amend the accounts in line with the recommendations of the attached report and re-sign the 2006/07 accounts and authority to sign appendix 5, letter of representation; and
- places on record its thanks to the Director of Finance and Information Technology and staff for the excellent outcome.
(Councillor B J Fagan declared a personal and non-prejudicial interest in this item because of his son and daughter-in-law’s employment with Wigan Council).
39 Local code of corporate governance: The Committee considered a report that requested Members adopt a revised Local Code of Corporate Governance based on updated CIPFA/SOLACE guidance.
Members asked questions to which the Director of Finance and Information Technology responded.
Resolved: The Committee:-
- accepts the report now submitted; and
- recommends adoption of the Local Code of Corporate Governance to the Council.
40 Support services review: The Deputy Chief Executive gave a presentation on the review of the support services and the changes scheduled over the next 3 years in order to progress the Council from excellent to outstanding.
Members asked questions to which the Deputy Chief Executive responded.
Resolved: The Committee note the presentation.
41 Improving our understanding of neighbourhoods and inequalities: The Committee considered a report and presentation that updated members on recent work to improve our local/neighbourhood level data collection and analysis and reviewed some of the key lessons that had emerged and highlighted possible issues for further development. Appended to the report was a detailed annex with the analysis that had emerged from the SMART Neighbourhoods programme. This was supported by a presentation.
Members asked questions to which the Chief Executive of Wigan and Leigh Housing responded.
Resolved: The Committee accepts the report now submitted.
(Councillor M W Winstanley declared a personal and non-prejudicial interest in this item because he is a Member of Wigan and Leigh Housing appointed by the Council).
42 Health and safety risk management: The Committee considered a report that provided Members with an overview of the health and safety management arrangements within the Council.
Members asked questions to which the Director of Finance and Information Technology responded.
Resolved: The Committee accepts the report now submitted.
43 Chief Executive’s department – service plan 2007/08: The Committee considered a report that informed members of the tasks and targets agreed for the Chief Executive’s department for 2007/08.
Resolved: The Committee accepts the report now submitted.
(Councillor B J Fagan declared a personal and non-prejudicial interest in this item because he is a Member of AGMA Council appointed by the Council).
