IJB - Annual Governance Statement - Action Plan Progress
North Lanarkshire Council · 22 October 2025
Back to IJB Performance, Finance and Audit Committee — 22 October 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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REPORT Item No: 9 1. PURPOSE OF REPORT 1.1 This paper is coming to the Performance, Finance and Audit (PFA) Committee: For approval For endorsement For noting 1.2 This report provides an outline of the actions agreed with the External Auditor, Internal Auditor, and the Senior Management Team to further develop the IJB governance framework. 2. ROUTE TO THE PERFORMANCE, FINANCE AND AUDIT COMMITTEE 2.1 This paper has been: Prepared By: Chief Finance Officer ☒ Reviewed By: Chief Officer ☒ Endorsed By: ☐ 3. RECOMMENDATIONS 3.1 It is recommended that the PFA Committee: (1) Acknowledge the contents of the report; and (2) Agree that further progress reports will be presented to future meetings of the PFA Committee in respect of the ongoing actions. 4. VARIATIONS TO DIRECTIONS 5. ANNUAL GOVERNANCE STATEMENT ACTION PLAN 5.1 As part of the statutory annual accounts, an Annual Governance Statement is included which reports on the effectiveness of the IJB’s governance arrangements and system of internal control and explains how the IJB complies with the Code of Corporate Governance and meets the requirements of ‘Delivering Good Governance in Local Government’ framework developed by CIPFA and SOLACE in 2016. 5.2 To ensure continual improvement of the IJB’s governance arrangements, an action plan is included within the Annual Governance Statement which was approved at the IJB in June 2025. Included within this are improvement areas identified by Audit Scotland within their Annual Audit report, Internal Audit as part of their annual audit SUBJECT: Annual Governance Statement – Action Plan Progress TO: Performance, Finance and Audit Committee Lead Officer for Report: Chief Officer Author(s) of Report Chief Financial Officer DATE: 22 October 2025 Yes No N/A
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work as well as improvements highlighted as part of the IJB self-assessment process. 5.3 Following conclusion of the 2024/25 External Audit, the Annual Audit Report identified 1 recommendation with regards to financial sustainability therefore this has been added to the action plan. 6 ACTION PLAN PROGRESS 6.1 Appendix 1 details the actions as well as progress against these actions. For audit purposes, all actions will remain on the plan for a full financial year however those completed during the year will be removed for the first report after April 1st each year. Table 1 provides a summary of the status of the actions. Table 1 Year the action was identified Total Actions Completed Actions Ongoing Actions 2022/23 2 1 1 2023/24 5 4 1 2024/25 3 1 2 2025/26 1 1 0 TOTAL 11 7 4 7. IMPLICATIONS 7.1 NATIONAL OUTCOMES People are able to look after and improve their own health and wellbeing and live in good health for longer ☒ People, including those with disabilities or long-term conditions, or who are frail, are able to live, as far as reasonably practicable, independently and at home or in a homely setting in their community ☒ People who use Health and Social Care Services have positive experiences of those services, and have dignity respected ☒ Health and Social Care Services are centred on helping to maintain or improve the quality of life of people who use those services ☒ Health and Social Care Services contribute to reducing health inequalities ☒ People who use Health and Social Care Services are safe from harm ☒ People who work in Health and Social Care Services feel engaged with the work they do and are supported to continuously improve the information, support, care, and treatment they provide ☒ Resources are used effectively and efficiently in the provision of Health and Social Care Services ☒ 7.2 ASSOCIATED MEASURE(S) The implementation of agreed actions will contribute to the ongoing development of the internal control framework and will also inform the Annual Governance Statement for 2025/26.
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7.3 FINANCIAL This paper has been reviewed by Finance: Yes No N/A 7.4 RISK ASSESSMENT/RISK MANAGEMENT The strategic financial risks detailed in the IJB Risk Register has been updated where necessary and are included in a separate report to the IJB. Relevant Risk Register Details Current Risk Level Risk Owner Ineffective Governance Arrangements Low Claire Rae 7.5 ENGAGEMENT & PARTICIPATION Please tick the engagement and participation objectives that link(s) with this piece of work and provide further details on the engagement and participation that was undertaken. Objectives Further details ☒ Involve stakeholders in the development work aimed at achieving the national outcomes This report includes all engagement and participation objectives as effective governance arrangements ensure the IJB can fulfil its statutory duties. Good governance enables the IJB to pursue its vision effectively as well as underpinning that vision with mechanisms for control and management of risk. ☒ Provide stakeholders with information on how to get involved ☒ Ensure a diverse range of engagement and participation and opportunities are in place to suit different needs ☒ Measure how well we involve community stakeholders in the planning, design, and delivery of our services ☒ Provide regular feedback on how stakeholder engagement and participation is shaping and influencing service development and delivery ☒ Provide support to enable stakeholder representatives to participate meaningfully and confidently at meetings ☒ Develop participation guidelines to ensure a common understanding and set of expectations for both stakeholders and partnership staff ☒ Support engagement planning and participation in localities, taking account of other engagement activity and local plans across the Community Planning Partnership 7.6 INEQUALITIES & FAIRER SCOTLAND DUTY Equality and Diversity Impact Assessment Completed & Fairer Scotland Impact Assessment Form Completed and EQIA added to website: Yes No N/A
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8. BACKGROUND PAPERS None. 9. APPENDICES Appendix 1 Annual Governance Statement – Action Plan Progress Chief Finance Officer Members seeking further information about any aspect of this report, please contact Nicola Scott on telephone number 07581 007187.
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Appendix 1 Annual Government Statement - Action Plan Progress Reference Improvement Area Agreed Action Responsible Person Projected Completion Date Current Status Ongoing / Complete 2022/23: 1 Service Level Agreement (SLA) To agree an SLA with Children, Families and Justice for future hosting arrangements following the budget disaggregation exercise. Work is currently underway to agree, approve and implement the new SLA in partnership with Children, Families and Justice Services. Chief Officer Claire Rae September 2025 Work on this is progressing. The budget data has been gathered to inform the arrangements, key points for consideration are being collated, and the final task will be for all relevant chief officers to meet and finalise this SLA. The current timeline for completion is no later than 31st March 2026. Ongoing 2022/23: 2 National Care Service To develop a sound understanding of the impact for the Partnership of the National Care Service legislation. Paper presented to the IJB in January 24 giving an update on timescales for implementation. Further updates will be presented to the board as details are released. Chief Officer Claire Rae September 2025 This action is no longer relevant given the changes from the proposed NCS to the Care Reform Bill. The Senior Management Team will keep abreast of ongoing developments and report to the IJB as necessary. Complete. 2023/24: 1 2023/24 Self- Assessment Agreed actions 1. Development of a revised framework for North Lanarkshire which will ensure engagement and participation in the development of the Strategic Commissioning Plan across the entire health and social care system. Chief Officer Claire Rae December 2025 The development of a new Strategic Commissioning Plan is underway with a view to the new plan coming into effect from April 2026, upon expiry of the current Strategic Commissioning Plan 2023-2026. An engagement and consultation process has been initiated to ensure a wide range of staff, people who use services, carers and partner organisations have an opportunity to participate in shaping the next commissioning plan. This was reported to the IJB on 17th September 2025 Strategic Commissioning Plan 2026 and Beyond Complete 2. Undertake an exercise to review performance output and associated data from other Health Boards and Local Authorities. Chief Officer Claire Rae December 2025 Benchmarking is undertaken within our family group of local authorities against all national performance indicators and reported within the Annual performance report. Annual Performance Report 2024/25 - DRAFT Complete 3. Recognition that there is a formalised risk sharing agreement in place with NHSL, NLC and SL IJB within the risk management strategy but no reference to similar in relation to performance and finance. Chief Officer Claire Rae December 2025 This is currently under review to consider whether a formalised agreement is required and what this would consist of. Ongoing 2023/24: 2 Presentation of financial and non- financial information in the annual accounts In the production of future accounts, the IJB should review the presentation of both financial and non-financial information to ensure this reflects the organisation’s role as a strategic commissioning body. Chief Finance Officer Nicola Scott September 2025 A review of other IJB’s accounts was undertaken to ascertain the style and content of their Annual Reports. Using this, the format of the 2024/25 Annual Report was updated which has been accepted by Audit Scotland. Complete 2023/24: 3 Presentation of financial and non- financial information in the financial performance reports The financial reports will be further defined to give an overview in the delivery of services against the overall funding aligned to the Strategic Commissioning Plan and Medium- Term Financial Plan/Long Term Financial Plan including earmarked reserves. Chief Finance Officer Nicola Scott September 2025 An updated report, taking into account Audit Scotland’s recommendations, has been prepared for the first quarter. This was presented to PFA in August 2025 and has been accepted by Audit Scotland as part of their 2024/25 External Audit. Complete
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Appendix 1 Reference Improvement Area Agreed Action Responsible Person Projected Completion Date Current Status Ongoing / Complete 2024/25: 1 2024/25 Self- Assessment Agreed actions 1. Holding to Account - effective scrutiny, challenge and support of services by the Management Team and IJB members when reviewing presented papers. Chief Officer Claire Rae December 2025 Work on this will be undertaken as part of updating the standing orders in Q1 2026. Ongoing 2. Vision for IJB should be clear and ambitious with membership being diverse and engaged. Management team to review induction process and liaison sessions. Chief Officer Claire Rae December 2025 This is under review and will be updated along with the renewal of the Strategic Commissioning Plan in April 2026. Ongoing 3. Review what goes to IJB and PFA and ensure there are appropriate development sessions to support the financial picture. Chief Officer Claire Rae December 2025 A workplan has been prepared for 12months for both PFA and IJB and presented to both for approval. This is a live document that can be added to as necessary. There has also been a series of IJB Development Sessions scheduled for the remainder of 2025 and Q1 2026 with specific topics allocated including Finance and Risk. Complete 2025/26 Financial Sustainability The IJB should continue to: Develop and refine the arrangements it has in place for securing financial sustainability, including its medium and long term financial plans and savings plans. Work effectively in partnership with the local council and the health board on service transformation. Apply its reserves strategy to effectively manage the use of reserves to supplement savings and efficiencies when required. Chief Finance Officer Nicola Scott Ongoing It was agreed with the Audit Director that this action will remain ongoing as there is no end date to this. The management response provided and included in the Final Audit Report was as follows: A financial outlook for the 3 year period has been prepared and is being presented to Board Members on 17th September 2025. This outlines the forecast budget gaps for the next 3 years and will lead into Board Development sessions where savings will be discussed for approval at a later Board. The outlook clearly identifies the current reserves position and the impact non achievement on savings will have on reserves. Discussions have taken place with both NLC & NHSL on the forecast position and an Elected Members briefing session within NLC was undertaken in June this year with another scheduled in the Autumn to ensure all relevant parties are aware of the forecast. The medium term and long term outlooks will continue to be reviewed throughout the year with budget setting for 2026/27 set for March 2026. Complete There will be ongoing review as part of the annual financial planning arrangements. Key Complete Ongoing – within projected completion timescale Ongoing – has exceeded projected completion date