Annual Governance Statement

The Chief Executive (S151 Officer), Service Managers, the Monitoring Officer, Internal Audit and managers across the authority will have a role to play in this process. The overall assurance given is not a pass or fail. It is a narrative statement pointing to the Council's strengths and weaknesses.

The Annual Governance Statement will include the following information:

an acknowledgement of our responsibility for ensuring there is a sound system of governance (incorporating the system of internal control);
an indication of the level of assurance that the systems and processes that comprise our governance arrangements can provide;
a brief description of the key elements of our governance framework, including reference to group activities where those activities are significant;
a brief description of the process that has been applied in maintaining and reviewing the effectiveness of the governance arrangements;
an acknowledgement of the improvements that have been undertaken during the year;
a plan of proposed actions to be taken, to deal with any significant governance issues.

Completion of the statement should flow from the normal business planning and review processes of the Council, Governance and Audit Committee, Standards Committees and the planned work of Internal Audit. The Service Plan is one of the central mechanisms for each Service Manager managing their own area of activity and therefore sits at the centre of the governance process.

Governance is integral to the whole business management process and not an add-on. Hence it uses existing documents and procedures and the risks and control framework. In particular, it links to performance reporting as good governance promotes good service but poor service performance reflects a failure of governance. Effective internal controls are an important part of the governance process. Through their audit assurance work, Internal Audit will provide an opinion on the effectiveness of the systems of internal control.

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