Corporate Governance

Good (corporate) governance leads to good management, good performance, good stewardship of public money, good public engagement and ultimately, good outcomes (The Good Governance Standard for Public Services, OPM & CIPFA, 2005). It provides a framework of accountability to users, stakeholders and the wider community, within which organisations take decisions and achieve set objectives.

The Cadbury Report on Standards in Public Life (1992) is generally accepted to have been the first to develop a common understanding of corporate governance in the private sector, identifying the principles of good governance as integrity, openness and accountability. While the Nolan report in 1995 was particularly important in setting out the following 7 principles of public life:

• Selflessness 
• Integrity 
• Objectivity 
• Accountability 
• Openness 
• Honesty 
• Leadership

CIPFA and SOLACE’s joint framework ‘Delivering Good Governance in Local Government’ defines the principles, adapted from ‘The Good Governance Standard for Public Services’ that should underpin the governance of each local council.

The framework puts high standards of conduct and leadership at the heart of good governance, placing responsibility on elected members and officers to demonstrate leadership by behaving in ways that exemplify high standards of conduct, and so set the tone for the whole authority. The following six core principles, which each have supporting principles, give a common framework for assessing good governance practice in authorities -

1. Focusing on the purpose of the authority and on outcomes for the community and creating and implementing a vision for the local area
2. Members and officers working together to achieve a common purpose with clearly defined functions and roles
3. Promoting values for the authority and demonstrating the values of good governance through upholding high standards of conduct and behaviour
4. Taking informed and transparent decisions which are subject to effective scrutiny and managing risk
5. Developing the capacity and capability of members and officers to be effective
6. Engaging with local people and stakeholders to ensure robust public accountability

The Welsh Local Government Association is contributing to better governance in Welsh councils through

• the Member Development Strategy 
• leadership development 
• the development and implementation of the Wales Programme for Improvement and 
• supporting new political management frameworks

For more information contact: Daniel Hurford