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Supporting Principles | To meet the requirement of this principle the Authority will | This will be evidenced by
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Openness
| Ensuring an open culture through demonstrating, documenting and communicating the organisation’s commitment to openness
| Annual report Freedom of Information Act publication scheme Annual Governance Statement Annual Assurance Statement Compliance with Transparency code Authority website
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| Making decisions that are open about actions, plans, resource use, forecasts, outputs and outcomes. The presumption is for openness. If that is not the case, a justification for the reasoning for keeping a decision confidential should be provided
| Publication of Committee agendas and minutes Public meetings
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| Providing clear reasoning and evidence for decisions in both public records and explanations to stakeholders and being explicit about the criteria, rationale and considerations used. In due course, ensuring that the impact and consequences of those decisions are clear
| Authority/Committee timetable Authority Agenda and Minutes
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| Using formal and informal consultation and engagement to determine the most appropriate and effective interventions/ courses of action
| Consultation strategy
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Engaging comprehensively with institutional stakeholders
| Effectively engaging with stakeholders to ensure that the purpose, objectives and intended outcomes for each stakeholder relationship are clear so that outcomes are achieved successfully and sustainably
| Consultation strategy
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| Developing formal and informal partnerships to allow for resources to be used more efficiently and outcomes achieved more effectively
| Partnership framework Blue Light Collaboration Board
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| Ensuring that partnerships are based on: · trust · a shared commitment to change · a culture that promotes and accepts challenge among partners · and that the added value of partnership working is explicit | Partnership framework
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Engaging stakeholders effectively, including individual citizens and service users
| Establishing a clear policy on the type of issues that the organisation will meaningfully consult with or involve individual citizens, service users and other stakeholders to ensure that service (or other) provision is contributing towards the achievement of intended outcomes | Consultation strategy
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| Ensuring that communication methods are effective and that members and officers are clear about their roles with regard to community engagement | Consultation strategy
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| Encouraging, collecting and evaluating the views and experiences of communities, citizens, service users and organisations of different backgrounds including reference to future needs | Consultation strategy
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| Implementing effective feedback mechanisms in order to demonstrate how their views have been taken into account | Consultation strategy
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Supporting Principles | To meet the requirement of this principle the Authority will | This will be evidenced by
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Determining interventions
| Ensuring decision makers receive objective and rigorous analysis of a variety of options indicating how intended outcomes would be achieved and including the risks associated with those options. Therefore ensuring best value is achieved however services are provided
| Committee report template Member briefings
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| Considering feedback from citizens and service users when making decisions about service improvements or where services are no longer required in order to prioritise competing demands within limited resources available including people, skills, land and assets and bearing in mind future impacts
| Consultation strategy CRMP Annual Service Plan Budget/Financial strategy
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Planning interventions
| Establishing and implementing robust planning and control cycles that cover strategic and operational plans, priorities and targets
| Authority/Committee timetable Calendar of dates for developing and submitting plans and reports that are adhered to
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| Engaging with internal and external stakeholders in determining how services and other courses of action should be planned and delivered
| Consultation strategy Rep body consultation
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| Considering and monitoring risks facing each partner when working collaboratively including shared risks
| Partnership framework Blue Light Collaboration Board |
| Establishing appropriate key performance indicators (KPIs) as part of the planning process in order to identify how the performance of services and projects is to be measured
| Performance reporting Planning Committee submissions Corporate programme Board
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| Ensuring capacity exists to generate the information required to review service quality regularly
| Performance reporting Corporate programme Board
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| Preparing budgets in accordance with organisational objectives, strategies and the medium term financial plan | Budget/Medium term financial plan Productivity and Efficiency Plan |
| Informing medium and long term resource planning by drawing up realistic estimates of revenue and capital expenditure aimed at developing a sustainable funding strategy
| Budget/Medium term financial plan Productivity and Efficiency Plan
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Optimising achievement of intended outcomes
| Ensuring the medium term financial strategy integrates and balances service priorities, affordability and other resource constraints
| CRMP Annual service Plan Budget/Financial strategy
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| Ensuring the budgeting process is all-inclusive, taking into account the full cost of operations over the medium and longer term
| Budget/Medium term financial plan Productivity & Efficiency Plan
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| Ensuring the medium term financial strategy sets the context for ongoing decisions on significant delivery issues or responses to changes in the external environment that may arise during the budgetary period in order for outcomes to be achieved while optimising resource usage
| Budget/Medium term financial plan Productivity & Efficiency Plan
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| Ensuring the achievement of ‘social value’ through service planning and commissioning. The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 states that this is “the additional benefit to the community...over and above the direct purchasing of goods, services and outcomes”
| Procurement Strategy
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Supporting Principles | To meet the requirement of this principle the Authority will | This will be evidenced by
|
Developing the entity’s capacity
| Reviewing operations, performance use of assets on a regular basis to ensure their continuing effectiveness
| Performance reports
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| Improving resource use through appropriate application of techniques such as benchmarking and other options in order to determine how the authority’s resources are allocated so that outcomes are achieved effectively and efficiently
| Service review
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| Recognising the benefits of partnerships and collaborative working where added value can be achieved
| Partnership framework
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| Developing and maintaining an effective workforce plan to enhance the strategic allocation of resources
| People Strategy Organisational development plan
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Developing the capability of the entity’s leadership and other individuals
| Developing protocols to ensure that elected and appointed leaders negotiate with each other regarding their respective roles early on in the relationship and that a shared understanding of roles and objectives is maintained
| Job descriptions Member/officer protocol Member briefings |
| Publishing a statement that specifies the types of decisions that are delegated and those reserved for the collective decision making of the governing body
| Scheme of delegation Standing orders Financial regulations Terms of reference
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| Ensuring the leader and the chief executive have clearly defined and distinctive leadership roles within a structure whereby the chief executive leads the authority in implementing strategy and managing the delivery of services and other outputs set by members and each provides a check and a balance for each other’s authority
| Scheme of delegation Standing orders Financial regulations Terms of reference
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| Developing the capabilities of members and senior management to achieve effective shared leadership and to enable the organisation to respond successfully to changing legal and policy demands as well as economic, political and environmental changes and risks by:
| Strategy Group Member Training and Development Working Group Organisational Development Plan Induction programme Appraisals Personal development plans Recruitment and Selection Procedures
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| Ensuring that there are structures in place to encourage public participation | Consultation strategy
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| Taking steps to consider the leadership’s own effectiveness and ensuring leaders are open to constructive feedback from peer review and inspections
| Member Training and Development Working Group Organisational Development Plan Induction programme Appraisals Personal development plans |
| Holding staff to account through regular performance reviews which take account of training or development needs
| Member Training and Development Working Group Organisational Development Plan Induction programme Appraisals Personal development plans Debrief process Quarterly performance reviews across SD |
| Ensuring arrangements are in place to maintain the health and wellbeing of the workforce and support individuals in maintaining their own physical and mental wellbeing | OHU Fitness advisor MIND blue light programme Optimum employee support programme Employee Assistance Programme |
Supporting Principles | To meet the requirement of this principle the Authority will | This will be evidenced by
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Managing risk
| Recognising that risk management is an integral part of all activities and must be considered in all aspects of decision making
| Risk management policy Corporate risk register |
| Implementing robust and integrated risk management arrangements and ensuring that they are working effectively
| Risk management policy Corporate Risk Register |
| Ensuring that responsibilities for managing individual risks are clearly allocated
| Risk management policy Corporate Risk Register |
Managing performance
| Monitoring service delivery effectively including planning, specification, execution and independent post implementation review
| Performance Reporting Corporate Programme Board
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| Making decisions based on relevant, clear objective analysis and advice pointing out the implications and risks inherent in the organisation’s financial, social and environmental position and outlook
| Committee timetable Committee report template Member briefings
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| Encouraging effective and constructive challenge and debate on policies and objectives to support balanced and effective decision making | Terms of reference Training for members
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| Providing members and senior management with regular reports on service delivery plans and on progress towards outcome achievement
| Committee timetable Committee report template Member briefings Performance Reporting Corporate Programme Board
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Robust internal control
| Aligning the risk management strategy and policies on internal control with achieving the objectives
| Risk management strategy Internal Audit plan External Audit Plan Audit reports |
| Evaluating and monitoring the authority’s risk management and internal control on a regular basis
| Risk management policy Annual Governance Statement Annual Assurance Statement
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| Ensuring effective counter fraud and anti-corruption arrangements are in place
| Anti-fraud policy NFI
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| Ensuring additional assurance on the overall adequacy and effectiveness of the framework of governance, risk management and control is provided by the internal auditor
| Annual governance statement Annual Assurance Statement Internal audit Audit Committee |
| Ensuring an audit committee or equivalent group or function which is independent of the executive and accountable to the governing body: provides a further source of effective assurance regarding arrangements for managing risk and maintaining an effective control environment and that its recommendations are listened to and acted upon
| Audit committee Terms of reference Training
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Managing data
| Ensuring effective arrangements are in place for the safe collection, storage, use and sharing of data, including processes to safeguard personal data
| Designated data protection officer Data protection policies and procedures
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| Ensuring effective arrangements are in place and operating effectively when sharing data with other bodies
| Data sharing agreements Data sharing register
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| Reviewing and auditing regularly the quality and accuracy of data used in decision making and performance monitoring
| Data validation procedures
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Strong public financial management
| Ensuring financial management supports both long term achievement of outcomes and short-term financial and operational performance
| Budget/Medium term financial plan Productivity and Efficiency Plan Financial Management Code
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| Ensuring well-developed financial management is integrated at all levels of planning and control, including management of financial risks and controls | Budget monitoring reports
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Supporting Principles | To meet the requirement of this principle the Authority will | This will be evidenced by
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Implementing good practice in transparency
| Writing and communicating reports for the public and other stakeholders in an understandable style appropriate to the intended audience and ensuring that they are easy to access and interrogate Striking a balance between providing the right amount of information to satisfy transparency demands and enhance public scrutiny while not being too onerous to provide and for users to understand
| Annual report Compliance with Data Transparency requirements Pay Policy Accessibility Service Order |
Implementing good practices in reporting
| Reporting at least annually on performance, value for money and the stewardship of its resources
| Annual report Annual financial statements Annual Governance Statement Annual Assurance Statement
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| Ensuring members and senior management own the results
| Appropriate approvals by officers and members
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| Ensuring robust arrangements for assessing the extent to which the principles contained in the Framework have been applied and publishing the results on this assessment including an action plan for improvement and evidence to demonstrate good governance (annual governance statement)
| Annual governance statement Annual Assurance Statement
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| Ensuring that the Framework is applied to jointly managed or shared service organisations as appropriate
| Annual governance statement Annual Assurance Statement
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| Ensuring the performance information that accompanies the financial statements is prepared on a consistent and timely basis and the statements allow for comparison with other similar organisations
| Annual report Budget/Medium term financial plan Productivity and Efficiency Plan
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Assurance and effective accountability
| Ensuring that recommendations for corrective action made by external audit are acted upon Ensuring an effective internal audit service with direct access to members is in place which provides assurance with regard to governance arrangements and recommendations are acted upon
| Annual Audit Report Annual Internal Audit report Compliance with CIPFA’s Statement on the Role of the Head of Internal Audit (2010) Compliance with Public Sector Internal Audit Standards
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| Welcoming peer challenge, reviews and inspections from regulatory bodies and implementing recommendations
| Peer challenge review Organisational Assurance Team HMICFRS NFCC Fire Standards Board Ofsted
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| Gaining assurance on risks associated with delivering services through third parties and that this is evidenced in the annual governance statement
| Annual governance statement Annual Assurance Statement
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| Ensuring that when working in partnership, arrangements for accountability are clear and that the need for wider public accountability has been recognised and met
| Partnership framework
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