Public service governance
The UK has published a new Standard for the governance of public services that for the first time will give half a million people who serve on UK governing bodies a single, common standard (comparable to the private
sector’s Combined Code) that clarifies expectations of their roles and responsibilities.
According to HM Treasury, public expenditure in the UK will exceed £500 billion by 2005/06. The Standard of Good Governance (the Standard), developed by the Independent Commission on Good Governance in Public Services (the Commission), will provide both governors (for example, non-executive directors and board members) and the public who use services with guidance to review, challenge and question governance practice and seek improvements. It is based on a year’s research and extensive consultation with the public and those involved in governance.
The idea is that governing bodies will review their own effectiveness and to make sure they receive the support they need to do a difficult job effectively. The public and regulators will be able to use the Standard to assess the accountability of public service organisations to the public they serve and to assess governance performance as a basis to demand change and improvements where necessary.
The Standard is intended to help all organisations in the public sector – including the police, schools, the National Health Service, non-departmental public bodies and local government – as well as independent organisations, such as some in the voluntary and community sector and registered social landlords, who receive public money to provide specific services.
Sir Alan Langlands, chair of the Independent Commission on Good Governance, which was established by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) and the Office for Public Management (OPM) in partnership with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “There is no public service equivalent of the combined code which sets out the principles of good governance. As a result many governors are confused about their roles and responsibilities. The Standard puts some important stakes in the ground. It provides public bodies with a way of rapidly reviewing the effectiveness of their governance arrangements and the public with the means to challenge sub-standard governance.”
The new Good Governance Standard establishes, for the first time, common principles for the roles and responsibilities of all public service governing bodies. Robert Black, Auditor-General for Scotland, commenting on the launch of the Standard said: “The good governance standard for public services should be read by everyone with a governance role in the public sector. As a short, clear, practice guide based on six core principles it provides an excellent framework for putting good governance into practice.”
The Standard presents six core principles of good governance.Each principle has supporting principles that explain what is involved in putting good governance into practice.
The six good governance principles are:
1. focusing on the organisation’s purpose and outcomes for citizens and service users;
2. performing effectively in clearly defined functions and roles;
3. promoting values for the whole organisation and demonstrating the values of
good governance through behaviour;
4. taking informed, transparent decisions and managing risk;
5. developing the capacity and capability of the governing body to be effective; and
6. engaging stakeholders and making accountability real
A statement of “application” clearly explains what an organisation must do in order to live up to the Standard. A set of probing questions allows governors and governing bodies to assess how well they are living up to it, and to develop action plans for making improvements. The Commission calls on public service organisations to review their governance arrangements regularly and to report publicly on findings as part of their
accountability to the public.
A copy of the UK public service governance standard is at
http://www.opm.co.uk/ICGGPS/
|
