Statement of Accounts 2011/2012 - Blackburn with Darwen Borough ...

ANNUAL GOVERNANCE STATEMENT
The governance framework has been in place at Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council for the year
ended 31 March 2012 and up to the date of the September 2012 Audit Committee.
3. Risk management
The system of internal control is a significant part of that framework and is designed to manage risk to a
reasonable level. It cannot eliminate all risk of failure to achieve policies, aims and objectives and it can
therefore only provide reasonable, and not absolute, assurance of effectiveness. It is based on a
continuous process that is designed to identify and prioritise the risks to the achievement of the Council’s
policies, aims and objectives, to evaluate the likelihood of both those risks being realised and their impact
should they be realised, and to manage them efficiently, effectively and economically.
Overarching responsibility for risk management lies with the Executive Board, with the corporate risks
being owned by members of the Chief Executive Strategy Group. These are monitored by the Strategic
Risk and Resilience Forum (SRRF) which is led by the Director of Policy and Communications and
Director of Finance. Whilst a number of these risks have been scored as high there are control measures
in place and additional actions identified and the risks are being monitored on a regular basis. The
Corporate Risk Management Strategy sets out the new format of the risk management groups and the
revised roles and responsibilities along with the terms of reference for the new groups. The Risk
Management Toolkit and risk register ensure a consistent approach to risk management across the
Council. Each department has its own risk champion and is required to consider risk at each
departmental management meeting. The Executive Board reporting formats have been developed to
include a risk paragraph in them and MAF also contains a risk section. Risk management reports are
also presented at each Audit Committee meeting.
4. The Council ensures compliance with established policies, procedures, laws and
regulations in the following ways:
Directors are responsible for ensuring that, within their areas of responsibility, they establish and maintain
effective systems of internal control, complying with legislation, grant rules, the Council’s own rules, etc.
This includes both responding to recommendations by Inspectorates and working with partner
organisations.
Directors are required quarterly to undertake a self-assessment of the effectiveness of controls within
their own areas of responsibility and to identify any areas of weakness and what they are doing to tackle
them. This is reported to the Chief Executive through the MAF.
A key element of assurance available to the Council and the Audit Committee is the suite of assurance
statements made by each of the directors that support the annual governance statement. These require
each director to take personal responsibility for the operation of an adequate and effective control system,
which include compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
The respective roles of the Section 151 Officer, Monitoring Officer, Senior Information Risk Officer and
Director of Legal Services ensure legality, financial prudence and transparency in transactions.
As Head of the Paid Service, the Chief Executive is responsible for ensuring that Directors and Members
both understand the need for sound internal controls and apply them in practice.
Audit and Assurance examines key financial systems and major areas of risk, advising the Strategic
Director Resources of Transformation, Directors, Service Operational Groups, the Chief Executive and
the Audit Committee about areas of weakness, good practice, etc.
The Counter Fraud Team within Audit and Assurance, on behalf of the Council, takes part in the National
Fraud Initiative and manages the roll out of the fraud awareness e-learning package to all staff. It also
monitors the Whistle-blowing calls and carries out investigations into potential non compliance or
irregularities.
The Audit Committee is responsible overall for monitoring compliance with policies and procedures and
for setting defined standards, where need be; this includes responding to reports from the Council’s
external auditor.
The Council’s Whistle-blowing Policy and the revised Customer Feedback Policy, which includes the
complaints procedure, is available on the Intranet/Internet. Both define what steps will be taken in
investigating complaints from the public.
Over the course of the year the Council has continued to carry out equality analysis and impact
assessments prior to key decisions taken at the annual Finance Council. The Council has revised its
- - 81 - -