Highways Agency Annual Report and Accounts 2011-2012

SECTION 6: Governance statement
investigations undertaken. A non executive
director attends each meeting of the Fraud
Sub-Committee.
- The Agency is Investors in People
accredited. This is a proven business
improvement framework that significantly
improves financial performance, productivity
and employee involvement and focus.
• Project & Contract Management - We
manage our projects and contracts to ensure
delivery on time, within budget and to the
appropriate quality. Control systems include:
- A Project Control Framework which specifies
the detailed governance processes and
procedures that major projects must follow
to ensure they deliver the required outputs of
each project phase on time and to budget.
The framework also defines the project
lifecycle, roles and responsibilities and
project deliverables.
- Use of the OGC Gateway Review method
of providing project assurance. Competent
programme and project management
ensures that issues are not overlooked, time
and money is not wasted, and resources are
effectively deployed.
- Centralised procurement function for
contracts >£15k which are handled by
a central Division and any single tender
action requires the personal approval of the
Procurement Director.
- Use of Earned Value Management on all key
investments to inform and enable meaningful
challenge.
- Compliance by Managing Agents to their
contracts is checked by an external team of
auditors under a Performance Audit Function
Framework.
• Compliance with Standards & Requirements -
Our people, partners and procedures comply
with relevant legal, government, departmental
and technical standards and requirements. The
Agency’s arrangements include:
- A dedicated team deals with compliance
with the statutory processes for the
acquisition, management and disposal of
land and property in connection with the
Agency’s activities. Other teams deal with
the statutory requirements concerning
road building, and the management and
maintenance of the strategic road network.
- Technical governance procedures to ensure
that the Agency conducts its business in
accordance with the appropriate technical
standards, and include measures to govern
any necessary departure from engineering
standards.
- Compliance with European Union legislation
and standards where appropriate regarding
several areas including procurement and
health and safety.
Audit and Assurance
As Accounting Officer, I have responsibility for
reviewing the effectiveness of the system of
internal control. My review of the effectiveness
of the system of internal control is informed
by the work of the internal auditors and the
executive managers within the Agency who
have responsibility for the development and
maintenance of the internal control framework,
and comments made by the external auditors in
their management letter and other reports. I have
been advised on the implications of the result
of my review of the effectiveness of the system
of internal control by the Board and the Audit
Committee and a plan to address weaknesses
and ensure continuous improvement of the
system is in place.
My Head of Internal Audit provides regular
reports on key risk and control issues, to
standards defined in the Government Internal
Audit standards, and an annual independent
opinion on the adequacy and effectiveness of
the Agency’s system of internal control together
with recommendations for improvement. The
implementation of recommendations is monitored
closely by the Agency Board and is included on
the performance scorecard. The Head of Internal
Audit’s opinion for the year 2011-12 is that on
the basis of the evidence obtained during the
year a ‘Reasonable’ assurance rating can be
provided on the adequacy and effectiveness
of the Agency’s arrangements for corporate
governance, risk management and internal
control, ie that they are generally established
and effective, with some minor weaknesses or
Highways Agency Annual Report and Accounts 2011-12