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Ethical governance toolkit

Introduction

The purpose of the toolkit is:

to help local authorities assess how well they are meeting the ethical agenda
to improve further their arrangements

The toolkit is badged jointly by the Standards Board for England, the Improvement and Development Agency (now Local Government Improvement and Development) and the Audit Commission. The Standards Board for England has supported the development of the tools with the other bodies.

The toolkit consists of four main elements. Each of these is administered by either the Audit Commission or LG Improvement and Development. The list below shows the tools and the key issues they address.

Self-assessment survey (Audit Commission)

Assesses awareness of ethical issues

Full audit (Audit Commission)

In-depth assessment of the council’s:

compliance with the Code of Conduct
arrangements for local determinations and investigations
the roles and responsibilities of standards committees
monitoring officer roles and responsibilities
chief executive roles and responsibilities
protocols and constitution
arrangements for promoting confidence in local democracy
understanding of ethical issues and behaviours

Light touch health check (LG Improvement and Development)

A quick assessment of the following behaviours of the council:

leadership
relationships
communication
accountability
management of standards
team working and cooperation

Developmental workshops (Audit Commission or LG Improvement and Development)

To improve awareness and understanding of ethical issues facing the council.

What are the benefits of using the toolkit?

The ethical governance toolkit contains various elements, which will enable councils to have a better understanding of:

how well they are meeting the ethical agenda
where they can make improvements
how they can address issues
how well they are meeting benchmarks
how they can help ensure that high standards of ethical governance are sustained.

Failure to achieve high ethical standards has consequences for members, councils and local government more generally. These include:

a public loss of credibility and confidence in individual members, councils and local democracy
investigation, sometimes leading to the disqualification of members
potential litigation and costs of defending a challenge
poor decision making.

How does the toolkit work?

The toolkit has been designed so that users can ‘pick and mix’ the different elements. The self-assessment survey, full audit and light touch healthcheck are ‘diagnostic tools’. We recommend using them before the developmental workshops. Councils can use the following combinations of diagnostic tools:

self-assessment survey (Audit Commission)
self-assessment survey and full audit (Audit Commission)
self-assessment survey (Audit Commission) and light touch health check (LG Improvement and Development)
full audit (Audit Commission)
light touch health check (LG Improvement and Development).

The developmental workshops use ethical scenarios and seek to increase awareness and understanding of the Code of Conduct and ethical behaviour. The developmental workshops should be tailored to meet any awareness and understanding issues identified during the diagnostic stage.

Materials available for download

We strongly recommend that to get the full benefit from any of the toolkit materials councils use trained practitioners from either the Audit Commission, or LG Improvement and Development. Trained practitioners will constructively challenge existing processes, procedures, culture and behaviour.

The materials for the light touch health check and developmental workshops are, however, available to download.

(Please contact us for PowerPoint versions of the context presentation and the ethical governance scenarios).

It should be noted that using these materials will not guarantee improved ethical governance. Rather, the materials provide a mechanism to identify and discuss ethical governance issues in your authority, and a means of developing solutions.

Before using any of the materials it is important that the facilitator has a broad understanding of ethical issues. It is recommended that, at the very least, they read the various guidance documents produced by the Standards Board for England. These documents, along with some useful websites, can be found in the useful links section.

How do I decide what tools I should use?

When making a decision about which diagnostic tools to use, the council should consider the roles of the Audit Commission and LG Improvement and Development and how these fit with their needs. The council should also think about the level of resources (in terms of finances and staff time) they are able to commit.

The strength of the Audit Commission is in addressing compliance, assurance, improvement and issues to do with arrangements. LG Improvement and Development has particular experience in working with members and officers on cultural and behavioural issues. It is recommended that either or both organisations should also be contacted for further details on costs, and further information about the tools and outputs.

Outputs

Both the Audit Commission and LG Improvement and Development work flexibly with councils on how feedback is provided. Councils can discuss the various options with them.

Different parts of the toolkit will lead to different outputs, as shown below.

Tool: self-assessment survey
Output: short analysis and recommendations, action plan

Tool: full audit
Output: full report, recommendations, action plan

Tool: light touch health check
Output: summary report, action plan, presentation

Tool: developmental workshops
Output: presentation using ‘ethical scenarios’ and outline action plan

Resource implications

The list below indicates the time and range of people we recommend for the various parts of the toolkit. Specific financial costs will need to be discussed with the Audit Commission or LG Improvement and Development.

Tool: self-assessment survey
Audit Commission
Target audience: all elected members, senior officers (first to third tier), staff from democratic services
Time: one to four days, depending on output required

Tool: full audit
Audit Commission
Target audience: corporate leadership, senior management, standards committee members
Time: seven to 10 days, depending on size of the council

Tool: light touch health check
LG Improvement and Development
Target audience: standards committee members, monitoring officer, chief executive, senior management
Time: two days – more or less by agreement

Tool: developmental workshops
LG Improvement and Development or Audit Commission
Target audience: standards committee members, councillors, monitoring officer, chief executive, senior management
Time: one day per workshop

Further information and contacts

Below are contact details for the Audit Commission, LG Improvement and Development and the Standards Board for England.

Alison Kelly
Senior Performance Specialist and National Lead
Ethical Governance Audit
Audit Commission
1st floor Millbank Tower
Millbank
London SW1P 4HQ
email: a-kelly@audit-commission.gov.uk
www.audit-commission.gov.uk

Vanessa Walker
Improvement Manager
LG Improvement and Development
Layden House
76-86 Turnmill Street
London EC1M 5LG
email: vanessa.walker@local.gov.uk
www.local.gov.uk/improvement

Dr Gary Hickey
Research and Practice Manager
The Standards Board for England
Fourth Floor
Griffin House
40 Lever Street
Manchester, M1 1BB
email: gary.hickey@standardsboard.gov.uk
www.standardsboard.gov.uk