Corporate governance and internal control

Cheltenham Borough Council is committed to the principles of good corporate governance and confirms its ongoing commitment and intentions though the development, adoption, monitoring and maintenance of its code of corporate governance. The council recognises that achieving high standards of corporate governance encourages stakeholders to have confidence in us and allows the council to undertake its community leadership role.

Corporate governance has become increasingly important for the council and as a result, in 2009 we reviewed our code of corporate governance, our annual assurance process and the work of the corporate governance group.

Monitoring

Compliance with our code of corporate governance and any national guidance is carried out through an annual assurance test. The results of this test are monitored by the corporate governance group which is chaired by the Chief Executive and reported to the senior leadership team, the audit committee and council through the annual governance statement.

The chief executive and leader will prepare the annual governance statement as part of the annual statement of accounts giving their opinion on whether the corporate governance arrangements are adequate and are operating effectively.

Maintaining compliance

The corporate governance group identifies areas where the code has become out of date or irrelevant. The assistant chief executive is responsible for updating the code and for ensuring that any identified improvements are actioned. The corporate governance group, senior management team and audit committee discuss any significant revisions to the code before its approval by the council.