Auditors have said they have a ‘high level of confidence’ over the governance arrangements at West Lindsey District Council. Assurance Lincolnshire carried out an assessment on the Council’s culture, ethics and values and how this supports good governance.

A report, presented to the Governance and Audit Committee gave a ‘high assurance’ opinion for its governance arrangements and highlighted that ‘a good culture and ethical framework is working for the Council and key partners’.

The audit assessed the following: leadership and management, people, culture, values and consistency, process and procedures, assurance and accountability

As previously reported, a governance review into the Council’s cultural values was carried out in November 2018 and identified 22 actions to consider. The Council put together an action plan to implement the changes which included refreshing the Council’s values and behaviours. The report states:

“The impact of these actions having been implemented has enabled us to provide assurance that good culture and values continues to be applied to Council work and that it is embedded in Council thinking and decision making.”

The news has been welcomed by Cllr John McNeill, Chairman of the Governance and Audit Committee. He said:

“This audit illustrates the continued improvements based on the findings on the previous report. It demonstrates that the efforts put in by our committee members and our officers have paid off.

“Not only is it good to see that our governance arrangements are working, it is more important for us to know that they are embedded and integrated into everything we do at the Council.  

“We expect to have a culture that places the public and integrity at the heart of our business and this audit shows that the spirit and ethos of good governance cannot be achieved by rules and procedures alone.”

“This assurances comes in addition to the high level of Assurance given to West Lindsey’s financial resilience which was reported to the Governance and Audit Committee in January 2020.”     

To see the full report click here.