Corporate Governance

For the year 1st April 2008 to 31st March 2009

East Devon District Council is responsible for ensuring that its business is conducted in accordance with the law and proper standards, and that public money is safeguarded, properly accounted for and used economically, efficiently and effectively.

In discharging this accountability, Council Members and senior staff are responsible for putting in place proper arrangements for the governance of East Devon District Council's affairs and the stewardship of the resources at its disposal.

The Council is committed to the six core principles set out in its Local Code of Corporate Governance and has undertaken a thorough review of its corporate governance arrangements utilising the Key Lines of Enquiry (KLoE) produced by the Audit Commission for this purpose. The Key Lines of Enquiry hinge around 4 themes, each theme examines different aspects of corporate governance:

Theme 1: Community focus – covering understanding of local needs, vision, access to services, communications and partnerships.

Theme 2: Structures and processes – covering democratic accountability, decision making and planning.

Theme 3: Risk management and internal control – covering financial, performance, risk and project management.

Theme 4: Leadership, culture and standards of conduct – covering community, political and managerial leadership, member-officer relationships, ethical standards and behaviour.

Each Theme encompasses up to eight Key Lines of Enquiry and seeks to provide judgements on two key questions

How good are our corporate governance arrangements, and
What are the prospects for improving our corporate governance arrangements.

The council has made excellent progress in recent years to meet the challenges within the corporate governance Key Lines of Enquiry and the attached Statement sets out the council’s stall in this respect.

Click here to download Summary Annual Governance Statement (39KB - 15 June 2009 - PDF Help)