Local code of corporate governance - October 2025

Introduction

Corporate governance is about the systems, policies, processes, and values by which local authorities operate and by which they engage with and are held accountable to their communities and stakeholders. It means carrying out activities in accordance with the law and proper standards, and ensuring that public money is used well and properly accounted for.

This is North Yorkshire Council’s local code of corporate governance. We have adopted this code to set out our governance arrangements and demonstrate our commitment to good corporate governance in line with the principles set out in the CIPFA/SOLACE delivering good governance in local government framework (2016). Our code should be read in conjunction with our annual governance statement, which reviews the effectiveness of our governance arrangements and identifies areas for improvement each year.

Principles

The delivering good governance framework identifies seven key principles to follow, and our code demonstrates how we meet each of them:

  1. Behaving with integrity, demonstrating strong commitment to ethical values, and respecting the rules of law.
  2. Ensuring openness and comprehensive stakeholder engagement.
  3. Defining outcomes in terms of sustainable economic, social, and environmental benefits.
  4. Determining the interventions necessary to optimise the achievement of the intended outcomes.
  5. Developing the council's capacity, including the capability of its leadership and the individuals within it.
  6. Managing risks and performance through robust internal control and strong public financial management.
  7. Implementing good practices in transparency, reporting, and audit, to deliver effective accountability.

Policy statement on corporate governance

Our policy is to incorporate the principles of corporate governance into all aspects of our business activities to ensure that stakeholders can have confidence in the decision-making and management processes of the council, and in the conduct and professionalism of its members, officers and agents in delivering services. To this end, we will report annually on our intentions, performance, and financial position, as well as on the arrangements in place to ensure good governance is always exercised and maintained.

The principles set out in this policy will also apply to the North Yorkshire Pension Fund. Any company in which the council has a substantive equity holding will also be expected to comply with these principles.

Monitoring and review

Our code will be monitored and reviewed annually by the corporate governance officer group, alongside the preparation of the annual governance statement. The code will be reported to the Audit Committee.

Date of review: April 2025

Principle A: Behaving with integrity, demonstrating strong commitment to ethical values, and respecting the rule of law

Sub-principles

  • behaving with integrity
  • demonstrating strong commitment to ethical values
  • respecting the rule of law

To achieve this, we will:

  • conduct our activities in a manner which promotes high ethical standards and good behaviour which will foster openness, support and mutual respect
  • ensure that systems and processes for financial administration, financial control and protection of our resources and assets are designed in conformity with appropriate ethical standards and monitor their continuing effectiveness in practice - this includes compliance with CIPFA’s Statement on the Role of the Chief Financial Officer in Local Government (2015)
  • develop a set of shared values which will underpin an ethos of good governance, supported by compliance with legislation, procedure rules and all relevant professional standards
  • support the standards and governance committee to promote and maintain high standards of Member conduct - it develops initiatives to promote high ethical standards, is involved in ensuring the training of all Members on standards, and determines any complaints that Members may have breached the Members’ Code of Conduct referred to it by the monitoring officer
  • the Committee also has a role in assisting, where requested, in the designation and handling of persistent and/or vexatious complaints/complainants
  • publish a twice-yearly standards bulletin, circulated to members, officers, certain other authorities and published on our website
  • where the council works in partnership it will continue to uphold its own ethical standards, as well as acting in accordance with the partnership’s shared values and aspirations
  • where the council has established owned/controlled companies it will put appropriate governance arrangements in place including a governance framework and a register of interests

This is evidenced by:

Principle B: Ensuring openness and comprehensive stakeholder engagement

Sub-principles

  • openness
  • engaging comprehensively with institutional stakeholders
  • engaging stakeholders effectively, including individual citizens and service users

To achieve this, we will:

  • clearly identify our stakeholders, to ensure that relationships with these groups continue to be effective
  • maintain effective channels of communication which reach all groups within the community and other stakeholders, offering a range of consultation methods
  • have a communications strategy and an engagement promise that are regularly reviewed and updated
  • publish a council plan and an annual statement of final accounts to inform stakeholders and services users of the previous year’s achievements and outcomes
  • publish a medium-term financial strategy and consulting each year on the annual revenue budget and its impact on council tax
  • provide a variety of opportunities for the public to engage effectively with us including: attending meetings, opportunities to ask questions at meetings, written consultations and surveys
  • present ourself in an open and accessible manner to ensure that council matters are dealt with transparently, in so far as the need for confidentiality allows
  • maintain a Freedom of Information Act publication scheme and arrangements to respond to requests for information from the public
  • operate access to information procedure rules to ensure local people and stakeholders can exercise their rights to express an opinion on decisions, and can understand what decisions have been made and why
  • ensure the lawful and correct treatment of personal information through a data protection policy framework that follows the principles set out in the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK general data protection regulation
  • maintain a website that provides access to information and services and opportunities for public engagement
  • conformance with the requirements of the local government transparency code and the equality, diversity, and inclusion policy statement

This is evidenced by:

Principle C: Defining outcomes in terms of sustainable economic, social and environmental benefits

Sub-principles

  • defining outcomes
  • sustainable economic, social and environmental benefits

To achieve this, we will:

  • develop a clear vision and purpose, identify intended outcomes and ensure that these are clearly communicated to all stakeholders of the organisation, both internal and external. In doing so, we will report regularly on our activities and achievements, and our financial position and performance
  • keep our corporate strategies, objectives and priorities under constant review, so as to ensure that they remain relevant to the needs and aspirations of the community
  • aim to deliver high quality services which meet the needs of service users
  • delivery may be made directly, via a subsidiary company, in partnership with other organisations, or by a commissioning arrangement
  • measure service quality so it will also be a key feature of service delivery
  • monitor the cost effectiveness and efficiency of our service delivery
  • ensure that timely, accurate and impartial financial advice and information is provided to assist in decision making and to ensure that we meet our policy and service objectives and provide effective stewardship of public money in our use
  • ensure that we maintain a prudent financial framework; keeps our commitments in balance with available resources; monitor income and expenditure levels to ensure that this balance is maintained and takes corrective action when necessary
  • ensure compliance with CIPFA’s code on prudential framework for Local Authority capital finance and CIPFA’s treasury management code
  • monitor and regularly report on performance through the performance management framework and system
  • develop a climate change strategy and action plan
  • seek to address any concerns or failings in service delivery by adhering to and promoting our corporate complaints procedure
  • comply with the public services (social value) Act 2012 ensuring that economic, social, and environmental impact of policies are included in everything we do, linking economic and social growth with maximising the value obtained from money spent

This is evidenced by:

Principle D: Determining the interventions necessary to optimise the achievement of the intended outcomes

Sub-principles

  • determining interventions
  • planning interventions
  • optimising achievement of intended outcomes

To achieve this, North we will:

  • have a formal constitution which details the decision making processes and the procedures required to support the transparency and accountability of decisions made
  • establish and implement robust planning and control cycles that cover strategic and operational plans, priorities and targets
  • carry out consultations to ensure a robust decision-making process for service improvement or termination or otherwise, in order to prioritise competing demands within limited resources
  • publish a council plan which provides the key ambitions for the council, key strategies, high level outcomes and priorities for the next four years
  • establish appropriate key performance indicators (KPIs) to identify how the performance of services and projects are to be measured
  • publish an annual statement of final accounts including an annual governance statement to inform stakeholders and services users of the previous year’s achievements and improvements for the following year
  • establish a medium term business and financial planning process to deliver strategic objectives which is reviewed regularly
  • maintain an effective performance management strategy and system
  • maintain a staff engagement strategy
  • maintain a communications strategy
  • conduct public consultations on key decisions/changes to policy

This is evidenced by:

Principle E: Developing the entity’s capacity, including the capability of its leadership and the individuals within it

Sub-principles

  • developing the entity’s capacity 
  • developing the capability of the entity’s leadership and other individuals 

To achieve this, we will:

Recognise that the people who direct and control the organisation must have the right skills. Therefore, we will:

  • develop the capacity and capability of the council and its members and officers through training and development
  • recruit senior officers with the appropriate balance of knowledge and experience
  • maintain partnership governance procedures and guidance and carry out regular reviews of partnerships and their outcomes
  • organise member and employee induction programmes
  • have a scheme of delegation for members and officers
  • continue with further organisational development
  • continue to develop a workforce plan that addresses issues such as recruitment, succession planning, flexible working and other people management issues including an online recruitment and induction process, and online learning on leading and managing remote teams
  • carry out regular appraisals which incorporate service improvement and personal development plans
  • provide career structures to encourage staff development
  • regularly review job descriptions and person specifications and use these as the basis for recruitment
  • encourage a wide variety of individuals and organisations to participate in the work of the council, including through a volunteer strategy
  • ensure regular review and improvement of 'health assured' for employees which includes health assessments, counselling, emotional support and fitness advice
  • provide apprenticeship schemes
  • ensure compliance with the CIPFA statement on the role of the chief financial officer
  • ensure conformance with the CIPFA code of practice for the governance of internal audit in UK Local Government on the role of the head of internal audit

This is evidenced by:

Principle F: Managing risks and performance through robust internal control and strong public financial management

Sub-principles

  • managing risk
  • managing performance
  • robust internal control
  • managing data
  • strong public financial management 

To achieve this, we will:

  • maintain a risk management policy and procedures
  • maintain a reporting and monitoring framework for communicating risks
  • support decision-making through risk registers at corporate, directorate and service levels as well as one off major projects
  • risk registers with clear risk owners including consideration of objectives and contribute to service plans and performance
  • maintain a corporate performance management strategy and system including greater use of performance dashboards
  • always support the executive with professional advice that addresses all relevant legal, financial, risk and resourcing issues
  • provide quarterly performance and financial reports to executive and scrutiny board
  • provide a year-end report on performance / financial out-turn to executive and scrutiny board
  • ensure comprehensive recording of all decisions taken and the reasons for those decisions
  • ensure there is an effective scrutiny function and framework, supported by named officers, that enables decisions by the executive to be challenged or influenced by the rest of the council’s members
  • maintain a local code of corporate governance as well as an annual governance statement
  • comply with the code of practice on managing the risk of fraud and corruption (CIPFA 2014) through a counter fraud policy and strategy including a fraud prosecution policy, and an anti-money laundering policy and procedures
  • ensure the counter fraud strategy is aligned with the national fighting fraud and corruption strategy
  • include independent co-opted members on the audit committee
  • ensure compliance with data protection and access to information legislation and best practice through the information governance policy framework
  • ensure there is an audit charter with an adequately resourced internal audit and counter fraud function
  • have governance arrangements to allow the CFO direct access to the audit committee and external auditor
  • ensure the provision of clear, well presented, timely, complete and accurate information and reports to budget managers and senior officers on the budgetary and financial performance of the council
  • ensure our governance arrangements allow the CFO to bring influence to bear on all material decisions
  • ensure that advice is provided on the levels of reserves and balances in line with good practice guidance
  • ensure our arrangements for financial and internal control and for managing risk are addressed in annual governance reports by corporate directors to the audit committee
  • put in place effective internal financial controls covering codified guidance, budgetary systems, supervision, management review and monitoring, physical safeguards, segregation of duties, accounting procedures, information systems and authorisation and approval processes
  • business continuity framework
  • have an emergency response plan and command and control structure

This is evidenced by:

Principle G: Implementing good practices in transparency, reporting and audit to deliver effective accountability

Sub-principles

  • implementing good practice in transparency 
  • implementing good practices in reporting 
  • assurance and effective accountability 

To achieve this, we will:

  • meet the requirements of the local government transparency code
  • maintain a website that provides access to information and services and opportunities for public engagement
  • make meetings of the council and its committees open to the public, broadcast live and publish recordings on the internet (except where, for example, personal or confidential matters are being discussed)
  • have a formal constitution which details the decision making processes and the procedures required to support the transparency and accountability of decisions made
  • have an engagement promise setting out in simple terms how everyone who lives or works in the county or uses the council’s services can influence decisions
  • have a properly constituted standards and governance committee, an audit committee with several independent co-opted members and an effective scrutiny function
  • maintain an audit charter with an adequately resourced internal audit function which conforms to the global internal audit standards (UK public sector) and professional best practice
  • maintain an effective counter fraud and corruption policy framework and an adequately resourced counter fraud function
  • ensure that our governance arrangements allow the CFO direct access to the audit committee and external auditor
  • ensure the provision of clear, well presented, timely, complete and accurate information and reports to budget managers and senior officers on the budgetary and financial performance of the council
  • ensure our governance arrangements allow the CFO to bring influence to bear on all material decisions
  • ensure that advice is provided on the levels of reserves and balances in line with good practice guidance
  • ensure we put in place effective internal financial controls covering codified guidance, budgetary systems, supervision, management review and monitoring, physical safeguards, segregation of duties, accounting procedures, information systems and authorisation and approval processes
  • ensure our arrangements for financial and internal control and for managing risk are addressed in annual governance reports by corporate directors to the audit committee
  • publish an annual statement of final accounts together with the annual governance statement which will show any significant improvements required
  • complete equality impact assessments, data protection impact assessments and climate impact assessments for any proposed changes in policy or service delivery

This is evidenced by:

Contact details and further information

Further details of our Corporate Governance arrangements can be obtained on our website or by contacting the Corporate Director of Resources.

Finally, if you have any concerns about the way in which the council, its members, officers or agents conduct its business, or believe that elements of this code are not being complied with, please contact one of the following officers as appropriate. Your enquiry will be treated confidentially, and a response made following investigation of the facts in each case.

Chief Executive (Head of Paid Service)
Richard Flinton
North Yorkshire Council
County Hall
Northallerton
North Yorkshire DL7 8AL
Tel: 01609 532444
Email: richard.flinton@northyorks.gov.uk

Corporate Director of Resources (Section 151 Officer) 
Gary Fielding 
North Yorkshire Council 
County Hall 
Northallerton 
North Yorkshire DL7 8AL 
Tel: 01609 533304 
Email: gary.fielding@northyorks.gov.uk

Assistant Chief Executive Legal and Democratic Services (Monitoring Officer) 
Barry Khan 
Legal and Democratic Services 
North Yorkshire Council 
County Hall 
Northallerton DL7 8AL 
Tel: 01609 532173 
Email: barry.khan@northyorks.gov.uk

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