Working together on project assurance and signoff
Lisa Quinn
The Towns Fund, like any other government programme, must ensure good value for money for the public. Towns’ formal local assurance processes, and the relationships developed between the Town Deal Board, the lead council (or accountable body), and the s151 officer, will be incredibly important in helping to meet this aim. Each Town must agree their own local assurance processes, in line with their local policies. This blog is intended to help Town Deal Boards and local officers consider their collective role, with s151 officers, in assuring and approving their Town Deal Business Cases.
The Town Deal Board, lead council and s151 officer should meet soon after signing their Heads of Terms, to agree the scope of roles in Stage 2 (business case stage). As part of this early engagement, the s151 officer should consider their more strategic role in the successful delivery of the long-term vision for their area through Towns Fund, and their statutory role to provide independent assurance and advice in safeguarding public funds. This may feel like a new approach for many towns, but it is recommended that this is clarified and agreed early in the programme, with good communication, and the setting of clear roles and expectations between these key parties.
As you agree the scope and form of your assurance process at the local level, you should also bear in mind that the s151 officer will need to be involved during the implementation phase as well. So, you may want to consider if or how the relationship changes across the programme lifecycle, from TIP stage to business case stage to implementation. You may also consider the role of the s151 officer in LEP assurance processes, where the relevant local authority is the accountable body for LEP funding. Where successful, this may prove a helpful template and provide some useful lessons learned for Towns Fund, although we recognise that it may not be suitable in all cases.
As you come together, the partnership between the Town Deal Board, the lead council (or accountable body), and the s151 officer will be an important relationship. As you design your local processes, you may want to consider some of these key issues:
The spirit of the Towns Fund and its intent, to be private sector- and community-led, should be reflected in the governance and assurance framework, with the s151 officer’s role clearly defined.
Partners should remember that the s151 officer must ultimately safeguard their statutory role, while also considering how they can contribute to leadership, programme delivery and risk management responsibilities.
Partners should clarify and agree that the s151 officer is not responsible or accountable for how local policies are applied to the Towns Fund programme or for the applicability of those projects for addressing needs in the area.
The s151 officer is responsible for independently applying their statutory role as part of the assurance process on the sustainability, viability and value for money for each business case.
It is important to define what the s151 officer’s signature means (and does not mean) when signing submissions to MHCLG.
Ultimately, this is about ensuring that you have fully functioning relationships. Local government has strong assurance processes already in place, and towns should be able to build on these and directly apply them in the Towns Fund context. The scope and scale of the programme (including its publicity), as well as new partnership working with the Town Deal Board, mean there may be new ways of working or scopes to agree. However, setting an effective framework for this upfront will demonstrate the power of proper partnership working between business, community and local government to deliver positive outcomes and value for money for their places.
If you would like advice on good practice for assurance processes and how to agree the role of the s151 officer, please speak to your Town Coordinator or CLGU Area Lead.