u What is our approach to fi nding a balance between continuity of
knowledge and renewal of thinking in the governing body? What are
our reasons for this approach? Do we need to review it?
6. Good governance means engaging stakeholders and making
accountability real
u Who are we accountable to and for what? How well does each of these
accountability relationships work? Do we need to take steps to clarify
or strengthen any relationships? Do we need to negotiate a shift in the
balance between different accountability relationships?
u What is our policy on how the organisation should consult the public
and service users? Does it explain clearly the sorts of issues on which
it will consult which groups and how it will use the information it
receives? Do we need to review this policy and its implementation?
u What is our policy on consulting and involving staff and their
representatives in decision making? Is this communicated clearly to
staff? How well do we follow this in practice? How effective are systems
within the organisation for protecting the rights of staff?
u Who are the institutional stakeholders that we need to have good
relationships with? How do we organise ourselves to take the lead in
developing relationships with other organisations at the most senior
level?
Applying the good governance Standard
u To what extent does the Good Governance Standard for Public Services
apply to our organisation, bearing in mind its type and size?
u Are we upholding and demonstrating the spirit and ethos of good
governance that the Standard sets out to capture?
u Do we have a process for regularly reviewing our governance
arrangements and practice against the Standard? What further
improvements do we need to make?
u Are we making public the results of our reviews and our plans for future
improvements and are we inviting feedback from stakeholders and
service users?