2.1 North Lanarkshire Council is committed to 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.
2.2 As such, the council has adopted the principles and requirements of the Delivering Good Governance in Local Government: Framework (2016), the Guidance Notes for Scottish Local Authorities (2016), and the Addendum (2025) in order to ensure its governance structures and arrangements remain sound and the highest standards continue to be met.
2.3 The council is required, in line with the Delivering Good Governance in Local Government: Framework (2016) and Addendum (2025), to test its governance arrangements against these principles by:
- Maintaining an up-to-date Local Code of Governance that takes into account the environment within which it operates and includes arrangements for ensuring ongoing effectiveness.
- Reviewing existing governance arrangements once a year to ensure that the Local Code of Governance operates effectively in practice.
- Reporting publicly on compliance on an annual basis, including how the governance arrangements have been monitored for effectiveness in the year and identifying planned improvements.
2.4 As such, the council has:
a) Set out its Local Code of Governance within the Strategic Governance Framework. The Framework was initially approved by the Audit and Scrutiny Panel in February 2020 and has been subject to annual review and refresh thereafter. It sets out the key elements and mechanisms which form the council’s Local Code of Governance and demonstrates North Lanarkshire Council’s commitment to the principles of good governance.
b) A well-established assessment process in place to review the council’s governance arrangements and systems of internal control on an annual basis. This assessment - which provides evidence to inform the Annual Governance Statement - aims to:
- Ensure the council can demonstrate ongoing compliance with the principles in the Delivering Good Governance in Local Government: Framework (2016) and that the governance arrangements operate effectively in practice.
- Identify any improvement actions and/or planned developments in relation to the council’s governance arrangements and continuous improvement activity.
c) A well-established annual process that enables Chief Officers and Elected Members to discharge their duties in determining and implementing the council’s governance arrangements. This includes reviewing and assessing the Local Code of Governance (the Strategic Governance Framework) on an annual basis and ensuring that the outcomes from the annual assessment are reported publicly through the Audit and Scrutiny Panel and the council’s website).
2.5 The council also has a duty under the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 to demonstrate Best Value by securing continuous improvement in performance. Good governance is central to meeting this duty, with effective governance and accountability arrangements, openness and transparency in decision-making, clear schemes of delegation, and robust performance reporting all supporting informed decision-making, effective scrutiny, and the stewardship of resources.
2.6 As the council has a controlling interest in a number of companies and a minority interest in joint ventures, the Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting requires the inclusion of summary Group Accounts, where material, within the Annual Accounts. These present the financial position of the council, its subsidiaries, and its interests in associates and interests in joint ventures as a single economic entity. Accordingly, the Annual Governance Statement also covers the arm’s length external organisations consolidated in the council’s Group Accounts.