Guidance issued by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) and by the National Assembly for Wales recommends that each authority includes in its BVPP a statement of responsibility to the effect that 'appropriate performance management and internal control systems have been put in place from which the information and assessments in the performance plan have been derived'. To obtain assurance that its performance management and internal control systems are adequate and effective, every best value authority will need to develop a rigorous approach to self-assessment.
The paper is intended to help members and chief officers decide how to obtain assurance about the robustness and reliability of their best value processes, using internal audit or other internal review agencies to provide such assurance as part of the self assessment process; and to provide practical guidance to internal auditors on how they might best contribute to their authorities' approach to best value, using examples from a range of different authorities.
Included in this management paper:
- best value and the need for self-assessment
- internal audit - the core role
- extending the internal audit role
- matching the role to the capabilities