Annex C: Governance Assurance Statement

The LEP Chair and Chief Executive should here provide a brief formal

assurance statement on the status of governance and transparency. This

should include any overview and scrutiny function undertaken by the

Accountable Body. This should be sent to the Assurance Team via

[email protected], copying the Cities and Local

Growth Unit Area Lead, by 20 January 2021. This statement should also be

published on the LEP’s website by 24 February 2021 and confirmation sent

to the email address above.

(max 500 words)

New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership is committed to accountability and

the transparency of decision making.

Over the past year we have continued to comply with our Local Assurance

Framework, which outlines how our board operates, how decisions are

made, and how our programmes are managed.

We have also been making it easier for people to hold us to account, by

publishing on our website more information about our governance

processes, the decisions we have made and the projects we are funding.

We publish lists of all approved grants for our funds here.

The LEP board is made up of leaders from business, education and local

authorities from Norfolk and Suffolk. None of the board members are

remunerated for their time. Find out more about our board here.

We publish a register of interests for LEP board members. Individual

registers of interest for board members can be found after the biography of

each board member and follow the biographies for senior staff here.

Declarations of interest are also recorded in the minutes of monthly board

meetings and are managed in accordance with our Conflicts of Interest

Policy.

We also publish a gifts and hospitality log which can be found at the bottom

of our teams page here.

The LEP board is the main decision-making body, but there are also a

number of sub-boards and committees. We publish a decision log which

records decisions made by these boards and committees which can be

found here.

The board is supported by the LEP’s executive team who oversee the day-

to-day delivery of projects.

The LEP’s scheme of delegation outlines the decision-making powers for

the board, sub-committees, the chair and senior executives.

New Anglia LEP operates within the terms of an agreement with

Government called the Local Assurance Framework. This sets out the way

the way the LEP makes decisions.

Suffolk County Council is the LEP’s accountable body. They are legally

accountable for receiving the LEP’s funding, making payments and

ensuring we comply with the Assurance Framework and rules regarding the

use of public sector funding.

A senior finance officer at Suffolk County Council provides advice on

repayment of our Growing Places Fund, has oversight of all Local Growth

Fund and Getting Building Fund decision making and monitoring of

programme spend.

As a limited company, our statutory accounts are subject to an independent

audit, and are published on our website. They are also available from

Companies House and can be found here.

The work of the LEP is also scrutinised by Scrutiny Committees at Norfolk

County Council and Suffolk County Council.

More information on how the LEP is run can be found here.

We take complaints very seriously and whilst we try to provide a good

service, we know that sometimes things go wrong.

For information about our complaints procedure please click here.

If you wish to make a complaint - including the option to make an

anonymous complaint - simply click here. Complaints and concerns raised

anonymously will be treated in confidence and every effort will be made to

protect the complainant's identity.

Employees, board members and contractors may refer to our

Whistleblowing Policy.

Signed:

Name: C-J Green

Position: Chair

Date: 20

January 2021

Signed:

Name: Chris Starkie

Position: Chief Executive

Date: 20

January 2021