StokeStaffsLEP | Governance

Governance

Our Assurance Framework outlines in detail the operational and structural arrangements for the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership Limited. Our aim is to work constructively with local and national partners to foster the economic success of Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire. Decision making is focused on our Company Executive Board.

Our Assurance Framework was updated in October 2020 and can be found here: SSLEP Assurance Framework August 2020 v8 Final. The overarching principles for our framework are found in the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government’s ‘National Local Growth Assurance Framework’ and can be found here: National Local Growth Assurance Framework

Our finances are managed by Staffordshire County Council as the Accountable Body. This ensures that all funding is managed in accordance with good practice and audited each year. Annual audits are found under the Audit drop-down menu below. A link to Staffordshire County Council’s Corporate Review Committee, which scrutinises the LEP, can be found here

Each board member is required to sign a code of conduct and complete a Declaration of Interests before they can participate in a board meeting. Members are required to keep these up to date and to advise the secretariat of any changes. Members’ declarations can be found under the Declarations of Interest drop-down menu below. The official record held at the LEP office contains the signatures of all the parties concerned. LEP members of staff are also required to sign a code of conduct.

When considering projects and programmes for funding we do so in accordance with the constitution and our project prioritisation and business case process, which can be found in our Assurance Framework.

We publish business cases for City Deal and Local Growth Deal funding and their independent assessment under the Business Cases tab in the Publication Library section of Resources. Information about our recent Getting Building Fund allocations will be published soon.

While we strive to resolve complaints at an early stage, we have an Enquiries and Complaints Procedure which provide an opportunity to address them and where necessary to make them confidential. The procedure can be found within our assurance framework.

In addition we have a Whistleblowing Policy. This covers situations where an individual who has concerns about a danger, risk, contravention of rules or illegality provides useful information to address this. In doing so they are acting in the wider public interest, usually because it threatens others or impacts on public funds. The policy can be found within our Assurance Framework.

Our policy on GDPR and information sharing can be found here: SSLEP Privacy Policy.

Each July, we publish Annual Accounts which set out how the LEP has invested its resources. In addition we publish an Annual Report, which sets out a full picture of the LEP’s activities over the previous year, around the same time. Both publications can be found under the Annual Reports tab in Resources.

Our Annual Conference for 2020 is planned for early December.

LEP Directors & Officers Remuneration and Expenses

Our policy on LEP Board Director and officer remuneration and expenses can be found in our Assurance Framework. A summary of remuneration and expenses paid to Board Members can be found here: Summary of Remuneration Expenses Paid to LEP Board Members

LEP Secretariat

The LEP Secretariat comprises of a small and efficient team of four officers with responsibility for: Strategy & Policy, Programme Management, PR & Communications and Office Management, at a combined cost of £118,830. In addition, the team is led by a CEO, whose annual salary would fall within a County Council Senior Manager (Grade 16) level, at £86,406. As part of the LEP Review, the resourcing and structure of the secretariat is currently under review, with a view to boosting capacity.

Working with Local Authorities

All Stoke and Staffordshire local authorities are members of the Local Enterprise Partnership. The Leaders of Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Staffordshire County Council along with three Leaders from the Borough / District Councils sit on the LEP’s Executive Board.

The Leaders of the Borough and District Councils are nominated to the LEP Executive Board by their Staffordshire District Council counterparts. All LEP Board papers are circulated to the Leaders and Chief Executive Officers of all Stoke and Staffordshire Councils five days in advance of the meetings. The District and Borough Council partners feed their comments, suggestions and queries into the Executive Board meetings using their nominated counterparts who sit on the Board. The Leaders of the Stoke and Staffordshire local authorities also nominate representatives to serve on other LEP groups as outlined in the LEP’s Constitution.

The partnership has no formal Local Authority Joint Committee with which to engage, however, the local authority Leaders hold bi-monthly joint meetings. Their Directors, with responsibility for the various areas of economic growth, also meet bi-monthly on the alternate month to the Leaders group. LEP and other shared Council matters are discussed at these meetings which are attended by the LEP Chairman and/or the Partnership Manager, depending upon partner requirements. In addition, the Local Authorities hold an annual Joint Scrutiny Committee of Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire County Council Councillors who sit on their own Council Scrutiny Committees. The Joint Scrutiny Committee has a focus on examining and providing challenge and suggestions on the LEP work programme and its operations. Many Staffordshire County Councillors involved in scrutiny are also District Councillors and so all local authority areas are represented in the joint Scrutiny meeting.

The local authority partners work together with other LEP Board members to deliver the work of the partnership through the various LEP programmes including the Growth Deals and in delivering services to businesses through the Growth Hub.