Governance and LGR

Aidan Rave believes the local government reorganisation programme represents a generational opportunity for leaders

Let’s be honest, governance suffers from an image problem. In the lexicon of senior leadership, there are swans such as strategy, operations (gold command is the apogee – part swan, part peacock), financial planning and resilience – and there are ugly ducklings like governance.

Where the former are all about action-packed leadership, governance is often seen as a blocker, a means of slowing and frustrating things from progressing – a necessary but begrudged part of the leadership firmament.

That’s until it goes wrong of course; then governance takes centre stage. But that’s another matter.

The reality is so different. At GGI, we observe hundreds of boards every year – thousands over the years – and one immutable fact is that high-performing organisations are led by boards who treat governance as a net contributor to organisational performance. They actively work at being a better board rather than just hoping it will happen, and they regularly refine, test and reshape their governance, placing it at the heart of their long-term planning and central to their work as a board.

High-performing boards view governance as much more than a means of control. They use assurance to build a stable platform upon which they can set the strategic course of the organisation, shape its culture, listen to key stakeholders and use their input to refine the organisation and ultimately lead the organisation more effectively.

Within these organisations, governance is widely recognised as an enabler of ambition; it does not have an image problem.

Governance and LGR

It's worth reflecting on this as local government enters a potentially prolonged period of change, as reorganisation picks up pace. While structures, politics, resources and the like all have significance, the importance of a strategic approach to governance should not be overlooked.

Now is the time to embed good governance into the new shape of local government, not as a last-minute afterthought when all the structural, political and financial die are already cast.

Local leaders might want to ask themselves:

• Is governance sufficiently prominent in our thinking on LGR?
• Who owns and champions our governance? Is it seen as an enabler or an inhibitor? Are leaders harnessing good governance as a driver of improvement?
• What is the risk of governance being lost between the ‘old world’ and the new? Does it have a senior responsible officer name next to it?
• What does governance look like in not only a new structure but in a rapidly changing world? Are we thinking sufficiently about information governance and ethical governance?

Golden opportunity

Governance shouldn’t just be meaningless bureaucracy, a bunch of acronyms, or in the worst case even a four-letter word. Governance done right is an enabler to do more, better, for less.

Despite the challenges that LGR brings, many councils find themselves facing a once-in-several-generations opportunity to rethink the shape and purpose of the very organisations they lead.

The temptation will be to focus on the higher profile and frankly noisier maters they must deal with. And that’s fair enough – but they should remember that the ugly duckling eventually grew into a beautiful swan that spread its wings and took flight.