Birmingham City Council recognises that:-

1. Good governance leads to good management, good performance, good stewardship of public money, good public engagement and, ultimately, good outcomes for citizens and service users; 2. Good governance enables local authorities to pursue their visions in an effective manner, as well as underpinning their visions with appropriate mechanisms for control and management of risk; 3. All authorities should aim to meet the standards of the best and governance arrangements should not only be sound, but also be seen to be sound; 4. Governance is about how local governance bodies ensure that they are doing the right things, in the right way, for the right people, in a timely, inclusive, open, honest and accountable manner; and 5. It comprises the systems and processes, and culture and values, by which local government is directed and controlled and through which it accounts to, engages with and, where appropriate, provides leadership to their communities.

Birmingham City Council is committed to applying the core principles set out in the SOLACE / CIPFA Good Governance Framework (2007) of:-

Focusing on the purpose of the authority and on outcomes for the community and creating and implementing a vision for the local area; Members and officers working together to achieve a common purpose with clearly defined functions and roles; Promoting values for the authority and demonstrating the values of good governance through upholding high standards of conduct and behaviour; Taking informed and transparent decisions which are subject to effective scrutiny and managing risks; Developing the capacity and capability of members and officers to be effective; and Engaging with local people and other stakeholders to ensure robust public accountability.

Being mindful of the foregoing and, in particular, its duty to promote good governance within the City Council, within Birmingham and the wider West Midlands region, the City Council is satisfied that it already has a well established and robust Constitution and other good governance documents and arrangements in place. The purpose of this " Local Code of Governance", therefore, is to provide a simple document, with hyperlinks, to relevant documents relating to governance, which are already available free of charge on the Council's website. For any further information on the City Council's Good Governance arrangements, please do not hesitate to contact:- Dr Mirza Ahmad, LLD (Hon), MBA, LLM, Barrister Corporate Director of Governance (Acting) Birmingham City Council, Ingleby House 11-14 Cannon Street, Birmingham B2 5EN Tel: 0121-303 9991 email: mirza.ahmad@birmingham.gov.uk

HYPERLINKS TO KEY DOCUMENTS

A. The Constitution Links Volume A (which contains the Articles of the Constitution, the Terms of Reference of the Executive, Overview & Scrutiny Committees, Regulatory and other Committees - including the Standards Committee and the Audit Committee - and Head of Paid Service, Monitoring Officer and Section 151 Chief Finance Officer responsibilities) Volume B (which includes Standing Orders of the Council, Finance Regulations, Access to Information Procedure Rules, Executive Procedure Rules, Employee Procedure Rules, Scheme of Delegations to Officers, Policy Framework Plans and Strategies, Code of Conduct for Members, Members' Allowance Scheme, Member / Officer Relations Protocol, Code of Conduct for Officers, Whistleblowing Code and the Planning Code of Practice for Councillors and Officers)

B. Key Policy links: Birmingham 2026 Vision Document Council Plan Council's Performance Plan Local Area Agreement Council's Communication Strategy The Local Development Framework The Core Strategy Birmingham's Big Plan

C. Key Budget & Risk Management links: Council's Annual Budget District Auditor's Annual Statement on Accounts Council's Risk Management Policy Council's Anti-Fraud and Corruption Policy (including Fraud Response Procedure) Fraud Awareness Strategy

D. Key Member, Officer and decision making links: Democracy in Birmingham - record of decisions database Annual Report of Overview & Scrutiny Members' Training & Development (under construction) Officers' Gift & Hospitality Template & Guidance

E. Key Miscellaneous links: Council's Partnership Toolkit Comments, Complaints and Compliments Procedure (3Cs) FAQs on the Constitution Layman's Guide to the Constitution A Guide to Constituency Committees