Supporting the Accounting Officer

Supporting the Accounting Officer is an in-house course within our popular Accountability & Governance series. At the Civil Service College, we tailor our courses to each attendee’s role and organisations, ensuring that each participant gets the most out of the training. Our courses and trainers are continuously updated and evaluated to ensure that we are always delivering the best service possible. 

Key Training Features

Who Can Attend

Learning Outcomes

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Key Training Features:

• A reminder of the key features of the role of the ALB Accounting Officer;
• The essentials of Managing Public Money as they apply to ALBs;
• Current government policy regarding the rationale for, and departmental oversight of and relationships with, ALBs;
• Key aspects of ALB governance including the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee;
• Practical case studies regarding regularity propriety and value for money;
• The scrutiny roles of the National Audit Office (NAO) and the Public Accounts Committee;
• Relationships between the executive team and the ALB board;
• The role of the ALB board;
• A comprehensive round-up of current guidance.

Who Can Attend:

This highly practical programme is designed to appeal to senior leadership teams in Executive Agencies, Non-Departmental Public Bodies, Non-Ministerial Departments and unclassified public bodies, and provides an update on current developments in public accountability (including the role of the Accounting or Accountable Officer), governance requirements for ALBs, recently issued guidance and amendments to Managing Public Money, and current policy regarding the relationship between ALBs and their sponsor department.

Learning Outcomes:

Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of:

• the rationale for ALBs and current insights from Parliament, the NAO and Cabinet Officer regarding the relationship between ALBs and their sponsoring departments; 
• public sector governance and accountability arrangements and how these influence the role of senior executives and non-executive board members.

We will describe in detail the role of an ALB accounting Officer with particular emphasis on the need for reliable assurance and the role of senior managers in supporting the Accounting Officer(particularly with regard to setting the tone and establishing a culture of compliance).

The course will also cover current parliamentary expectations regarding the proper conduct of public business (incorporating regularity and propriety) including illustrations and case studies based on organisations that have failed to comply with the standards expected of central government bodies, recent pronouncements from Parliament and the NAO relating to ALB governance; and newly issued guidance relating to ALB governance and accountability.