Lewes District Council sought to raise awareness amongst chief officers of the Statement of Internal Control (SIC) and the wider assurance framework. To this end it has developed its own Statement of Internal Control assurance statements. These are annual statements signed by all members of the councils Chief Management team.
Managers are required to sign the SIC assurance statements to confirm that they have understood the constitution of the council (including standing orders, financial rules and similar), codes of conduct, other policies including anti-fraud and corruption policy. They are then required to confirm that in the course of their duty they have used these documents. They must also confirm that their staff members are aware of the various different types of assurance framework documentation and that they use them as part of their day to day work.
The outcome of the introduction of these statements is a raised awareness of the SIC and its importance to the control environment of the council. They are also used to highlight any areas of non-compliance.