A governance event fit for the task

In February 2024 Audit Wales published a report entitled ‘From firefighting to future-proofing‘. The report is definitely worth a read; it opens with an account of the myriad issues facing the public sector in Wales, and then highlights why governance is such an important part of the picture.

The report highlights some recent examples such as Amgueddfa Cymru and the Bwrdd Iechyd Betsi Cadwaladr that clearly demonstrate failings in financial management and governance. The impacts are not just in the direct costs of money on trying to remedy errors through work of consultants and lawyers, but in the countless thousands of hours of staff time in responding to the errors.

Many issues which end up costing Welsh taxpayers could have been avoided had the governance in the relevant public body been exemplary, or even ‘just’ competent. Of course, some of us have even higher expectations; but competence across the ‘board’ would at least be a good starting point.

The day started with an introduction from the Auditor General, which included the ‘complacency can lead to a false sense of security’ quote that I scribbled down. Adrian Crompton described some of the findings of the report and reiterated the importance of governance in Wales, particularly at a time when there is extreme pressure on public spending.

Next up was Max Caller who is a Commissioner for Birmingham City Council (BCC). BCC famously hit the headlines for being ‘bankrupt’ (or the closest thing it’s possible to be to bankruptcy for a public body). As a result Max has the unenviable job of trying to balance the books, a process that requires the sell-off of £750m of BCC assets, as well as multi-annual 10% council tax hikes and a reduction in services. The Commissioners wield near-total executive power, something Max was clearly reluctant to do in circumstances other than bankruptcy. He made the point that BCC could have intervened many years earlier for it not to reach this stage, but culture, governance and processes presumably hampered any attempt to have a genuine conversation at Board level to arrest the impending financial disaster.

The final session of the morning was from Andrew Corbett-Nolan, who gave a useful guide to the differences in behaviours and expectations of immature and mature Boards.

After a short break there were round-table discussions on some of the topics of the morning, and what people had experienced in their own work. The people on my table were brilliant, bringing relevant ‘live’ examples that highlighted both the challenges and opportunities associated with understanding and implementing good practice.

That’s where I had to leave the event – a brilliant morning, and my sincere thanks to the Audit Wales team. But…..

What the…..Manel?

Why were the two headline speakers for the morning, plus the main host, all white middle aged men? In total, of the six speakers, five were men. It was a bit embarrassing and ‘Manel-ish‘. A considerable emphasis of the morning’s presentations had been on the importance of avoiding groupthink, providing constructive challenge and creating good governance culture. Hold up a mirror guys. If cognitive diversity is important for Boards, it has a different but still important role for people on the stage. What’s the message….women don’t do governance? What about people from ethnic minority backgrounds?

You can’t re-run that event. But you can ensure that you do much better next time. You could even introduce a bit of ethnic diversity while you’re at it.

Here’s a suggestion for the male speakers; when you’re next invited to speak at an event, ask what the gender balance of the panel or session is before you confirm, and if it’s not at least 50/50 female/male, pass on the invitation to one of the many gifted, experienced and brilliant women you know. 

How about the male participants in today’s event sign up to one of the pledge sites that reject being part of male-only panels. I signed up to one years ago, and it has been one of the most empowering things I’ve ever done, giving me the mandate to reject offers to present at events or participate on panels, and instead highlight my own amazing and under-represented colleagues.

Challenge offered….who will accept?

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Picture credit: David Clubb

This blog post is the personal opinion of David Clubb.