Annual Report & Accounts 2017/18

77 NI Water Annual Report and Accounts 2017/18 Governance Introduction The Governance section on pages 70 to 87 sets out the role of the Board and the assessment of its effectiveness in discharging its responsibilities under the Companies Act 2006. MPMNI requires a ‘Governance Statement’ to be included in the Annual Report. Given that some of the compliance requirements have already been included in the Governance section, the Governance Statement needs to be read in conjunction with this section. The Governance Statement forms part of the audited financial statements. Scope of responsibility As Chief Executive and Accounting Officer, I have responsibility for maintaining a sound system of internal control that supports the achievement of NI Water’s purpose, vision and customer promises. I am also responsible for safeguarding the public funds and the assets for which I am personally responsible, in accordance with the responsibilities assigned to me in MPMNI, and as specified in the MSFM. The governance arrangement complies with the best practice standards of regularity and propriety in the use of public funds and the principles of MPMNI. DfI approves NI Water’s Annual Budget and Operating Plan and regularly reviews NI Water’s performance. The work of NI Water is directed by its Board and Executive Committee. There is a comprehensive reporting and accountability system provided through the Executive Committee, Board and Sub-Committees of the Board who, together with the work of Internal and External Audit, support me in my role as Chief Executive and Accounting Officer. Governance framework The system of internal control is supported by manage threats and opportunities to a reasonable level, and to achieve NI Water’s purpose, vision and customer promises. It can therefore only provide reasonable and not absolute assurance of effectiveness. The system of internal control is supported by an integrated risk and resilience framework to provide an ongoing process to identify and prioritise the threats to the achievement of the customer promises, to evaluate the likelihood and the impact should they be realised, and to manage them efficiently, effectively and economically. The leadership team also considers opportunities for making improvements over the year to achieve better outcomes for our customers and improve Well being of our colleagues within a cost effective environment. NI Water’s integrated governance framework, supported by the integrated risk and resilience framework provides the appropriate structure to facilitate good governance and communication across the business and with key stakeholders. The system of internal control has been in place in NI Water for the year ended 31 March 2018 and up to the date of approval of the Annual Report and Accounts, and accords with DoF’s and HM Treasury’s guidance, where appropriate. Capacity to handle risk NI Water’s risk management policies were revised during the year to formalise the concept of resilience in the risk management process. The new integrated risk and resilience framework was approved in February 2018 and clearly defines the roles and responsibilities of the Board, its Committees, the Executive Committee, Directors, Risk Champions and employees. There is a clear chain of accountability from the Accounting Officer to all colleagues. The policies provide guidance on how to implement risk assessments and how to manage risk to an acceptable level as determined by the Board. The risk and control framework A range of information was used to establish the corporate threats and opportunities at the start of the year. This included benchmarking of threats and opportunities faced by other water and wastewater entities, the Internal Audit Opinion, the Accounting Officer’s Annual Assurance Statement, changes in legislation and Government guidance together with horizon scanning to identify future potential threats and opportunities. During the year, the Executive Committee met on a quarterly basis to assess and evaluate threats and opportunities and agreed the necessary improvements required to address evolving business needs. The corporate and directorate threat and opportunity registers have clearly defined owners. These registers Governance Statement