A. Behaving with integrity, demonstrating strong commitment to ethical values, and respecting the rule of law

The public sector is normally responsible for using a significant proportion of resources raised through taxation to provide services to citizens. Public sector entities are accountable not only for how much they spend, but also for how they use the resources under their stewardship. This includes accountability for outputs, both positive and negative, and for the outcomes they have achieved. In addition, they have an overarching responsibility to serve the public interest in adhering to the requirements of legislation and government policies. Public sector entities are accountable to legislative bodies for the exercise of legitimate authority in society. This makes it essential that each entity as a whole can demonstrate the appropriateness of all of its actions and has mechanisms in place to encourage and enforce adherence to ethical values and to respect the rule of law.

B. Ensuring openness and comprehensive stakeholder engagement

As public sector entities are established and run for the public good, their governing bodies should ensure openness in their activities. Clear, trusted channels of communication and consultation should be used to engage effectively with all groups of stakeholders, such as individual citizens and service users, as well as institutional stakeholders.

C. Defining outcomes in terms of sustainable economic, social, and environmental benefits

The long-term nature and impact of many of the public sector’s responsibilities mean that it should define and plan outcomes and that these should be sustainable. The governing body should ensure that its decisions further the entity’s purpose, contribute to intended benefits and outcomes, and remain within the limits of authority and resources. Input from all groups of stakeholders, including citizens, service users, and institutional stakeholders, is vital to the success of this process and in balancing competing demands when determining priorities for the finite resources available.

D. Determining the interventions necessary to optimize the achievement of the intended outcomes

The public sector achieves its intended outcomes by providing a mixture of legal, regulatory, and practical interventions. Determining the right mix of interventions is a critically important strategic choice that governing bodies of public sector entities have to make to ensure they achieve their intended outcomes. Public sector entities need robust decision-making mechanisms to ensure that their defined outcomes can be achieved in a way that provides the best trade-off between the various types of resource inputs while still enabling effective and efficient operations. Decisions made need to be reviewed continually to ensure that achievement of outcomes is optimized.

E. Developing the entity’s capacity, including the capability of its leadership and the individuals within it

Public sector entities need appropriate structures and leadership, as well as people with the right skills, appropriate qualifications and mindset, to operate efficiently and effectively and achieve their intended outcomes within the specified periods. The governing body must ensure that it has both the capacity to fulfill its own mandate and to make certain that there are policies in place to guarantee that an entity’s management has the operational capacity for the entity as a whole. Because both individuals and the environment in which an entity operates will change over time, there will be a continuous need to develop the entity’s capacity as well as the skills and experience of the leadership of individual staff members. Leadership in public sector entities is strengthened by the participation of people with many different types of backgrounds, reflecting the structure and diversity of their communities.

F. Managing risks and performance through robust internal control and strong public financial management

The governing bodies of public sector entities need to ensure that the entities they oversee have implemented—and can sustain—an effective performance management system that facilitates effective and efficient delivery of planned services. Risk management and internal control are important and integral parts of a performance management system and crucial to the achievement of outcomes. They consist of an ongoing process designed to identify and address significant risks involved in achieving an entity’s outcomes. A strong system of financial management is essential for the implementation of public sector policies and the achievement of intended outcomes, as it will enforce financial discipline, strategic allocation of resources, efficient service delivery, and accountability.

G. Implementing good practices in transparency, reporting, and audit to deliver effective accountability

Accountability is about ensuring that those making decisions and delivering services are answerable for them, although the range and strength of different accountability relationships varies for different types of governing bodies. Effective accountability is concerned not only with reporting on actions completed, but also ensuring that stakeholders are able to understand and respond as the entity plans and carries out its activities in a transparent manner. Both external and internal audit contribute to effective accountability.