Governance

We are governed by a Council comprising nine members: a chair appointed by the Privy Council, one non-executive member appointed by the Scottish Ministers, one non-executive member appointed by the Welsh Ministers, one non-executive member appointed by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety in Northern Ireland, three non-executive members appointed by the Secretary of State. Up to two executive members are nominated by the council itself.

Our Council is responsible for determining the overall policies that affect the way we carry out our business. It sets the strategic direction for us and approves the annual business plan and budget.

The Council also has the following committees: Audit and Risk, Remuneration and Scrutiny. The latter focuses on monitoring the work of the Scrutiny and Quality team and referrals of regulatory bodies' fitness to practice decisions to the High Court .
The Council has delegated some of its responsibilities to the Audit and Risk Committee, which:

• reviews and ensures that systems of internal control operate effectively and risks to the organisation are identified and managed;
• is responsible for reviewing adequacy and effectiveness of internal audit, and for providing a view on effectiveness of the external audit function;
• reports to each meeting of the Council through provision of minutes and a verbal report from the Audit Committee Chair;
• provides assurance in the Statement of Internal Control as part of the Council’s Annual Report and Accounts which are laid before Parliament.

We report annually to Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly, Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales. Copies of our annual reports and accounts are available for review.

More information on our work is available in our Annual Reviews and Strategic plan and our September 2009 report, Assuring patient safety through regulation.  These documents can be downloaded below.

Other relevant governance documents available include:

• HR policies
• Information security & assurance policies
• Disclosure of expenses