24 Innovation Drive Green Park Newport East Riding of Yorkshire HU15 2FW
Home / The Board & Governance
On this page:
The 8 Partner IDBs comprising the Yorkshire & Humber Drainage Boards Management Group are public authorities constituted by respective Statutory Instruments.
They are each accountable to the local community through their elected and appointed members. From time to time the relevant government minister may give certain directions about how IDBs operate.
The Board is accountable to the local community through its elected and appointed members. Although the Council may appoint members, the Board is entirely independent of other local authorities and national agencies. The relevant government minster may give certain directions about how the Board operates.
The IDBs typically hold 2 to 3 scheduled meetings a year; details of the meetings are advertised on this website where the agendas and minutes of Board meetings can also be found. When members meet they must follow rules of assembly commonly called “Standing Orders“, these orders are approved by the relevant government minister and set out how meetings should be conducted by defining thresholds for attendance, voting and other proceedings of the meeting.
The purpose of a Board meeting is to scrutinise the work of the Board and its administration on behalf of the local community, ensuring suitable governance and financial management systems are in place.
The Board members may appoint a sub-committee from their number and give that committee delegated powers to make decisions on behalf of the respective Board.
Like any other public authority, the IDBs manage their governance and finances through a series of policies and regulations. These policies are developed by officers and approved by the respective IDBs, usually based on best practice. Once adopted; members, officers and contractors are required to work within this ‘policy framework’. For practical reasons some regulations allow officers to spend money and make decisions on a day to day basis without reverting to Board members; these are known as schemes of delegation.
Because each IDB is a public authority, their work is subject to independent scrutiny. Each IDB directly appoints an internal auditor to inspect their processes and records routinely throughout the year. The internal auditor reports directly to the Board rather than to its officers.
Each IDB is also subject to an annual external audit by a government-appointed auditor and must act on or properly consider the recommendations of this process.
A local authority may scrutinise the work of IDBs; the Partner IDBs welcome this scrutiny and will actively engage with any such process.
The activities of IDBs are subject to review by the Local Government Ombudsman except in the case of private land matters, a matter that is under the purview of Defra or the Environment Agency or where matters are or may be referred to an agricultural land tribunal.