Public Sector Corporate Governance and Accountability Training Course

Course overview

Public bodies, agencies, regulators and state-owned entities must demonstrate that authority, public funds and service decisions are used lawfully, ethically and transparently. Yet governance failures often arise from unclear delegations, weak board reporting, blurred lines between ministerial direction and operational management, unmanaged conflicts of interest, or assurance processes that identify issues too late. This course addresses the practical challenge of creating governance arrangements that can withstand audit scrutiny, parliamentary or council oversight, media attention and stakeholder challenge.

Participants examine the structures and controls that make public-sector governance work in practice. They learn to define board and committee accountabilities, map statutory and delegated authority, build an accountability framework, distinguish governance from management, and strengthen risk, audit, ethics and disclosure arrangements. The programme applies recognised frameworks including ISO 37000, COSO ERM and the OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises, while adapting them to public mandates, political oversight and public-value objectives.

The course is delivered through instructor-led analysis, governance case studies, board-paper reviews, control-design workshops and facilitated peer critique. Participants work with realistic scenarios involving conflicts of interest, failed service delivery, procurement concerns, audit findings and ministerial interventions. They leave with a completed Public Sector Governance and Accountability Improvement Plan containing an accountability map, committee terms-of-reference checklist, delegation-control review, assurance dashboard outline and implementation priorities.

It is designed for professionals who already contribute to governance, risk, audit, finance, policy or executive support and now need to improve the design, evidence and operation of accountability systems. Managers sponsoring attendance gain staff able to turn governance principles into usable reporting, controls and decision records.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Map statutory, ministerial, board, executive and committee accountabilities using a public-sector accountability framework
• Draft a board and committee responsibility matrix that separates oversight, decision rights and management activity
• Evaluate delegations of authority against legal mandate, financial thresholds, escalation routes and control evidence
• Design a governance risk register using COSO ERM categories, risk appetite statements and assurance sources
• Build a three-lines assurance map linking operational controls, internal audit activity and external scrutiny
• Assess conflicts of interest using declaration, recusal, register-maintenance and decision-recording procedures
• Produce decision-useful board papers with clear recommendations, public-value implications, risks and accountability owners
• Create a governance and accountability improvement plan with prioritised actions, measures, owners and review dates

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Board Secretaries and Governance Managers — who coordinate boards, committees, delegations and governance records
• Public Sector Directors and Heads of Service — who are accountable for delivering services within statutory and financial controls
• Internal Audit Managers — who assess governance effectiveness and report assurance findings to audit committees
• Risk and Compliance Managers — who maintain risk frameworks, control registers and regulatory obligations
• Finance Directors and Senior Finance Managers — who oversee public funds, financial delegations and stewardship reporting
• Policy, Programme and Transformation Managers — who need governance routes for major decisions, benefits and delivery risks

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have working experience in a public body, agency, regulator, municipality, public enterprise or publicly funded programme, and should understand their organisation’s basic reporting lines and approval processes. Familiarity with terms such as board, audit committee, delegation, risk register, internal audit, conflict of interest and financial authority is helpful. Bring, where permitted, a current organisation chart, committee structure or governance policy to use in exercises. No legal qualification, accountancy credential, prior board membership or specialist governance software expertise is required; the course explains the frameworks used.

Training methodology

The five days combine short instructor-led briefings with practical governance design work. Participants analyse public-sector board failures, review anonymised board papers and audit-committee reports, and apply accountability, delegation and assurance templates to realistic cases. Small groups test how a governance system responds to ministerial direction, service disruption, conflicts of interest and adverse audit findings. Facilitated feedback focuses on evidence, decision rights and defensible records. Each participant develops an end-of-course improvement plan for a real or simulated organisation.

Course outline

Day 1: Public-sector governance architecture

• Public value, statutory mandate and stewardship obligations
• Governance versus management in public institutions
• Board, ministerial, executive and officer accountability relationships
• OECD public enterprise governance principles
• ISO 37000 governance principles and application
• Governance operating-model components
• Accountability mapping and responsibility matrices

Workshop: Participants create an accountability map for a public agency, identifying decision owners, oversight bodies, escalation points and reporting obligations.

Day 2: Boards, committees and decision rights

• Board composition, independence and capability requirements
• Committee mandates for audit, risk, remuneration and ethics
• Terms of reference and annual committee work plans
• Delegations of authority and financial approval thresholds
• Reserved matters and executive decision rights
• Board-paper structure and recommendation writing
• Minute-taking, decision logs and action tracking

Workshop: Participants review a flawed committee pack and produce a revised decision paper, delegation check and action log.

Day 3: Risk, control and assurance

• COSO ERM principles for public-sector risk oversight
• Risk appetite statements and tolerance thresholds
• Governance risk registers and control ownership
• Three-lines model and assurance coordination
• Internal audit planning and audit-committee reporting
• External audit, inspectorate and parliamentary scrutiny
• Assurance dashboards and exception reporting

Workshop: Participants build a three-lines assurance map and dashboard outline for a high-risk public service programme.

Day 4: Ethics, transparency and accountable conduct

• Public-sector ethics and fiduciary responsibilities
• Conflicts-of-interest declarations and recusal protocols
• Gifts, hospitality and revolving-door risk controls
• Probity in procurement and grant decisions
• Whistleblowing routes and protected disclosure governance
• Freedom-of-information and proactive disclosure responsibilities
• Responding to governance failures and adverse findings

Workshop: Participants manage a conflict-of-interest and procurement-probity case, producing a decision record, mitigation plan and disclosure recommendation.

Day 5: Governance improvement and implementation

• Governance maturity assessment criteria
• Diagnosing root causes from audit and review findings
• Prioritising remediation using risk and public-impact criteria
• Governance performance indicators and reporting cadence
• Stakeholder communication for governance reforms
• Implementation ownership, milestones and review cycles
• Sustaining board and committee effectiveness

Workshop: Participants complete and present a Public Sector Governance and Accountability Improvement Plan with actions, owners, measures and a 90-day implementation sequence.

Tools & standards covered

ISO 37000:2021 Governance of organizations, COSO Enterprise Risk Management Framework, OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises, Microsoft Excel

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions