CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN TOWN COUNCILS

Abstract

Recurring governance lapses at Singapore’s Town Councils such as asymmetric information, failure to record expenses, and lack of internal control highlights the need to strengthen the existing governance controls implemented in the Town Councils. To guide the Town Councils in better executing their fiduciary duties, improve accountability and disclosure, the Code of Governance for the Town Councils and a disclosure checklist was developed by the Ministry of National Development. Nevertheless, compliance with the Code is inconsistent as each Town Council has a different set of standard operating procedures. There is a need to take more effective measures to cascade the key practices to comply with the Code across different Town Councils to strengthen governance as a whole. Additionally, as the Code is newly introduced and implemented in the Town Councils, improvement can be made in terms of its adequacy and efficacy. This research paper aims to develop a governance framework and guide through identifying the key practices to achieve good governance in the Town Councils. A literature review was conducted to identify the possible driving practices of good governance for public agencies. A web-based survey was distributed to town councillors, general managers and property managers to substantiate the appropriateness of the identified practices in relation to the Town Council. Non-parametric analysis methods were for data analysis. Post-interview was conducted to validate the survey results and to obtain valuable insights for data analysis. Local cases of recurring governance lapses in Town Councils and public agencies were also studied to prevent committing similar lapses. The findings from the survey results, post-interviews and case studies analysis established that all key practices identified in this research paper are significant in achieving good governance in Town Councils. The proposed governance framework would encourage better service delivery and the proposed guide can help to improve accountability by establishing the steps to achieve the key corporate governance practices.