Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Trust was authorised as a foundation trust and became Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust on 1 October 2007. The existing services transferred to the Trust.   

The Trust has applied the principles of the NHS Foundation Trust Code of Governance on a comply or explain basis. The NHS Foundation Trust Code of Governance is based on the principles of the UK Corporate Governance Code. 

The Board of Directors has established governance policies in the light of the main and supporting principles of the Code of Governance; these are detailed on the website by using this link.

The Board of Directors receives quarterly reports via the Audit Committee allowing it to monitor compliance with governance arrangements and, on an ongoing basis, to identify areas for further development.  The Board Assurance Framework and the Trust’s governance arrangements are scrutinised by the Audit Committee before being considered by the Board to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Code of Governance for NHS Foundation Trusts and the NHS Oversight Framework.

Governance and constitutional powers 

The Trust’s Constitution sets out the requirements of governance and in 2022/23 it was compliant with the NHS Foundation Trust Code of Governance. The Trust’s Constitution is supported by standing orders for the Board of Directors, standing orders for the Council of Governors and codes of conduct and responsibility documents for each. 

The Trust’s Constitution and standing orders set out the powers of both the Council of Governors and Board of Directors. These are further described in the standing financial instructions and scheme of delegation, all of which are publicly available on the Trust’s website by using this link.

So far as the Directors are aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the NHS Foundation Trust’s auditor is unaware, and the Directors have taken all the steps that they ought to have taken as Directors to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to ensure the NHS Foundation Trust’s auditor is aware of that information.

Register of interests

Governors and directors are required to, and have signed to say that they will, comply with their respective codes of conduct and declare any potential conflict of interest. Registers of interest are maintained of the governors’ and directors’ interests. These registers can be accessed on the Trust’s website by using this link and copies can also be obtained by members of the public by writing to the Director of Corporate Governance at Trust headquarters.

Compliance with the Code of Governance

The NHS Foundation Trust Code of Governance has been applied to all clauses of the Trust’s Constitution. The processes to ensure a successful and constructive relationship between the directors and governors are set out in detail in Annex 8, section 2 of the Trust’s Constitution.