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Job Description

This role is not suitable for internal Barnet candidates and any applications received will automatically be rejected.

About Barnet Council

Barnet is a diverse and ambitious borough, with a clear focus on improving outcomes for residents and communities.

Our corporate plan is centred on Caring for People, our Places and the Planet, supported by our commitment to being an Engaged and Effective Council. This reflects our focus on delivering high-quality services, working collaboratively with residents and partners, and ensuring strong, transparent governance.

Barnet has much to be proud of, but we are equally focused on where we need to improve. We are committed to strengthening how we work with local communities, improving performance, and ensuring effective use of public resources.

Our staff are guided by our organisational values: Learning to Improve, Caring, Inclusive and Collaborative. These values underpin how we work across the organisation and how we approach governance, accountability and continuous improvement.

About the role

The London Borough of Barnet is seeking to appoint an Independent Member to the Governance, Audit, Risk Management and Standards (GARMS) Committee.

GARMS was established in May 2023 and plays a key role in supporting good governance, audit, and risk management across the Council.

The Independent Member will sit on the Committee alongside elected Members. In this role, you will provide an independent and high-level focus on audit, assurance and reporting arrangements that underpin good governance and financial standards.

This role provides independent challenge and assurance to Members, helping ensure the Council operates with strong governance, effective risk management and robust financial oversight.

In this role, you will work closely with elected Members and senior officers, including the Executive Director of Assurance & Public Protection, Executive Director of Resources (Section 151 Officer), Monitoring Officer and Head of Internal Audit, and will engage with External Audit and other assurance providers.

You will also provide independent assurance to Members of the adequacy of Barnet Council’s governance, risk management, control frameworks and value for money arrangements, and oversee the financial reporting and annual governance processes. In addition, the Independent Member will provide oversight of the internal and external audit processes, helping to ensure efficient and effective assurance arrangements are in place.

In addition to its audit and assurance responsibilities, GARMS also covers wider governance and standards matters, including oversight of whistleblowing, corporate complaints and member conduct. This reflects the Committee’s role as both the Council’s audit committee and standards committee.

Further information on the Committee’s role and responsibilities can be found on the Council’s website (Committee details - Governance, Audit, Risk Management and Standards Committee (GARMS) and in the Terms of Reference (Part 2B of the Constitution - Agenda for Constitution on Tuesday 19th May, 2026).

Time commitment and allowance
You will receive £127 per meeting or training session attended. This allowance also applies to approved training sessions. The term of office is for four years.
The role involves approximately four committee meetings per year, plus preparation time and occasional training sessions.

Please click here to download the Job description for this role. (Right-click and select “Open in new tab” so you can keep the job description open while completing your application)

About You
You will have a strong understanding of corporate governance, audit, risk, financial management, and standards within Local Government, the public sector, or a similarly complex organisation.

You will be able to review complex information, provide constructive challenge, and demonstrate independence, integrity and sound judgement.

You must also be able to attend evening committee meetings (approximately 4 per year) and participate in relevant training.

How to apply

Read the job description and person specification before clicking ‘Apply’ to commence the online application form. If you would like any further information about the role before applying, please contact Andrew Charlwood, Head of Governance at Andrew.Charlwood@Barnet.gov.uk

If you are interested in serving on the Committee, we would be delighted to hear from you.

System notice: Some dates shown on our online application system (such as “Apply Before”) appear in US date format (MM/DD/YYYY) due to Oracle system settings.

Artificial intelligence (AI) can be a useful tool to support your application as a reasonable adjustment, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn, escalated to Counter Fraud for further investigation and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Barnet Council is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and welcomes applications from all sections of the community, including the LGBTQ+ community, genders, ages, disabilities, faiths/beliefs and candidates from Black, Asian, and ethnic minority backgrounds.

Barnet Council is a Disability Confident Committed Employer. We welcome and encourage applications of all abilities. If you require any reasonable adjustments in the application or interview, please contact the lead contact on this advert. We will make reasonable adjustments to make sure our disabled applicants and those with health conditions are supported throughout our recruitment process. We support the access to work scheme, further details are available at www.gov.uk/access-to-work/apply

Please ensure you regularly check the email account (including JUNK MAIL folders) that you use to submit your application, as any further communication regarding your application will be sent electronically.We will update all applicants following shortlisting. If you have not been invited to interview within four weeks of the closing date, you should assume your application has not been successful.