Recommendation 13

Some aspects of the functional standards, their supporting guidance and self-assessments are better suited to large organisations which have experts in a range of specialist areas than to small organisations which operate in a more agile way.26 For instance, the Government Actuary’s Department told us that the security standard, which sets expectations 17 Qq 10 and 47 18 C&AG’s Report, para 23 19 Dr Henry Midgley, Professor Laurence Ferry and Honorary Professor Aileen Murphie (SGB0002); Electoral Commission (SGB0005) 20 The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (SGB0004) 21 Qq 57, 62, 70 and 82 22 Qq 57 and 65 23 Q 76 24 Qq 83 and 92 25 Dr Henry Midgley, Professor Laurence Ferry and Honorary Professor Aileen Murphie (SGB0002) 26 C&AG’s Report, para 1.14; Q 6 9 for protecting the government’s assets, visitors to government property, third party suppliers whilst engaged on government business, and citizen data, assumes that organisations operate in a very complex system.27 A submission from the Local Government Boundary Commission for England stated that the complexity and technical language of some standards, along with the lack of guidance tailored to small organisations, increased the challenge of complying with the standards.28