Agenda item

Report of the Chief Executive.

The Deputy Leader introduced the report of the Chief Executive (previously circulated) providing details of the Corporate Peer Review that was requested by the Council and conducted by the Local Government Association (LGA) in June 2022; presenting the LGA Corporate Peer Challenge Feedback Report; and requesting that consideration be given to the action plan (also previously circulated) that was developed in response to the recommendations made by the LGA following the Review.

It was reported that Corporate Peer Reviews were seen as good practice within the local government sector and that they typically looked at five main areas, namely:- local priorities and outcomes; organisational and place leadership; governance and culture; financial planning and management; and capacity for improvement.  The Council invited the LGA to undertake a Peer Review, and in addition to the 5 main areas it requested the team also assessed ‘the Council’s customer/citizen engagement and how it interacted with them to see if there were improvements to be made within the context of resources available.’

The submitted report stated that in advance of the review the Council had produced a position statement that was shared with the Peer Review Team; the self-assessment of the Council and Borough as a whole was used by the team to inform areas of analysis throughout the review; the team had had an organised tour of the Borough; and that over 120 people were interviewed across 38 meetings, which included staff, Members and a wide range of external stakeholders.

Reference was made to the six recommendations contained within the feedback report which had been proposed to help the Council develop and learn and to the action plan that had been developed to meet those objectives.

Particular references were made at the meeting to Recommendations 1, 3 and 5, and in doing so highlighted the inequalities that currently existed; the role of the refreshed strategic partnership in tackling those inequalities; the impact of national policy on inequalities; the uncertainty around Social Care; and the issues that the Council faces in meeting the needs of those people leaving Social Care as a result of short term funding.  The Deputy Leader responded thereon.

RESOLVED – (a)  That the Local Government Association (LGA) Corporate Peer Review Feedback Report, as appended to the submitted report, be noted and accepted.

(b)  That the action plan developed in response to the recommendations of the Peer Review, as detailed in the submitted report, be approved.

(c)  That the Peer Review team be thanked for their work in conducting the review and for the production of a helpful report.

REASONS – (a)  The Council is required to develop an action plan in response to the LGA Corporate Peer Review report.

(b)  The Council wishes to develop and learn as an organisation and the recommendations in the report will help to achieve this objective.