Issue - meetings

In November 2021 the Local Government Association (LGA) carried out a Corporate Peer Challenge of BCP Council.

The peer team was made up of eight ‘critical friends’ which included two lead members and four senior officers from other Local Authorities and two LGA advisors.

The Peer challenge focused on:

1.     Local priorities and outcomes

2.     Organisational and place leadership

3.     Governance and culture

4.     Financial planning and management 

5.     Capacity for improvement

and at the council’s request:

·       Transformation

·       Partnership working

·       Summer response

Informal feedback was given at the end of the onsite visit which was followed up by a draft feedback report and final feedback report in January 2022.

An action plan has been prepared in response to the feedback report and is presented, along with the final feedback report, for Cabinet approval.

RESOLVED that Cabinet: -

(a)    Receives the Corporate Peer Challenge Feedback Report; and

(b)   Approves the Corporate Peer Challenge Action Plan

Voting: Unanimous

Portfolio Holder: Leader of the Council

Reason

A peer challenge presents opportunities for councils to receive endorsements from other local authorities about how well services are being delivered but also to learn how things could be done differently to best meet the needs of the council and the wider community.

The Leader of the Council presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'E' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

Cabinet was advised that in November 2021 the Local Government Association (LGA) carried out a Corporate Peer Challenge of BCP Council.

In relation to this Cabinet was informed that the peer team was made up of eight ‘critical friends’ which included two lead members and four senior officers from other Local Authorities and two LGA advisors.

Cabinet was further informed that the Peer challenge focused on:

1.     Local priorities and outcomes

2.     Organisational and place leadership

3.     Governance and culture

4.     Financial planning and management 

5.     Capacity for improvement

and at the council’s request:

·      Transformation

·      Partnership working

·       Summer response

In relation to this Cabinet was advised that informal feedback was given at the end of the onsite visit which was followed up by a draft feedback report and final feedback report in January 2022, and an action plan has been prepared in response to the feedback report and is presented, along with the final feedback report, for Cabinet approval.

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Board addressed the Cabinet advising that at their recent meeting the Board had commented on the length of time between the feedback report being received and this report, in the context of the Team’s intention to return and assess progress of the action plan. The Chairman of the Board questioned whether this was going to happen and when?

The Leader advised that the peer team would be welcomed back, and that discussions had taken place but no date fixed, but the aim was for the end of this calendar year. In addition the Leader advised that the action plan was already being implemented.

RESOLVED that Cabinet: -

(a)           Receives the Corporate Peer Challenge Feedback Report; and

(b)           Approves the Corporate Peer Challenge Action Plan

Voting: Unanimous

Portfolio Holder: Leader of the Council

To consider the Corporate Peer Challenge Feedback Report and Action Plan scheduled for Cabinet consideration on 13 April 2022.

The O&S Board is asked to scrutinise and comment on the report and if required make recommendations or observations as appropriate.

Cabinet member invited to attend for this item: Councillor Drew Mellor, Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Transformation and Finance

The Cabinet report for this item is included with the agenda for consideration by the Overview and Scrutiny Board.

The Chief Executive presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each member of the Board and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'B' to these minutes in the Minute Book. There were a number of issues raised by the Board in the subsequent discussion which were responded to by the Chief Executive and Head of Policy and Performance, including:

·     The meaning of culture within the report and how this was explained to Council Employees. The Board was advised that this was in reference to the way things were done at the Council and the way the Council wanted things done. The cultural values of the organisation were set out soon after the formation on the Council. However, it was acknowledged that there was still some way to go in moving people from preceding Councils to the BCP way of doing things.

·     Corporate Strategy – very general and broad in its scope which has meant that people start choosing what relates to them in. It was noted that there was a great deal of complexity within a council providing over 600 services in comparison to a company with a single focus. It was noted that values can really drive behaviours, but internal communication needed to be much stronger and there was a lot of emphasis being placed on this. It was suggested that two values which could be put forward were: ‘excellent at customer care and communication’ and ‘spend money as if it was your own money’.

·     A councillor asked about retaining and enhancing all non-digital channels. It was noted that the plan was to free-up channels by getting most people using functional digital, thus allowing those for whom accessing digital channels was challenging better access. It was hoped that as many as possible would self-serve. It was suggested that it should be accepted that these changes would impact people but that the impact would be ameliorated.

·     A Board member agreed with the comments within the report regarding reputational damage and that the parities should be less politically critical of each other.

·     A Board member commented that it was good that the report recognised the need for less jargon and there was definitely a need to get rid of this.

·     A Board member commented that it was good to see target dates within the action plan going forward as Board members had previously requested this detail. However there seemed to be a delay in implementation of some of the actions. The Board was advised that there would be significant steps towards these actions before the indicated dates and received assurance that all the targets were achievable.

·     A Board member commented that there was a lot of criticism inside the document directed at members rather than officers and that it was disappointing that there wasn’t a member present to answer questions on these issues. The Councillor asked how members could help address some of these issues. The Chief Executive responded that politics in a no-overall control or  ...  view the full minutes text for item 187