Issue - meetings

At its meeting on 18 November 2020 the Executive Committee considered the Corporate Peer Challenge final report and action plan and RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL:   

1.       That the peer review action plan be APPROVED.

2.       That monitoring of the action plan be undertaken by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on a six-monthly basis.

38.1          At its meeting on 18 November 2020, the Executive Committee had considered the Corporate Peer Challenge final report and action plan and recommended to Council that the peer review action plan be approved; and that monitoring of the action plan be undertaken by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on a six-monthly basis.

38.2          The report which was considered by the Executive Committee had been circulated with the Agenda for the current meeting at Pages No. 26-49.

38.3          The Chair of the Executive Committee proposed the recommendation and the Vice-Chair seconded it.

38.4          A discussion ensued during which some Members expressed concern about the pressure on Heads of Service in light of the departure of the Deputy Chief Executive and it was suggested that a review of the action plan in four months would be more appropriate than six months. In response, the Head of Corporate Services advised that the review was currently in the Overview and Scrutiny Committee work programme as pending but he had intended that it would be added to June to give Officers time to implement any actions before the first monitoring period. Other Members were of the view that bringing forward the monitoring period would put additional pressure on Officers rather than alleviating it and they felt the recommendation from the Executive Committee was therefore the most sensible way forward.

38.5          The Member confirmed it was not her intention to add more to the workload but rather to monitor it to ensure the wellbeing of Officers was protected. With that in mind she proposed and, it was seconded, that point 2 be amended to read ‘That monitoring of the action plan be undertaken by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on a four-monthly basis’. Upon being put to the vote, the amendment was lost.

38.6          The recommendation of the Executive Committee was then put to the vote and it was

                 RESOLVED           1. That the peer review action plan be APPROVED.

                                                2.  That monitoring of the action plan be undertaken by the                              Overview and Scrutiny Committee on a six-monthly basis.

To receive the final report and action plan following the corporate peer review challenge and make a recommendation to Council.  

That it be RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL:

1.       That the peer review action plan be APPROVED.

2.       That monitoring of the action plan be undertaken by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on a six-monthly basis.

54.1          The report of the Chief Executive, circulated at Pages No. 195-218, attached the final report and action plan following the Council’s corporate peer challenge. The Committee was asked to recommend to Council that the peer review action plan be approved and that the monitoring of the action plan be undertaken by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on a six-monthly basis.

54.2          The Head of Corporate Services explained that the results of the corporate peer challenge had been somewhat overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it was a significant piece of work for the Council so needed to be considered by Members. The report from the review team had been very positive about the Council and gave much for it to be proud of. A summary of the feedback could be found in the executive summary of the report and, as would be expected, there were some areas identified for improvement with five key recommendations that were summarised within Page No. 2 of the final report. The internal action plan comprised those recommendations and associated action points, as well as other less implicit recommendations, and that could be found at Appendix 2 to the report. The final report would be published on the Council’s website and promoted by the Communications Team via a press release and social media messages and, in addition, all stakeholders who had participated during the challenge would receive a link to the report.

54.3          A Member indicated that some of the recommendations referred to the Garden Town and she felt it was helpful to note that this was a transforming programme which had moved on significantly since the corporate review. The Chair agreed and advised that the recommendations which had been made had largely not been a surprise but the small number of them had been great news following such an extensive and intensive exercise. He offered thanks on behalf of all Members to everyone who had been involved in the review process the outcome of which he thought was well deserved and a great reflection on the way Tewkesbury Borough Council worked as an authority, as well as its effort and professionalism. A Member questioned how much work the action plan would create for Officers at a time when they were already stretched with the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, the Head of Corporate Services advised that no Officers had indicated they would not be able to address the actions, many of which were already being worked on. In addition, a Member noted that one of the things mentioned was the need for a succession plan for the Chief Executive and she queried whether this was being addressed; particularly as the current Deputy Chief Executive was about to leave the authority. The Chief Executive confirmed that, when the time came, he was sure the Council would be able to find a fantastic replacement, but he undertook to begin informal discussions with Members about this issue.

54.4          Accordingly, it was