Agenda item

To endorse the undertaking of a Corporate Peer Challenge  

That the undertaking of a Corporate Peer Challenge be ENDORSED.  

57.1           The report of the Head of Corporate Services, circulated at Pages No. 42-45, provided information about the approach and scope of a corporate peer challenge and asked Members to endorse the undertaking of the peer challenge process for the Council.

57.2           Members were advised that the report before the Committee would formally set the Council in motion to prepare for the corporate peer challenge which would take place during week commencing 3 March 2020. The process was aimed at improving the Council and provided a real learning opportunity through a ‘critical friend’ approach. The Head of Corporate Services explained that the peer challenge was not an inspection; it did not deliver a scored assessment; it was not a detailed service assessment; it was not driven by external requirements; and it was not reported to government. The scope of each peer challenge included a general health check on five core components which included: understanding of local context and priority setting; financial planning and viability; political and managerial leadership; governance and decision-making; and organisational capacity. In addition, the Council had asked the peer challenge team to look at whether the Council was set up organisationally to successfully deliver its growth plans and ambitions; whether it could be confident in the delivery of the garden communities projects; and whether it had the ability and capacity to deliver the new Council Plan.

57.3           In respect of the team which visited the Council, the Head of Corporate Services advised that there would usually be between five and six members which included a Local Government Association (LGA) representative. There would also be a Chief Executive lead along with Member representation which would reflect the general political make-up of Tewkesbury Borough Council. As background information for the team, the Council would need to produce a short position statement which would serve as the Terms of Reference for the peer challenge and would provide a brief to the team in terms of its focus. During the course of the peer challenge, the team would meet with a variety of stakeholders including staff and partners. At the conclusion of the challenge, a presentation of the key findings would be made by the peer challenge lead and it was common practice for all internal participants to be invited to that presentation. Following that a formal report would be produced, usually within six to eight weeks of the conclusion of the challenge. From that report an action plan was developed which was approved by Council and monitored through the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

57.4           The Chief Executive advised that the Local Government Association funded the process and there was great interest from the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government in the quality of the peer challenges carried out; it had been suggested that, if local authorities did not engage in the process, the government may return to some form of inspection process instead as it was expected that Councils would open themselves up to external scrutiny. In response to a query from a Member, it was advised that the Council had previously been found to be ‘punching above its weight’; however, it was understood that there were still areas that could be improved upon. The Chief Executive indicated that he had recently been a peer reviewer and there were lessons which he had learnt from that process as well – he felt the whole experience was a great way to exchange good practice and to learn lessons from each other.

57.5           Accordingly, it was