Councillor D Brown, Executive Councillor for Strategic Partnerships and Shared Services to present the results of the Corporate Peer Challenge undertaken in June 2016.
Minutes:
In conjunction with a report by the Managing Director (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) to which was attached the full feedback report from the Local Government Association (LGA) following a Peer Challenge that they had conducted at the Council in June 2016, Councillor D Brown, Executive Councillor for Strategic Partnerships and Shared Services acquainted the Council with a summary of the Corporate Peer Challenge. A copy of Councillor Brown’s PowerPoint presentation is also appended in the Minute Book.
Members were advised of the main purpose of the Peer Challenge designed to be improvement-focused and provide feedback as critical friends. The Team involved representatives from a cross-section of similar other authorities and LGA representatives and considered five core components addressed by all corporate Peer Challenges, as well as the capacity and capability for transformation and maximising engagement at all levels.
Having been acquainted with the process of the challenge, Councillor Brown drew Members’ attention to the observations that emerged from the Peer Challenge, including modernisation, vision and partnership working, together with the 12 recommendations made by the LGA that would form the basis of an Action Plan to be considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Performance and Customers) and the Cabinet in order to agree the future direction of the Council. Members noted that an update on progress would be provided to a future meeting of the Council.
In response to a question from Councillor J White on benchmarking the Council against other authorities, Councillor Brown explained that the Peer Challenge had not scored the Council but suggested that it compared favourably to the other authorities in Cambridgeshire.
The Executive Councillor, R B Howe, referred to the Agenda that he had set out as the new Leader in comparison to the recommendations identified in the Peer Review and explained that there were very few gaps that symbolised that the policy programme and strategic direction was more aligned to deliver services in line with customer requirements.
Arising from a question by Councillor J P Morris on the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), Councillor R Harrison explained that the Agenda had been re-designed with the LEP and partners had been working closer together to achieve the same goals, which had become even more critical with the forthcoming decision on the Devolution deal.
In response to a question from Councillor Mrs A Dickinson on the recommendations identified as part of the Peer Review, Councillor Brown explained that a number of policies had overlapped with the recommendations including the transformation agenda and partnership working with Town and Parish Councils.
Councillor D A Giles queried recommendation 4 of the Peer Review report of ‘using all Members’ democratic position, as ambassadors of the Council, to engage and influence partners and forms of partnership working’ as to how this would evolve, whereby Councillor S J Criswell, Executive Councillor for Community Resilience explained that under the new Executive Leader, Councillor Howe had recognised the importance of the relationship with Town and Parish Councils. Members’ attention was also drawn to a Town and Parish Council conference scheduled to be held on 18th November 2016 to identify how such relationships can improve.
Councillor D B Dew requested that Overview and Scrutiny be fully engaged with the Action Plan by way of task and finish groups, whereby Councillor Brown explained that this had formed part of the Action Plan going forward. Whereupon, it was
RESOLVED
(a) that the contents of the LGA Peer Review Challenge Feedback be noted; and
(b) that the Managing Director be authorised to devise an Action Plan, in consultation with the Executive Leader and Executive Councillor for Strategic Partnerships and Shared Services.
Actions:20 Minutes.
Supporting documents: