Healthy communities peer challenge

The Local Government Association (LGA) offers a tailored peer review focusing purely on healthy communities. The process is supportive but demanding, working from the perspective of a 'critical friend' to identify areas of good practice and focus on clear recommendations for improvement. We are commissioned to provide the programme by the Department of Health (DH).

We draw on a group of peers with expert and recent knowledge to carry out reviews. The team undertakes a series of interviews with key individuals at a local authority as well as undertaking workshops with stakeholder groups. These include frontline staff, middle managers and partners.

In the last two years we have carried out 25 peer reviews in England.

What is a peer challenge?

We have an established expertise in providing public sector colleagues to support councils to define and implement practical improvement programmes. Peer reviews have been proven to be an effective method of raising standards across local authorities over the past decade.

A Healthy Communities peer challenge will usually be an intensive three-day organisational 'health check'. Peer review teams consist of representatives from a local authority including:

• an elected member
• the health sector
• other relevant partners supported by an LGA manager.

However, the exact scope, timescale and team can be adapted to your exact requirements and local need.

Why have a peer challenge?

There is considerable change in local government and particularly in public health. National policy poses the challenging perspective that health is everybody's business – and strongly influenced by many council services.

The Healthy Communities peer challenges help local government to help itself to respond to the new expectation of proactive engagement. The review process helps a local authority to assess its current achievements and to identify those areas in which it could improve.

What are the benefits for your authority?

The Healthy Communities peer challenge helps councils help themselves to take a leadership role in the arena of public health. The team will consist of experienced staff and members in health and local government. They will visit as friends, albeit critical friends. The review is not an inspection: it is about the sector helping the sector.

The local authority will be offered full confidentiality. However, with the agreement of the council, there are obvious benefits in sharing outcomes and especially best practice to assist other councils in their own development.

A peer challenge will focus on the council. Effective partnership working is undoubtedly important to the achievement of healthier communities. The team will usually talk to colleagues in other public services, the voluntary and community sector.

What will happen?

The peer challenge model uses a benchmark of a notional 'ideal' local authority, based on the wide experience of the LGA and its partners. It provides a framework for exploring the strengths and weaknesses of the review authority, and its particular circumstances and challenges.

During the three-day visit, members of the review team will meet and talk with a cross-section of elected members, officers, representatives of partner organisations, stakeholders and the general public. On the final day, the team will feed back their main findings and deliver a presentation. Later, a full report with recommendations will be drafted in consultation with the local authority.

How much does it cost?

A Healthy Communities peer challenge is funded by the Department of Health. This reflects the importance attached by Government to engaging local authorities with its agenda. Accordingly, the LGA deals with the charges incurred in recruiting and deploying the peer review team including expenses. There is no charge to the participating council.

What are the council's obligations?

The peer challenge does place an administrative demand on the local authority. The local authority should be prepared to offer:

• a project leader – usually a senior manager
• a non-administrative contact – often an officer with responsibilities in the area under review
• an administrative contact to work with the LGA review manager.

It is usual to provide the review team with an office, and to facilitate arrangements for the programme of meetings. The council will need to prepare evidence for the review, including a self-assessment of its position in relation to the benchmark.

Elected members are key to the process and will be involved in discussions, usually with the member peer, and in receiving the report.

Further assistance

We can provide further support to a council to assist it to move forward with an improvement plan following a peer review. For example, we can provide training in:

• techniques such as health impact assessment (HIA)
• sources of information about health inequalities
• examples of successful interventions and preparation of a health action plan
• delivering joint strategic needs assessments (JSNAs) with NHS colleagues
• effective overview and scrutiny operation in the health and wellbeing agenda.

We also provides leadership development to councillors with responsibility for leading their communities on health issues.

A peer challenge can now be provided for a partnership as a whole, incorporating the council and its NHS colleagues and other stakeholders. It is usually within the format of the local strategic partnership (LSP), and focused on the objectives in the local area agreement (LAA). This is available from the LGA and is contingent on the agreement of all the partners. These examples of further assistance are also funded by the DH and can usually be delivered at no cost to participating councils.

Further information

Healthy Communities resource

To book a Healthy Communities peer challenge or if you have any queries, please contact:

Richard Powell
Telephone: 07917 831620
Email: richard.powell@local.gov.uk