The LGA Corporate Peer Challenge progress review made a number of suggestions for further consideration by the LGA. The LGA is responding to these suggestions through an action plan.
| Original recommendation | Peer team suggestion | Action | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Relationship with devolution | 1.1 | It is important that the LGA prioritises an ongoing active role in [ongoing discussions on engagement with MCAs and how they can get the best out of LGA membership] | Continue to consider as part of Business as Usual |
| 1.2 | [The LGA may wish to consider more] the approach that the LGA takes, or doesn’t, in supporting councils who are developing local devolution deals | Continue to consider as part of Business as Usual | |
| 1.3 | There may also be opportunities to look at the issues, rather than structures, where the sector would benefit from more devolved powers and targeting LGA efforts around this. | Continue to consider as part of Business as Usual | |
| Organisational development | 2.1 | To be most effective, ‘One LGA, One Voice’ needs to grow further into a holistic programme covering the different aspects of internal change work across the LGA. This includes the change requirements that come from defining what is required to become the ‘best membership organisation the LGA can be’. | Consider as part of One LGA, One Voice programme |
| 2.2 | It is important that the programme, once more developed in this way, benefits from strong, visible and consistent leadership across the LGA. This will require a clear narrative… | Consider as part of One LGA, One Voice programme | |
| 2.3 | Reflect on whether the title ‘One LGA, One Voice’ is a clear reflection of what the programme seeks to achieve as an internal change programme. | Consider as part of One LGA, One Voice programme | |
| Sector improvement and assurance | 3.1 | The LGA has the opportunity to provide thought leadership on local government improvement and assurance during the next phase of the work. | Continue to consider as part of Business as Usual |
| 3.2 | It is important to accelerate work [on further strengthening peer challenge, support, improvement and assurance offers] and the external visibility of the changes made and their impact. | Continue to consider as part of Business as Usual | |
| 3.3 | Strengthening …the consistency of quality peer practice has a renewed urgency in light of the challenges currently presented… Agreeing what this will mean in practice and then enacting this across the political groups (and the practice of officer peers) is important to prioritise. | Continue to consider as part of Business as Usual | |
| 3.4 | The need to further develop this relationship [with Oflog] has only increased, adding to the ongoing efforts with further political input may be a further option. | Continue to consider as part of Business as Usual | |
| Horizon scanning and international learning | 4.1 | While the White Paper is being developed, it is important for both the organisation, and the sector that the LGA is able to articulate what the current priorities are more clearly… developing a set of shorter term priorities to carry the LGA through this intervening period is a useful step to consider…. the LGA is in a position to develop these quickly, in a way which is likely to align to the longer term ambitions later. | Continue to consider as part of Business as Usual |
| 4.2 | Developing cross party consensus… is more challenging and so having more time together as the collective member and officer leadership of the LGA… will help | Regular Group Leader/ SMT meetings being scheduled | |
| 4.3 | There remains more the LGA could do to benefit from its international networks and investment | Continue to consider as part of Business as Usual | |
| 4.4 | Building the LGA’s involvement in international networks more closely into the functioning might involve (for example) including the LGA’s lead on the UK delegation to the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, on the LGA Executive Advisory Board. | Continue to consider as part of Business as Usual | |
| 4.5 | There is… the opportunity to give profile to the UK’s level of compliance with the European Charter of Local Self-Government to hold the mirror up to the nature of central/ local relations in the UK and how this compares to other nations | To be considered as part of work on Local Government White Paper | |
| 4.6 | There are… opportunities to revisit how the Sustainable Development Goals are implemented in England and the essential role that Local Government plays in this. | Considered as part of Business Plan development | |
| Member development | 5.1 | The LGA are encouraged to build further on [new induction support], including nuancing the induction session approach to reflect different levels of experience of members with LGA boards and creating more space on the induction day for smaller group based work (eg for members of specific boards) | Continue to consider as part of Business as Usual |
| 5.2 | The opportunity of bringing boards together jointly to look at issues, when this cuts across the remit of individual boards, could bring benefits… | Continue to consider as part of Business as Usual | |
| 5.3 | The activity of the LGA policy boards could be tailored to reflect the activity of other similar membership organisations, working with the efforts of others. | Continue to consider as part of Business as Usual | |
| 5.4 | Routinely mapping out the different stakeholders around the issues being considered by the LGA Boards can help refine the approach taken by the policy boards, increasing the prospect of a positive impact. | Continue to consider as part of Business as Usual |