LGA Corporate Peer Challenge: Malvern Hills District Council

Corporate peer challenge (CPC) is a highly valued improvement and assurance tool that is delivered by the sector for the sector. It involves a team of senior local government councillors and officers undertaking a comprehensive review of key finance, performance and governance information and then spending three days at Malvern Hills District Council to provide robust, strategic, and credible challenge and support.

CPC forms a key part of the improvement and assurance framework for local government. It is underpinned by the principles of sector-led improvement (SLI) put in place by councils and the Local Government Association (LGA) to support continuous improvement and assurance across the sector. These state that local authorities are: responsible for their own performance, accountable locally not nationally and have a collective responsibility for the performance of the sector.

CPC assists councils in meeting part of their best value duty, with the UK government expecting all local authorities to have a CPC at least every five years.

Peers remain at the heart of the peer challenge process and provide a ‘practitioner perspective’ and ‘critical friend’ challenge.

This report outlines the key findings of the peer team and the recommendations that the council are required to action.

This CPC at Malvern Hills District Council (MHDC) was delivered shortly after the political changes at full council on 25^th November. This resulted in the election of a new leader and deputy leader and a change of administration to a minority administration divided equally between the democratic independent group and conservatives. Following this significant change MHDC remained keen to progress with the CPC. The peer team were conscious of this recent change, that the new administration was still settling in and the partnership between senior members and the senior management team (SMT) was very much in its early phase. There were also ongoing significant national announcements around planning and the imminent publication of the English devolution white paper which was anticipated on 16^th December. The peer team delivered the CPC recognising the context for the council at that point in time.

The peer team found that fundamentally the council has strong foundations in place that will enable it to take full advantage of current and future developments. MHDC’s services are organised and delivered well and the important role which the council plays locally for its community is appreciated by those partners and residents the peer team met. The peer team saw great practice across the range of activity which MHDC is delivering, including its connected communities strategy, and members and officers have much to be proud about.

The council’s finances are well managed and places MHDC in a strong position – it has worked to build up this stability. This is recognised as a key strength of MHDC and it has attracted significant external investment and funding – for example the £19.9m of levelling up funding for Malvern Theatres to progress its cultural and community development aspirations. This is significant for a relatively small district council. MHDC will want to consider the context of its strong financial position and how this can be used to deliver its future ambitions.

The peer team found that MHDC is a well-respected partner and it can continue to actively leverage this power locally. This was reflected by a wide range of partners, but particularly with colleagues on the health and wellbeing agenda. Alongside partners the council is doing productive work on the prevention agenda within communities, and has an important focus on the district’s young people. There is a real passion for supporting communities which comes through clearly in key partnership work with groups, such as those engaged in the successful help centre project.

The peer team heard repeatedly about individual and team enthusiasm for the district and think that there is a potential for increased council impact though a more joined-up approach across MHDC. Staff and teams articulate their own areas of focus but there are opportunities to build on the collective work across the council. Recognising the solid foundations of individual teams and the ambitions of members the peer team think there is potential to increase the impact in supporting the development and then delivering the vision of the new administration. There is an opportunity with the new administration to build the shared vision collaboratively - within the council and with partners and the community - and use this to frame the corporate plan with an aligned investment strategy. The new vision should also be communicated by the political leadership so there is a clear story driving the organisation.

The council operates a ‘4th option’ model of governance which is a hybrid of the cabinet and committee models. The peer team think that overall this is working well for the council but there is value in looking at the decision-making framework to make sure it has the right balance of participation and clear accountability designed to deliver MHDC’s vision and ambitions.

MHDC operates shared arrangements through a CEX, SMT and many shared members of staff and services with neighbouring Wychavon District Council (WDC This is an important relationship for the councils. WDC commissioned its CPC in October 2024. This feedback is specific to MHDC although naturally there will be opportunities for joint learning across the councils.

There are a number of observations and suggestions within the main section of the report. The following are the peer team’s key recommendations to the council:

Recommendation 1
Develop member and officer understanding of the impacts of local government re-organisation and incorporate key learning within the council plan as necessary.

Recommendation 2
Spend the time needed to develop a vision in a collaborative way and use that to frame the corporate plan with an investment strategy in order to make good use of reserves to support future ambition.

Recommendation 3
Look at the governance and decision-making structure, benchmarking against best practice, to make sure you have the right balance of participation and clear accountability which will help you achieve your vision. For example, look at planning committee, overview & scrutiny, audit committee and the policy development panels as opportunities for cross-party collaboration. To do this, consider the resource and capability you need to review the decision-making framework.

Recommendation 4
Align internal delivery resources so that they work effectively between services and support the long term vision and member decision-making – create a more visible delivery machine. For instance, this could benefit from the inclusion of support services as a corporate level priority.

Recommendation 5
Define the role of assistant portfolio holder in the decision-making structure and make this clearer to officers.

Recommendation 6
Consider the code of practice on good governance for statutory officers and ensure the council is able to harness the benefits of the golden triangle relationships.

Recommendation 7
Enhance financial awareness across the organisation through greater engagement with services and members on the council's finances and financial performance.

Recommendation 8
Consider the external communications and championing of MHDC activity to develop and support the storytelling of what the council is doing. This should also consider how this can support equalities, diversity and inclusion.

Recommendation 9
As a precursor to more fundamental digital transformation and use of AI, undertake some service design work on the customer experience to review how this is working and supports the customer journey.

The peer team

Peer challenges are delivered by experienced elected member and officer peers. The make-up of the peer team reflected the focus of the peer challenge and peers were selected by the LGA on the basis of their relevant expertise. The peers were:

• Dr Catherine Howe - chief executive, Adur and Worthing Councils
• Cllr Neil Clarke – conservative member peer – leader, Rushcliffe Borough Council
• Cllr Caroline Jackson - green member peer – leader and portfolio holder for housing and homelessness, Lancaster City Council
• Emma Hodds - chief of staff and monitoring officer, Broadland & South Norfolk District Councils
• Dawn Garton - director for corporate services & section 151 officer, Melton Borough Council
• Steve James - executive director, Breckland Council
• James Millington - peer challenge manager, LGA

Scope and focus

The peer team considered the following five themes which form the core components of all corporate peer challenges. These areas are critical to councils’ performance and improvement.

1. Local priorities and outcomes - are the council’s priorities clear and informed by the local context? Is the council delivering effectively on its priorities? Is there an organisational-wide approach to continuous improvement, with frequent monitoring, reporting on and updating of performance and improvement plans?
2. Organisational and place leadership - does the council provide effective local leadership? Are there good relationships with partner organisations and local communities?
3. Governance and culture - are there clear and robust governance arrangements? Is there a culture of challenge and scrutiny?
4. Financial planning and management - does the council have a grip on its current financial position? Does the council have a strategy and a plan to address its financial challenges? What is the relative financial resilience of the council like?
5. Capacity for improvement - is the organisation able to bring about the improvements it needs, including delivering on locally identified priorities? Does the council have the capacity to improve?

As part of the five core elements outlined above, every corporate peer challenge includes a strong focus on financial sustainability, performance, governance, and assurance.

In addition to these themes, MHDC asked the peer team to provide feedback on:

• The connected communities strategy and the council’s approach to asset-based community development
• Ways to improve response rates for customer satisfaction surveys and other feedback tools to drive continuous improvement
• Ideas and examples of good practice to further strengthen our employee engagement and develop our culture
• Views on how we can improve understanding and strengthen relationships between councillors and employees
• Feedback on our ongoing ‘maximising performance’ programme
• Maximising the use of artificial intelligence (AI) decisions across three councils, especially examples of councils who are ahead of the curve on AI

The peer challenge process

Peer challenges are improvement focused; it is important to stress that this was not an inspection. The process is not designed to provide an in-depth or technical assessment of plans and proposals. The peer team used their experience and knowledge of local government to reflect on the information presented to them by people they met, things they saw and material that they read.

The peer team prepared by reviewing a range of documents and information in order to ensure they were familiar with the council and the challenges it is facing. This included a position statement prepared by the council in advance of the peer team’s time on site. This provided a clear steer to the peer team on the local context at MHDC and what the peer team should focus on. It also included a comprehensive LGA finance briefing (prepared using public reports from the council’s website) and a LGA performance report outlining benchmarking data for the council across a range of metrics. The latter was produced using the LGA’s local area benchmarking tool called LG Inform.

The peer team then spent three days onsite at MHDC, during which they:

• Gathered evidence, information, and views from more than 45 meetings, in addition to further research and reading and tours of some key sites in the district
• Spoke to more than 100 people including a range of council staff together with members, external stakeholders and residents

This report provides a summary of the peer team’s findings. In presenting feedback, they have done so as fellow local government officers and members.

MHDC is a small district council in Worcestershire, with three main towns (Malvern, Upton upon Severn and Tenbury Wells). It has a population of 81,822 and the council’s 2023 residents’ survey reported that 90 per cent of residents thought that their local area was a very or fairly good place to live. Life expectancy levels are high (80.9 years for males, and 83.7 for females), with high levels of perceived good health (73 per cent in the 2023 residents’ survey), and the employment rates and education levels of residents are also high in comparison with other areas. However, MHDC recognises that it has challenges in having an older population, higher than average house prices, and although the district is largely affluent there are pockets of deprivation. Residents raise public and community transport as being key priorities for them and this impacts on access to employment and can contribute to social isolation.

The council’s five year plan sets out its priorities and strategic outcomes for 2024–2029 and the vision to “to enhance the Malvern Hills district as a destination to explore and an outstanding place to live and work”. The plan has three priority areas of our health and wellbeing, our economy and our environment. The development of this was administration-led by the previous administration and considered findings from the residents’ survey. MHDC are considering how wider engagement with members can be included into the forthcoming iteration for 2025/26. The council values the input of communities and is considering how to develop the future plan in a way which is increasingly collaborative and inclusive so that the view of all members, officers and stakeholders can be heard. The peer team encourages the council to continue to develop this approach, which is important in the political context where no one political party has overall control, to ensure that different priorities can be accommodated.

The peer team thinks a vision linking to the five year plan will help accelerate the progress in delivering the ambitions of the new political leadership. The new leader has signalled that he intends to be collegiate and work with members, officers and stakeholders for the benefit of the community. The peer team met with a range of stakeholders and it is clear that they have an interest and keenness to be involved with the council too. There is a community feel to the district and partners and residents are keen to play their part. 

The council recognises the fantastic local assets within the district and it is working with partners to make the most of these for the community and deliver against its priority areas. For example:

• In supporting health and wellbeing – MHDC is working with freedom leisure as the council’s leisure provider and developed a healthier communities wellbeing plan 2024-2030 detailing the commitment to transforming the leisure and community facilities into community hubs for wellbeing, and including the provision of a virtual wellbeing hub. This is also supported by capital investment into facilities of £500k in 2023/2024 from the government swimming pool support fund.
• In growing the economy - through its position as major shareholders in Malvern Hills science park, with over 500 high tech employees, it is promoting its next phase to create more space for high-growth industries like cybersecurity, defence and advanced manufacturing. With Worcestershire County Council, MHDC is also investing in more employment land opposite the science park to facilitate longer term growth and a science and technology campus.
• Environment – the trial use of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) in the waste vehicle fleet in 2022 has since been rolled out to all compatible vehicles and supports the carbon commitments and reduces MHDC’s total carbon emissions by around 35per cent.

The peer team heard about many other ways MHDC is using local assets with partners including Malvern Hills football club, Malvern theatres, the natural assets of the district and festivals to support the visitor economy and importantly through its connected communities strategy to support its communities. MHDC can continue to consider how to leverage local assets which may include maximising income generation from assets owned by the council to ensure it is getting best value from them.

The council was recognised as an effective partner by those the peer team met with.This extended across the partners in public, private and community and voluntary sector with praise for the approach MHDC takes in being inclusive and working alongside others. For example, health partners recognised the great collaborative work being done with MHDC on prevention to address health and wellbeing issues facing its communities and how the council is operating in areas outside of a district council’s usual remit.

The local whole system approach to homelessness is a good example of MHDC’s impact with partners. Tackling rough sleeping is a key priority and although numbers are relatively small MHDC has focused on this, particularly following the deaths of two men who were rough sleeping in Malvern town in 2018. In a system where the council does not have its own properties this can be difficult due to the complex issues which homelessness presents but MHDC has been impressive, working closely with partners within the system to compare data and work collaboratively. 

The council joined with Wychavon District and Worcester City Councils in adopting the South Worcestershire development plan (SWDP) in 2016. The updated plan was resubmitted for inspection in 2023 and further evidence has been submitted on the evidence base. The council recognises that having an up-to-date development plan in place is essential to drive economic growth whilst protecting the environment. The council is also conscious that changes to the national planning policy framework (NPPF) means a significant increase in the housing numbers and the plan will need to be reviewed again.

Planning and development is an important consideration for the district. To support the council’s ambitions it is important that the supporting infrastructure is also identified. The peer team think it would be helpful to ensure the infrastructure funding and s106 allocations policy is re-communicated to all members as councillors were not always clear on this.

At the time of the CPC the government’s devolution white paper was due for publication the following week.  Although the content of this and implications for the council were not clear at the time, the peer team urge the council to consider anticipating the opportunities and challenges of devolution and local government reorganisation for MHDC.

Performance

MHDC demonstrates strong performance across a number of areas when comparing published data with other councils. For example, when reviewing LG Inform data and comparing the council to its CIPFA near neighbours (accessed December 2024) this shows impressive performance by MHDC in areas such as: the number of affordable homes delivered where the MHDC is third highest within the group (at 316 in 23/24, where the average is 143) and for the health measures the council overall performs well, for example it has seen the rates of adults who are active (for 150+ minutes per week) increase steadily over recent years.

Supporting the priorities of the council and the feedback it gained from the residents’ survey, benchmarking also shows that MHDC is the top performer for the proportion of adult population educated to level 2 or higher but it is the lowest for access to employment by public transport, reflecting the rural nature of the district.

There are some areas of performance where the council is not performing well.  However, MHDC is self-aware on the areas where improvement is needed and is being delivered, this includes:

• Council tax non-collection rate: benchmarking shows these rates are high and were at 3.22 per cent in 2023/24 due to the initial bedding in of the new IT system. However, more up-to-date council performance information shows that this has improved with the move to the inhouse revenues and benefits service. Recovery performance has improved for 2024/25 and is anticipated to improve by a further 1 per cent in 2025/26.
• Planning: the council did record a drop in performance and acknowledges that it has had issues reaching local stretch targets.  Within the planning service there has been significant improvement driven by a performance improvement plan which has positively improved the service. The planning service reset is a good example of where MHDC has developed a focused programme of improvement.

MHDC undertakes an annual residents’ survey. The 2024 survey attracted 1,665 responses and showed:

• 84 per cent of residents were satisfied with the local area as a place to live
• 61.4 per cent of residents were satisfied with the way the council runs things
• 44.5 per cent agreed it provided value for money

These results have fallen slightly from the results in 2023 but still compare well against other areas and are rising for MHDC to pre-covid levels. The council wants to continue to improve and will build the overall results into 2025/26 service planning.

The council has a basket of indicators which are monitored and performance is regularly reviewed by the senior management team (SMT), portfolio holders, the overview and scrutiny committee and the executive committee. The peers support MHDC’s approach of making the performance information widely available and suggest that these could be developed further alongside the next stage of the vision work with the new administration. For instance, this could benefit from inclusion of support services as a corporate level priority as whilst they are being monitored at a service plan level with portfolio holders they are not visible for all members.

The peer team recognise that following the recent change in the political leadership, MHDC relationships across the council’s top team are still forming. Although this is still very early days officers and members recognised the importance of taking time to develop the working relationships. What was clear is that the new leader and the CEX are both passionate about the district.

Council services were recognised by people the peer team met as being well run and efficient. Many different people complimented the work and attitude of waste services in particular – but all services were praised. The peer team heard many examples of effective organisational delivery.  There are some good examples of this which are borne out of the performance of the teams and services across the council.

The peer team met with some of the council’s committed and dedicated 250 officers, many of whom had worked for the council for a considerable time, and who described MHDC as a great place to work. The council recognises that due to the shared nature of arrangements it has a hybrid workforce with some colleagues working for individual councils and some working across two or three councils.

The latest bi-annual staff survey from 2023 overall showed some great feedback from staff. This demonstrated that 94 per cent of staff enjoyed their job and 85.6 per cent rated MHDC as a ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ employer – both of which have improved on the 2021 survey results. The survey found that 93 per cent have confidence in their line manager and although the results for heads of service are also positive on visibility and approachability the same results for directors are less strong – which may have something to do with the fact directors are working across two councils, but does require further focus. The role senior officers have is vitally important and for example, the council will want to consider this feedback in the context of the English devolution white paper and the importance of visible leadership and storytelling for staff - as their role in this context is crucial.

The peer team met with the heads of service cohort and found this was a good and supportive group. The heads of service and SMT meet together across the year to support joint and strategic working across MHDC and with WDC. The peer team heard how this facilitates discussion of vision and priorities over the coming years and for the collective management team to discuss how to support managers in driving their vision and delivering their priorities. These sessions also provide important opportunities for networking and sharing current highlights and challenges.  The peer team were inspired by the head of service knowledge, capability and enthusiasm and this is a strength MHDC can build upon to ensure ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’ in the strategy development process. This cross service collaboration could be strengthened to operate as a matter of course across the council and provide ongoing opportunities for collaboration. Through the SMT and heads of service group there is a clear opportunity to do more of this once the new administration’s vision is adopted.

The council has very collaborative relationships with many partners where they speak highly of MHDC and the role it is playing locally. This included health colleagues, the police, local small business, the voluntary and community sector and with registered social landlords. The peer team heard that positive things were happening in the district which would not happen without MHDC’s members and officers working in a committed and collaborative way. The peer team urge the council to continue to use its excellent convening power and strong stakeholder relationships to leverage on behalf of the district. MHDC can continue with its enabling role and partners would respect the council for doing this.

The peer team heard about the council’s effective internal communications and staff felt they were kept up to date. The staff survey shows that 80% feel communication between management and staff is effective. MHDC uses a range of channels including team meetings, intranet, connect, a fortnightly email bulletin with key updates from SMT and other news items and staff briefings three times a year.

The peer team do think that there is an opportunity to expand its external communications and championing of MHDC activity. The current approach can be built upon so that the council is clearer on the stories which it wants to tell, as this is not always obvious. There is also an opportunity for all members including those in leadership roles to take a higher profile role in this storytelling, celebrating and communicating with the public about council successes. Communications in the context of the new vision will also be key so that externally the ambitions of the council are widely known.

Equalities and diversity can also play a more obvious part of the storytelling. The council knows its communities and recognises the comparative limited diversity locally, and there may be some benefit in emphasising the ‘openness to difference’ as the locality changes and the area grows and build this into the narrative of the future of the district.  The council should consider the development of its approach to equalities, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and how an EDI policy and approach can support this.

The council is well experienced in operating in a shared service environment.  Most significantly MHDC has had shared arrangements with WDC for the past ten years, which includes a shared chief executive and SMT and a significant amount of shared roles across other services. They are sovereign councils with distinct identities and MHDC recognises that these shared arrangements have facilitated financial savings and opportunities to deliver improved services to communities. Worcester City Council is also an important shared service partner. The council also recognises the challenges, including: staff employed on different contracts; achieving a common culture within a shared service offer with some staff working for two, or in some cases, three organisations; and there will be learning from the shared arrangements in the current context of LGR.

MHDC operates in a political landscape which reflects the changes across local government. The council is in no overall control and has had a coalition administration for the past five and a half years so is used to operating in this context.  Following the recent change in political leadership of the council in November, members and officers are still getting used to the new arrangements and the peer team recognise that this will take some time to settle down.

MHDC operates a ‘4th option’ model of governance which is a hybrid of the cabinet and committee models. The peer team considers that overall this is working well for the council but there is value in reviewing the decision-making framework. Governance needs the right decision-making framework to get the balance right between people feeling involved and clear accountability, to support the more dynamic politics of the council. With a new administration and a new leader who is clear in his desire to work collaboratively this represents a good opportunity to ensure that this is working well for the council.

For example, MHDC can review the decision-making structure that supports high levels of participation with clear accountabilities. Planning committee, overview & scrutiny, audit committee and the policy development panels are opportunities for cross-party collaboration. All Members need to feel that they have a voice and are part of this and a review and co-design will help with participation. For instance:

• Policy development panels: the peer team think that officer responsibility and collaboration with members needs clarity. The aim of the panels is to provide the executive committee with advice and support in relation to policy development on matters relating to the council’s priorities. This is an example of where a refresh around the purpose and clarification of where officers and members can work collaboratively can help to move governance and decision-making forward, as currently this is not clear to everyone involved.
• Overview and scrutiny: the peer team heard mixed feedback on the impact of the council’s overview and scrutiny arrangements. There have been some good pieces of work including on the causes of poverty in Malvern Hills which led to the tackling poverty summit but the council recognises that there is more to do to develop these arrangements. The peer team agrees with this and that the ‘overview’ role of scrutiny can be explored further and perhaps engage the centre for governance and scrutiny (CfGS).
• Planning committee: the peer team would recommend that MHDC looks at the planning committees as part of the overall governance. The north area planning committee meets monthly and has 16 members and the south area planning committee also meets monthly and has 22 members. MHDC may want to review why it is set up in this way and the best way of moving this forward.
• Audit and standards committee: the peer team heard that the committee’s approach is being strengthened and with a recent new head of internal audit to drive forward the approach, this is being increasingly more collaborative.
• Assistant portfolio holders: some clarity on the expectations of the role for members and officers needs to be discussed and agreed. For example - is this a development post for succession planning, or to assist with the workload, and do they have delegations and decision-making abilities?

The council has experienced and skilled senior officers but further development of the 'golden triangle' meetings to support the holistic view across the council would be beneficial. These officers are key given the important function and legal responsibility they hold in ensuring good governance and the current arrangements can be further developed and strengthened. Their relationship needs to be strong to ensure that the right conversations are happening at the right time, and support the delivery of the vision and priorities for the new administration. For example, this is particularly important in the context of the English devolution white paper and ensuring there is strong, visible and coordinated officer leadership.

The peer team observed good working relationships between members and officers whilst onsite. However, feedback in the staff survey shows that only 46 per cent of staff think there is a good relationship between employees and councillors and just over a third of staff feel valued and respected by members. MHDC has responded to this by the council chairman attending staff briefings; councillors and staff are encouraged to spend time together to share learning and develop good working relationships; and it has plans to provide training to staff on the role of members. The peer team agree that this is positive and members and officers should create the space to develop this approach together.

Members are provided with a range of support and opportunities for development and briefing sessions on different topics. This should continue to be kept under review to ensure member needs are catered for and ongoing support provided. This may include support such as sessions on member/officer relationships and ongoing briefings on key local and national issues.

The council’s healthy financial position is a real strength of MHDC. The council has worked to increase revenue and capital reserves to provide stability and resilience and support current and future service delivery.

MHDC has concentrated on developing a healthy level of reserves and has a general fund balance of £6.3m (increased from £3.2m in March 2014) and ear-marked reserve balances of £25.1m (increased from £4.3m in March 2014). Due to limited capital receipts the council has established sinking funds for its vehicle fleet and asset portfolio. These funds have been assessed by MHDC as being sufficient to fund future assets repairs for the next five years. This is a prudent approach and avoids the need to use borrowing to fund such expenditure which would impact on the revenue budget.

At the time of the review the medium term financial plan (MTFP) took a risk averse approach to the level of future core funding which resulted in the need for future savings. The MTFP 2025-26 - 2029-30 showed a target cumulative saving of £1m by the end of the Plan, £0.41m of which was currently not identified. The council’s general fund balance was projected to remain stable at £6.4m. There remains great uncertainty with regard to future funding levels and therefore it is not known if this risk averse approach is a prudent one or one that will limit future investment unnecessarily.

The council is on track with external audits and following the introduction of the backstop legislation received draft value for money conclusions for 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23 which were discussed at the audit and standards committee. No significant concerns were raised in these reports. The council’s new external auditors, Azets, are currently undertaking their audit of the 2023-24 statement of accounts.

The finance team is lean and effective. The financial processes are robust and the peer team meet with heads of service, directors and portfolio holders to discuss plans for the upcoming year and beyond including resources required to meet five year plan priorities, service changes and improvements, legislative changes and efficiencies. Finance is monitored regularly throughout the year including through quarterly reports to the executive committee. The peer team heard that the finance team are involved in key council decisions, are at the top table for discussions and “nothing happens without finance knowing about it”.

The peer team felt there was a strong finance team in place but there is an opportunity to increase the financial awareness outside of this team across the council more consistently. For example, this could include:

• More formal wider member involvement in the budget process through budget setting and ongoing monitoring to aid their understanding and oversight of the council’s finances.
• Financial awareness in services to ensure everyone had an overview of the council’s financial position.
• Treasury management reporting could be strengthened and with increased member involvement. There would need to be some training and support here as it can be a complex area but it is a significant income stream for the council and there are opportunities to maximise the rates of return, within the parameters agreed by councillors.

MHDC identified that its council-tax revenue collection could be improved and implemented a new IT system following the in-sourcing of the revenues and benefits service. The peer team understand that collection rates are now showing significant improvement.

The council has a good risk management policy in place and risk is monitored regularly by SMT and the relevant head of service and by the audit and standards committee. To keep the process up to date Zurich Insurance is undertaking a review of the risk management policy and any recommendations will be considered.

The council is in a sound financial position and following adoption of the new administration’s vision and ambitions an investment plan will need to be developed.  The longer term financial needs and impact of this will need to be considered and MHDC should consider how its risk appetite aligns with the ambitions of the council and how it invests to deliver on these ambitions for its communities.  However, the budget is not the only asset which the council can use to deliver on its ambitions and MHDC should consider how other assets being leveraged.  For example, the district has some exceptional physical assets including the Malvern theatres, the Malvern Hills science park and the natural assets of the location and the council can consider the return on this in terms of cultural and economic development and what this brings to the district.

The council has a commitment to improvement and has a history of embracing external peer challenge to support ongoing improvement and shared learning with the last CPC taking place in 2018. Over the past few years the council has also commissioned LGA support for scrutiny and audit.

MHDC is delivering the basics well and this is important. This is a great platform to build upon and to focus capacity on growth and the council vision. The peer team think that the development of an overall vision for the council now which is underpinned by a delivery plan with effective decision-making is the next step and will drive change and continuous improvement.

The council is not hampered by a lack of resources and these can be utilised as part of its improvement journey. MHDC recognises that it has a wealth of good resources to build on and this does not only include financial as it has staff, partnership arrangements and physical resources which it can make the most of.

Staff are the biggest asset of the council. MHDC has attracted talented and capable people who can continue to unlock improvement. The peer team heard how the council was investing in its staff and the support provided to their development.  Officers recognise this and the approach to their support and wellbeing is appreciated. The council’s heads of service are also key and as a strong unit will remain important to drive forward future improvement.

The planning service reset is a good example of where MHDC has developed a programme of improvement and this has led to improving performance. The peer team still heard mixed feedback on the planning service - which is not uncommon in other councils - but largely heard very positive news on the planning reset and the improvement which is already in place. The council will want to maintain this focus.

MHDC can review how it invests in modernisation capabilities - like service design - alongside digitisation to unlock change. By identifying the capabilities and skills it needs within the workforce, particularly for its ambitions around digital and data, it can put itself in a strong position for the future. MHDC will want to consider if the organisation has these skills, and if not how it will upskill its staff or bring this knowledge or capacity into the council.

In addition to the five core areas, the council also asked the peer team to consider particular questions. Feedback on these is outlined as below:

1.The connected communities strategy and the council’s approach to asset-based community development

The peer team consider the approach adopted by the council through the connected communities strategy is a nationally significant asset based community development (ABCD) programme. This is well supported by partners and the council should be proud of what it has developed for its communities. The peer team heard great feedback from a whole host of partners and stakeholders on the leadership role of the council. The peer team feel this is a very significant programme which the council should be showcasing more widely to share learning across the sector. This can include hosting an event to demonstrate to other councils what can be done and putting the programme forward for national awards to gain recognition and to also spread the good work of the council across the sector.

Residents the team spoke to were aware of activity and we heard strong support from some elected members, but evidence suggests it is not yet fully embedded across the whole council with some members and officers. There remains some work to do to match the success of the programme across the community with the recognition within the council. To further embed the work the council should consider taking the connected communities strategy to overview & scrutiny committee or a policy development panel for member input to shape its future and to raise awareness. This would further enable members to become advocates of the connected communities strategy within their own wards.

To embed this programme further and ensure that no opportunities are overlooked the peer team felt that more communication is needed both internally and externally to share the good progress which is being made across the district, particularly to reach and inform the smaller settlements that make up Malvern Hills district.

To further develop the approach and build upon the power of the excellent relationships with partners the peer team would recommend the council considers how could this approach be explored with other areas of council activity - for example, in neighbourhood planning.

The council may also want to consider the benefits of networking between the different hubs – as sometimes there is a feeling that other areas are not working as well - when this might not be the case. If more work could be done on facilitating networking it may help with this perspective.

The peer team do recognise that evidencing the impact of investment in prevention is more challenging but recommend that further consideration is given to demonstrating the impact of the work. Performance measures need to be further developed and shared to demonstrate 'added value', including estimated cost savings to the whole system. This does not mean that the council should be fixated only with the outcomes because the outputs are important too but MHDC can do some work to estimate the costs which it is saving across the system.

2. Ideas and examples of good practice to further strengthen our employee engagement and develop our culture

The council has dedicated staff and they value the opportunity to be engaged in key developments. MHDC has an opportunity to involve its staff in the development of the vision in the next step of its five year plan. This is key for the organisation and involving all staff in this and discussing their role will be important. This will also help define the culture required to support the delivery of the vision.

The council can also learn from the experience of ABCD internally. Many of the staff are also local residents so there is benefit in applying the principles and using the approach to build on staff capabilities and capacity.

3. Views on how we can improve understanding and strengthen relationships between councillors and employees.

The council is at a pivotal point with a new administration and there is an opportunity to do things differently and respond to the findings of the views of Members from the staff survey. The council has put in place some good activities to strengthen relationships but there are other things which can be considered. For example:

• Make sure that you are having effective meetings between SMT and portfolio holders – discuss the vision, the possibilities, the art of the possible rather than the detailed delivery. Create the space to explore the vision and communicate with the organisation that this is happening.
• Clear roles & responsibilities to be defined as part of the work suggested on the decision-making framework. This will emerge from a review on how future decision-making processes may need to be changed and will help with the clarity on the ‘member space’ and ‘officer space’ and support joint working.
• Create distinct and separate spaces where members and officers can work together on developing work and decision-making. Have the trust and confidence to sit in the room together and develop this in an informal space.
• Consider holding development sessions for staff and members on "understanding the role of councillors" and "understanding the role of officers”.

4. Maximising the use of artificial intelligence (AI) decisions across three councils, especially examples of councils who are ahead of the curve on AI

This is an important subject for councils and it is good that MHDC are considering this. To develop its approach the peer team recommend that the council first focuses on building the foundations of digital transformation. The council appears to have solid IT foundations in place but there remains work to define its digital transformation ambition and to then deliver this. To do this MHDC will need to review its technical architecture and be clear about what will or will not work with AI. AI is built on data so a deep dive will be needed to ensure that the data is in good shape and is coherent.

A senior officer lead on this is critical and clarity is needed on where the SMT sponsorship of this work sits. This can be underpinned by an AI community of interest and developing this – perhaps with the other councils within the service if they are keen to move in the same direction – so the councils can develop this together. The shared service arrangements are not necessarily a limiting factor, this is an opportunity to do this in partnership. Involving staff and members from across a wider area will also help with considering what ‘ethical AI’ will look like.

The peer team recommend that MHDC considers some ‘starter projects’ to explore AI. This could include:

• A service design based review of the customer experience – explore how people are using different channels, review what their experience is and how this could work better. This is not only to deliver efficiencies but how it can work better for residents e.g. if transacting online is better for some individuals and frees up MHDC capacity for those unable to access online or for other purposes.
• Consider using predictive analytics on your revenues and benefits data – this will allow MHDC to look at data and identify people ahead of them requesting support and means the council can use this for proactive contacts.

MHDC will also want to consider the skills in the workforce and the capacity of the IT team to be able to deliver on the ambitions.

The council can also utilise the LGA’s artificial intelligence hub for resources, guidance and networks to explore the possibilities of AI and connect with peers.

5. Ways to improve response rates for customer satisfaction surveys and other feedback tools to drive continuous improvement

The peer team’s suggested work on the customer experience review should help increase customer satisfaction. Clarity on the approach for customers and improvements across different channels is critical. There is also the opportunity to design in feedback mechanisms to the customer experience to gather data and use this to continue to drive improvement.

There is also a huge opportunity for the council to utilise the connected communities channels and the contact with users of services. This is a great asset and designing in opportunities to collect and analyse the data in order to understand customers already within these programmes is an extension to the potential reach and impact of this work.

As part of the vision development there is an opportunity to develop the feedback loop between participation in vision setting and delivery. Exploring the hopes and aspirations of people within the area and how this shapes the future is important and MHDC can use this as a means of discovering feedback on the current position.

6. Feedback on our ongoing ‘maximising performance’ programme

Staff the peer team met with value the support and development opportunities offered by MHDC. Staff also confirmed that feedback on the previous aspiring managers programme was taken on board as part of the current development offers.

The peer team thought the ‘maximising performance’ programme had good foundations in the 21^st century public servant approach and is a strong modernisation framework for the council. However, this has only recently been implemented and would benefit from being more visible and recognisable with staff as those we spoke to were not consistently aware of it.

MHDC can align this around what the future vision is to ensure it is developing people in line with this. Greater clarity on the performance which is being pursued and how this is aligned to the organisational vision will future proof the skills needed by the workforce. This should also provide practical examples to staff of how they are applying particular skills to achieve a specific strategic goal.

It is recognised that senior political and managerial leadership will want to consider, discuss and reflect on these findings. The LGA will continue to provide on-going support to the council. Following publication of CPC report you need to produce and publish an action plan. As part of the CPC, the council is also required to have a progress review and publish the findings from this within twelve months of the CPC. The LGA will also publish the progress review report on their website.

The progress review will provide space for the council’s senior leadership to report to peers on the progress made against each of the CPC’s recommendations, discuss early impact or learning and receive feedback on the implementation of the CPC action plan. The progress review will usually be delivered on-site over one day.

In the meantime, Helen Murray, principal adviser for the West Midlands, is the main contact between your authority and the Local Government Association. As outlined above, Helen is available to discuss any further support the council requires, [email protected].