CPC TEMPLATE EG3 - LGA Corporate Peer Challenge: Fictional Borough Council

A team of local government peers, led by the Local Government Association (LGA) delivered a Corporate Peer Challenge (CPC) of Fictional Borough Council from 24 June to 26 June 2025. This is the council’s second CPC, with their first in July 2019 (an on-line copy of the first report is available on the LGA’s website.

CPC is a well-established and respected improvement and assurance tool that provides robust, strategic and credible challenge and support to councils. Further details about the CPC process can be found in Appendix A.

Our peer team consisted of highly experienced and knowledgeable senior local government councillor and officer peers (see section four). We considered the five core areas covered by all CPCs: local priorities and outcomes, organisational and place leadership, governance and culture, financial planning and management and capacity for improvement, in addition to a focus on community cohesion and digitalisation.

This report shares the peer team’s findings with Fictional Borough Council along with a set of key recommendations (section three). A series of further recommendations are detailed within each of the CPC’s core areas of focus. There is an expectation the council will publish this report along with a clear action plan to respond to all the recommendations highlighted.

The following are the peer team’s key recommendations which have been prioritised on the grounds of urgency and importance. The council should address the following:

1. Develop a clear plan to address financial challenges. This should incorporate tangible, costed and deliverable savings with robust governance oversight.  
2. Develop and implement the asset management strategy. Assure yourselves that you can effectively manage risks and maintain control over the asset base.
3. Review the organisational structure and ways of working, incorporating a review of the current approach to agile working. It is important that you strengthen capacity and resource across a relatively small workforce to deliver agreed priorities including digital transformation.
4. Maintain a strong emphasis on cultivating a culture of rigorous assurance, governance and scrutiny. This becomes even more crucial as the council progresses with its transformation and change journey.
5. Strengthen community engagement and community cohesion. Use this engagement to inform a new community cohesion strategy.

More detailed feedback and actions are captured within each of the five core areas of focus as set out in section five of this report.

Peer challenges are delivered by experienced councillor 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 their relevant expertise. The peers for this CPC were:

• Rachel Smith, chief executive, Other Council.
• Councillor Roberto Jones, Other council
• Councillor Susie Low, District Council.
• Billie Bream, section 151 officer, District Council.
• Alexander Curdle, head of customer and digital, District Council.
• Aqueela Lowe, community partnerships manager, District Council.
• Peer challenge manager – Cindy Lowthian, LGA.

This section of the report provides detailed feedback and recommendations related to the five core areas of focus and the additional focus areas of community cohesion and digitalisation. When developing the action plan (in response to the CPC’s findings), the council should consider both the key recommendations presented in section three and the additional recommendations set out below. 

The political and managerial leadership is guiding the council in a new organisational direction by developing a new corporate plan. This outlines the future vision, priorities and values for the next five years. 

We heard concerns from some officers regarding the council’s capacity to implement the new corporate plan. You will, therefore, need to ensure that the new corporate plan is closely aligned to the medium-term financial strategy, wider organisational resources, ways of working and capacity of the council to deliver. Clear prioritisation and sequencing of associated projects will be essential.

In addition to the key recommendation of reviewing the organisational structure, including the current approach to agile working, we recommend the following actions:

• Continue to engage staff, councillors, partners and residents on the new corporate plan. Clear prioritisation and sequencing of projects will be key.
• Provide greater clarity about the council’s proposed membership of the Co-operative Council Innovation Network (CCIN). Be clearer on what this means for the council.
• Use the development of the new equality and diversity strategy (2025-2028) to bring to life a common vision and sense of belonging for all. Fostering good relations is a key part of the public sector equality duty.
• Maintain focus on the delivery the social housing improvement programme. Continue to strengthen resident engagement.
• Maintain momentum on the drive to become net-zero carbon by 2050. Strengthen engagement with all stakeholders on this journey.
• Review the performance management framework and align this to the priorities within the new corporate plan. We recommend that you review the performance reporting template for councillors to ensure it is more succinct and user friendly.

Are the council’s priorities clear and informed by the local context? 

We were impressed with the extensive engagement undertaken to inform the new draft corporate plan. This ensures priorities are informed by the local context. In addition to a review of socio-economic data, the council has used results from the residents’ survey, a series of consultation events and an on-line questionnaire. A strategic partnership meeting was held in September 2024 to discuss collaborative working around emerging priorities. There is a renewed sense of optimism and focus on the draft corporate plan.

The senior political leadership is committed to joining the Co-operative Council Innovation Network (CCIN). This is a collaboration between councils committed to improving outcomes through stronger resident engagement. We recognise that the council is at the initial stages of this journey. The political leadership needs to provide greater clarity for councillors, officers and communities on what this means for them and for the council and agree and communicate the next steps. 

A new equality and diversity strategy 2025/28 is being developed. Empowering staff to participate in staff networks is a key action within the strategy which is positive. Ensuring all involved see the link between this new strategy and community cohesion is important. Fostering good relations between diverse groups is a crucial element of the public sector equality duty. We recommend that you use the strategy to bring to life a common vision and sense of belonging for all communities, staff and councillors.

Is the council delivering effectively on its priorities?

The council owns and manages their own social housing stock (approximately 4,300 homes). A ‘self-referral’ to the regulator of social housing was made in August 2024. This self-referral relates to issues of non-compliance or potential non-compliance with the required ‘consumer standards[i]. It is positive that the council has been proactive, open and transparent by triggering this self-referral.

We were pleased to see that weekly updates are shared with the council’s leadership board. The latest update, shared with peers, demonstrates progress is being made against all asset compliance areas. You need to continue to maintain corporate focus and drive on delivering the required improvements, working with the regulator of social housing. 

The council is committed to becoming net-zero carbon for its activities by 2050. There are examples of positive work taking place including a greenhouse gas baseline inventory (August 2022), energy efficiency commitments within the housing strategy (2020 – 2025) and the adoption of an electric vehicle charging infrastructure strategy. Officers and assistant directors recently participated in a workshop to update this work. However, we heard little mention of climate change from those we engaged with during this CPC. You need to maintain organisational momentum behind this work to achieve your net-zero commitment.

Delivery against priorities and comparative performance

Peers considered LG Inform[ii] benchmarking data which shows you compare favourably with the average of your statistical nearest neighbours across a range of indicators: 

• In 2023/24, there were 13.3 households per 1,000 households on the housing waiting list. This compares positively to 81.99 households per 1,000 in England and an average of 64.6 households per 1,000 on average in your comparison group of nearest neighbours.
• In 2024/25 (quarter three), there were 1.04 households per 1,000 living in temporary accommodation. This compares to 5.28 households per 1,000 in England and an average of 1.30 per person in your comparison group of nearest neighbours
• In 2024/25 (quarter four), the council processed 100 per cent of planning applications for major developments on time. This compares to 90 per cent in England and an average of 91.2 per cent in your comparison group of nearest neighbours

Despite this positive service performance, Fictional has some significant challenges with:

• Only 28.4 per cent of children achieving required GCSE or equivalent in English and Maths in 2023/24. This compares with 46.2 per cent for England.
• 5.2 per cent of working age people in Fictional are unemployed, compared with 4.0 per cent for England as a whole. The average weekly wage for employees living in Fictional is £685.40. This compares with an England wage of £732.00.
• The council also compares less favourably for the average time taken to process housing benefit claims and change events for 2023/24 (the council is taking an average of five days, and the England average is four days). However, your performance is average when compared to all district councils in the region.
• For the rate of new business start-ups, you also compare less favourably. Fictional is 43.4, the average is 53 (per 10,000 population). Your regeneration plans for the town centre include provision for new start-up businesses: this will be an opportunity to increase this number.

Is there an organisation-wide approach to continuous improvement? 

Fictional Borough Council has an established performance management framework to drive continuous improvement. This is aligned to the existing corporate plan which expires in 2025. You should review this framework, including the indicators, to ensure they align with the new corporate plan and priorities.

Almost 100 per cent of staff have had a personal development appraisal (PDA) which is impressive. The focus should now shift to enhancing the quality of these reviews which is inconsistent across teams. This is important as the appraisal process is a key tool for the council to manage performance, ensure continuous improvement, provide learning, development opportunities and identify talent.

Quarterly performance reports are shared with corporate management team (CMT) and published, in an open and transparent way, as part of papers to the council’s corporate overview and scrutiny committee and cabinet. This transparency of reporting is positive. We now recommend that you review the performance reporting template to make it more succinct and user friendly. We believe it is too lengthy. There are also opportunities to strengthen the use of benchmarking data.

The council is ambitious for the future with significant regeneration projects taking place to transform the town centre. However, we met with resident groups, voluntary and community sector groups and business representatives who voiced frustrations about the council’s current approach to communication and engagement. 

To enable the council to address the key recommendation of strengthening community engagement and community cohesion, we recommend the following:

• Develop an overarching communications and consultation plan. Use the outcome of the ‘honest conversations’ project to inform this work.
• Develop your town centre regeneration strategy. Strengthen communication approaches in relation to town centre regeneration.
• Develop ‘asset based’ approaches to community engagement and cohesion. This is a way of working with communities to build upon existing community assets e.g. community centres, resident groups, children centres.
• Strengthen project governance for the ‘honest conversations’ project. Co-design this with voluntary, community, faith and business partners.
• Implement training for councillors on asset-based community engagement and community cohesion. Build on your existing equalities and diversity training.

Does the council provide effective local leadership?

The council’s chief executive is bringing new energy, fresh ideas and thinking to the council. Together with the new political leadership, they are setting a new organisational direction through the development of a new corporate plan. 

Both the managerial and political leadership teams are seen as visible, recognised and respected. Staff welcome the monthly ‘chat with the chief’ on-line meetings, providing an opportunity for them to learn more about different work areas. The chief executive undertakes regular ‘walkabouts’ with councillors and relevant staff. They meet in different localities to discuss issues; this is valued by all those involved.

Some residents, voluntary and community sector representatives and business leaders shared frustrations about the council’s approach to communication and engagement. The regeneration of the town centre was cited as an example. We also found mixed levels of understanding about physical access points for the council, the accessibility of council staff and the future of the town hall. 

We acknowledge we met only a narrow sample of stakeholders and they did not reflect the perspectives of all residents. We also heard positive examples of engagement approaches, this includes work to develop a tenant and leaseholder engagement strategy. The approach to the ‘statistically representative’ and ‘benchmarked’ residents survey was also cited as a positive example. 

Building on these examples, we recommend that the council develops a new communication and consultation plan including an agreed set of principles to underpin all consultations. The aim should be to build consistent, planned, timely, genuine, and accessible communication approaches. There may be opportunities to build on the work already taking place to develop the new tenant and leaseholder engagement strategy. The development of the new communication and consultation plan will support the council’s community cohesion work.

We were impressed with the council’s work to attract significant external funding to drive forward regeneration of the town centre. This includes £21.6 million from the Future High Street Fund. It also includes funding awarded via the Cultural Recovery Fund, National Lottery Heritage Fund, United Kingdom Shared Prosperity Funding (UKSPF), Heritage Lottery Funding and the Local Enterprise Partnership ‘Single Growth Fund’. 

We were pleased to visit the town centre to learn more about this work. Transforming Fictional town is described on the council’s website as ‘a whole range of plans and initiatives, all coming together to change the town for the better’. This is funded via a mix of external funding and council funding. 

Transforming Fictional town involves the re-location of Fictional college into a new town centre building and the development of a new enterprise centre for small businesses. It also involves enhancements to the Fictional gateway and St Fictional square. Building on this, the council needs to bring together recent and planned developments to formulate a single town centre master plan. This should help to maximise outcomes from the investments and shape future schemes. 

As referenced, we heard of frustrations from some resident and business representatives about how the council communicates and engages on town centre regeneration. Some told us that they are not always clear on how the Future High Streets funding is being used or that they don’t always feel that their views are heard. As you work towards formulating your single town centre regeneration strategy you should use this as an opportunity to strengthen your communication approaches in relation to town centre regeneration.

You should also use this work to strengthen your place narrative, building on ‘Transforming FBC’. You need to strengthen the understanding and ‘expression’ of Fictional as a place to support place marketing objectives. For example, residents are proud of the council’s heritage and see this as a significant asset, which could be better utilised. 

You should also maintain focus on the timeline for the development of the new local plan (2022/43). This will replace the current local plan which covers the period 2006/31. The new local plan will be a key document to guide future regeneration and development in the borough.

Are there good relationships with partners and local communities?

All partners spoke positively about partnership working with the council. They welcome the drive, led by the chief executive in in September 2024, to re-establish the borough’s strategic partnership. Next steps will include developing a strategic borough wide plan to deliver shared ambitions for the council. This will help to build partnership capacity around the delivery of priorities including community cohesion.

The council is a well-respected partner on the regional leader’s board. This brings neighbouring councils, including the county council, together. At the time of writing this report, we understand the board has recently written to government about their readiness for a future devolution deal. During the peer challenge, national government indicated that they would look at future local government re-organisation (LGR) across all county areas. The council will need to continue to engage in these discussions whilst not losing sight of delivery of its agreed priorities and ambitions.

Strengthening community cohesion

Statutory and voluntary sector partners told us about the rapid, joined up response to violent disorder which occurred outside a local hotel in the summer of 2023. The council acted as a strong leader and convenor, working together with partners to condemn the unrest, respond to the immediate events and support those affected. We heard that staff went above and beyond to support all those affected. 

The political and managerial leadership has worked constructively with government, following this unrest, to secure £600,000 from the Community Recovery Fund. The council is using this funding to commission an ‘honest conversations project’. This will engage communities in honest dialogue about the strengths, opportunities and challenges of living in Fictional.

We recommend that the council uses the ‘honest conversations’ project to grow asset-based community engagement. This involves harnessing existing community assets, such as resident groups, community groups, cultural heritage groups, art groups, faith groups and schools to build community connections. The approach helps to bring communities together locally to build relationships and mutual understanding. It will be important to work alongside the borough’s strategic partnership to ensure partnership ownership of the project and harness shared resources. 

To ensure this progresses well, you need to strengthen the project governance for the ‘honest conversations’ project. Some partners voiced frustrations about their perceived lack of engagement. Local voluntary, community, faith and business sectors should co-design the approach alongside the council. 

We met with resident representatives who clearly care for the borough and have a passion for their local communities. You should consider opportunities to involve these residents in this project and other work to build community cohesion.

Listening to the views of residents will also be important to help address misinformation and quell rumours that may circulate, particularly on-line. It will be important to link the ‘honest conversations’ project with the work to strengthen communication and consultation. On-going partnership working will also be important to help support and address vulnerabilities amongst young people. You will also need to harness partnership working opportunities with the county council through early intervention projects to support community cohesion.

Local ward councillors must also be engaged. They have a wealth of local knowledge and community connections to harness. We recommend that you provide training to ward councillors on asset-based community engagement and community cohesion. This should build on the existing equalities and diversity training that is already in place. It is also important to ensure preventing violent extremism (PREVENT) training is provided as part of existing safeguarding training. 

Peers were told that on-line misinformation, particularly via social media, may have had a part in fuelling some of the violent disorder. The LGA guidance on this is due to be issued imminently and we propose you use this as you progress work on community cohesion. 

It will also be important to consider any new national cohesion strategy (at the time of writing, we are anticipating a new strategy next year), along with the outcome of the Home Office’s ‘rapid review’ of counter-extremism. We also understand that the latter will be used to inform the development of a new national strategy. 

We saw examples of strong corporate governance and assurance processes. The work being undertaken to review organisational values to maintain a strong focus on residents is also impressive.

However, as the council progresses with change and transformation, ensuring a continued focus on maintaining a positive culture of scrutiny, assurance and good governance is crucial.  To achieve this, we recommend the following actions are addressed:

• Review how the statutory officer functions of the council work together. This should be in line with the Lawyers in Local Government (LLG), Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountants (CIPFA) and Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE) guidelines
• Ensure the next annual governance statement addresses the governance failings that led to non-compliance in the housing service and work to address them. This is an opportunity to reflect and identify wider learning for the council on its governance and risk management.
• Provide training on audit and governance for all councillors. Fostering a culture of good governance and assurance is everyone’s responsibility.
• Review overview and scrutiny structures. Ensure they are better aligned to the new corporate priorities.

Are there clear and robust governance arrangements?

We observed constructive working between senior officers and cabinet members. We heard from cabinet members who said the cabinet work together well, with a diverse range of backgrounds, skills and experiences. Staff we engaged as part of this peer challenge were also positive about the senior leadership of the council.

The statutory officer roles (the ‘golden triangle’ of the head of paid service, monitoring officer and section 151 officer), have collective responsibility for governance. You should review how effectively these roles work together, including consideration of where in the organisation’s structure they are located, in line with the LLG, CIPFA and SOLACE guidelines. 

The council is working hard to build robust corporate governance and assurance processes. It is positive that the corporate risk register is shared on a quarterly basis with the audit and governance committee, corporate management team, cabinet and overview and scrutiny committee, but this should lead to meaningful discussion and action. 

The annual governance statement (AGS) identifies the council’s future financial sustainability and the re-profiling of capital schemes as significant issues. However, the lack of housing compliance is not reflected within the current AGS as a governance concern. We recommend that it should be included within the AGS for 2024/25. It is our view that the council’s self-referral to the regulator is positive but the lack of early identification and addressing of the issues presents a key governance and risk issue for the council.

The external auditor anticipates an unmodified audit opinion on the council’s financial statements for 2022/23. The financial statements for 2023/24 are nearing completion. Subject to the satisfactory resolution of some requests for further information, the external auditor anticipates issuing an unmodified audit opinion. 

The external auditor’s opinion on the council’s value for money arrangements is complete for 2022/23. Although some recommendations were made, no risks of significant weakness were identified. An interim report for 2023/24, shared with the audit and governance committee in November 2024, indicates that no significant weaknesses have been identified, with more details to be included as part of the auditor’s annual report.

The council hosts a shared internal audit service with a neighbouring council. Officers told us that this is well established, and that the arrangement was renewed in October 2023 for a further two years. Some officers told us that there are internal officer capacity issues within the service. The council should consider reviewing this arrangement when the contract is due for renewal in 2025. The council needs to satisfy itself that the shared service arrangement can provide the internal audit capacity, expertise and resilience required.

The council should provide training on audit and governance for all councillors, in addition to bespoke training for members of the audit and governance committee. This will help to ensure assurance and governance are seen as everyone’s responsibility. The peer team encourage the council to continue its efforts to recruit independent members to the audit and governance committee.

Is there a culture of challenge and scrutiny?

A review of the council’s organisational values/behaviours is underway to ensure residents remain at the heart of all the council does. We heard this referred to as ‘the auntie test’; with officers being encouraged to think about how they would want close family members to experience interactions with the council. As the council moves forward with its new ambitions around being a more innovative, accessible and data driven council, ongoing engagement with staff at all levels will be critical. 

As the council finalises the new corporate plan, we recommend that work is undertaken, through the chairs of scrutiny committees, to review the overview and scrutiny structures. This will ensure that they align more closely to agreed priorities and the council’s transformation agenda. We heard that there are opportunities to review the health and wellbeing committee to give it a greater focus on community wellbeing and community cohesion.

The council is facing significant financial challenges, and we found that senior officers and councillors demonstrated a clear understanding of the scale of this challenge. 

However, the projected reliance on reserves to balance the budget is unsustainable in the medium and longer term. Whilst the level of useable reserves appears healthy, including £30.9 million in general fund balances at the end of March 2024, the council cannot continue to rely on these in the medium and longer term as they will run out. 

Reserves (as a percentage of service spend) are above the average of nearest statistical neighbours for 2023/24 (LG Inform). Furthermore, in 2022/23 there was a general fund revenue underspend of £3.3 million which was mainly due to an over-achievement of income from treasury management interest and dividends. 

These healthy cash balances and interest received are potentially hiding the true position, with the current reliance on reserves to achieve a balanced budget being unsustainable.

Further action is urgently needed to address the council’s funding gap which should be its top priority. To enable the council to develop a clear plan to address financial challenges and develop and implement the asset management strategy, we recommend you should undertake the following actions:

• Align the council’s financial plans to the new corporate plan. It is important that agreed priorities are matched to the council’s resources and capacity.
• Manage the slippage in capital spend which has occurred from 2022/23 to 2024/2025. This slippage should be closely monitored through the asset strategy steering group.
• Maintain focus on managing the costs of the capital programme included in the thirty-year housing revenue account business plan. The plan is dependent on using reserves which is not sustainable in the long-term.
• Progress the asset management strategy, and associated asset management plans, at pace.

Does the council have a clear understanding of its financial position? 

The council faces significant financial challenges. Whilst senior councillors and officers widely understand the scale of this challenge, there is a need to strengthen the approach to achieving savings. Addressing the funding gap needs to be the council’s most pressing priority. 

The medium-term financial strategy is showing a deficit that increases from £3.3 million in 2025/26 to £5 million in 2028/29. As outlined above, the council is relying on reserves and balances to meet the gap and have made slow progress in delivering the required level of savings.

The current projected reliance on reserves to achieve a balanced budget is unsustainable in the medium and longer term. By 2027/28, there are insufficient balances remaining and by 2028/29 there is a projected £9 million shortfall.

LG Inform benchmarking information shows how the council’s current level of reserves is lower than similar councils. This can be attributed to how the council is managing its resources and the pace at which reserves are currently being used.

The finance team is clearly experienced and well respected. We found prudent assumptions are built into the budget setting process. We were pleased to learn that regular quarterly finance monitoring reports are shared with corporate management team and published as part of quarterly performance reports to both the cabinet and overview and scrutiny committee. This will support the political and managerial leadership to maintain their grip on the current financial position.

Does the council have a strategy and plan to address its financial challenges?

The council has agreed a financial stability plan, alongside its medium-term financial strategy (June 2024). This is aimed at addressing its financial challenges including the 2025/26 budget deficit and future budget pressures. The strategy aims to reduce the use of general fund balances between 2025/26 and 2027/28 and set a balanced budget without the use of reserves by this point.

Whilst this is a positive step, we believe the current areas for targeted savings appear aspirational rather than tangible and deliverable. A key recommendation within this report, as outlined in section three, is that the council urgently develops a clear savings plan incorporating tangible, costed and deliverable savings at pace. Senior members and officers need to provide robust management and oversight of the savings plan. We also recommend that the council’s financial plans are more closely aligned to the emerging corporate plan. All this work should be treated as an immediate priority. The time to act is now. 

The AGS for 2023/24 highlights significant slippage in capital spend from 2022/23 through to 2024/25. This includes slippage in the use of the future high street fund. The statement highlights the need to ensure schemes are managed in accordance with agreed funding criteria. We believe the asset strategy steering group needs to maintain a stronger grip and oversight of capital spend slippage. 

Asset management

The council’s assets, valued at £327 million in March 2024, comprise of extensive liabilities, including over £20 million of investment properties, £13 million of long-term debtors and £10 million of long-term investments. 

A draft asset management strategy is being finalised. As outlined in section three of this report, we recommend this strategy and associated asset management plans are progressed at pace. The council needs to have greater confidence that it is exercising responsible control over and managing risk in relation to the asset base. The council will need to take some clear decisions on the future of its key assets. 

Housing finance

The council is a stock holding council with a housing revenue account (HRA). Quarter one monitoring shows this is projected to be in a surplus position over the next five years. Balances are projected to be £6.1 million at the end of 2026/27 and £9.6 million by the end of 2028/29. However, the capital programme is dependent on using earmarked reserves which is not sustainable. Maintaining focus on monitoring and managing the capital programme included in the HRA business plan will be critical.

The council has a skilled and dedicated workforce, with officers understanding their roles in relation to the new corporate plan. They value continuous engagement on the corporate plan and are receptive to change and acknowledge the need for transformation.

The council now needs to reassess its current approach to agile working. It must find the right balance between remote work and office work, as well as between face-to-face interactions and digital or phone-based customer access. Work practices should be designed to support delivery of agreed priorities, meet customer needs and achieve improved outcomes for residents. As part of the council’s financial management and to improve access it is also important the council develop a comprehensive plan to achieve digital transformation, putting customers at the heart. 

In addition to the key recommendation to review your organisational structure and agile working approach in support of agreed priorities, we also recommend the council progress the following action:

• Strengthen the current approach to succession planning. The council’s approach to date has been informal and unstructured.

Is the organisation able to bring about the improvements it needs, including delivering on locally identified priorities? 

Officers and councillors are dedicated, passionate and committed to Fictional both as a place and as a council. From the conversations we had with a range of officers, they recognise their roles in relation to the new emerging corporate plan priorities. As referenced earlier, they value on-going engagement on the corporate plan, are open to change and recognise that transformation is needed.

The council has a small, dedicated workforce with many loyal and long serving employees. While succession planning is a key focus within the workforce strategy, the council’s current approach, as outlined in its position statement, has been informal and unstructured. It is encouraging that the council is working to address this by creating a new succession planning policy focussed on development opportunities for existing employees. Additionally, it will be crucial to support employees in acquiring new skills (in support of the council’s priorities) and ensuring the council is able to attract and retain new talent.

Does the council have the capacity to improve?

The council has a small workforce that, like many other councils, has transitioned to agile working. Over 220 employees are home or hybrid workers (out of a workforce of 386 staff) with the remainder being site workers. 

As outlined in section three a key recommendation is for the council to review its organisational structure and working practices to help build capacity across this relatively small workforce. This review should be aligned to agreed priorities and transformation ambitions. The aim is to ensure that there is sufficient capacity and resource to deliver the agreed priorities, achieve efficiencies and deliver services that meet the needs of residents.

The most recent staff survey highlighted some capacity issues associated with working practices. While staff appreciate the agile working approach, with 64 per cent of respondents noting it has improved their work life balance, challenges remain regarding silo working, internal communications and perceptions about accessibility of some services and teams. Additionally, we heard frustrations from residents who expressed concerns about the lack of clarity regarding access points into the council. 

The leadership team has acted on these findings through the implementation of an action plan. It will be important to keep this under review to ensure working processes harness the capacity of all staff to deliver priorities and improvement.

We also heard mixed views and understanding about the ‘twice monthly’ contractual attendance at the town hall (in place for some staff) and whether this is a maximum or minimum requirement, and the flexibility attached to this. 

We recommend the council reviews the current approach to agile working, in the context of the new corporate plan priorities which include an enhanced focus on the council being ‘visible, approachable and accountable’. The approach to agile working should also be reviewed in the context of the recent re-opening of a face-to-face customer service reception at the town hall. 

Given the scale of the financial challenges faced, progressing digital and service transformation to manage demand, boost capacity, deliver efficiencies and achieve savings will be critical. It is positive that the council recognises the need for this and has identified this within the financial stability plan.

As outlined in section three, a key recommendation is for the council to develop a clear vision and priorities for digital and service transformation through the development of a comprehensive plan. This should build on the work already undertaken through the current Information and Communication Technology Strategy (ICT) which expires in 2025. The council needs to grow digital transformation across a range of areas including customer contact, back office, use of data/intelligence and ICT infrastructure. It will be important to ensure that the council’s ICT services have the capacity and capability to support the council’s digital and service transformation ambitions.

The development of a comprehensive plan for digital and service transformation will help to guide investment decisions. This includes the future use of key assets such as the town hall. It also includes investment in digital technologies. Prioritisation, pace of change and sequencing will be key. Resident, staff and councillor engagement is critical to engender understanding and ownership of this journey.

The senior political and managerial leadership of the council should review and reflect on the findings and recommendations from this CPC.

To promote the principle of transparency, it is a requirement of the CPC process that the final report of the peer team is published by the council – in full - within three months of the peer challenge being completed. In this instance, this requires the report to be published no later than 28 September 2024. 

There is a requirement for the council to develop and publish an action plan within five-months of the peer team being onsite, no later than 28 November 2024. This action plan should provide clarity on the activity, milestones, and timelines that the council will work to in responding to the team’s findings. 

The action plan will also be central to the peer team’s re-engagement with the council through a progress review which is due to be completed by November 2025.

The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) have published the Best Value Standards for Local Authorities. These standards expect every council to engage in a CPC or Finance Peer Challenge at least every five-years. It is expected that Fictional Borough Council would commission their next CPC no later than March 2029. 

In the meantime, Billy Smith, Principal Adviser for the West Midlands region, is the main contact between your council and the Local Government Association. As outlined above, Billy is available to discuss any further support you require and can be contacted on 

Billy Smith, LGA Principal Adviser for the West Midlands

Email - [email protected]

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CPC is a valued improvement and assurance tool that is delivered by the sector for the sector. It involves a team of senior local government councillors and officer peers undertaking a comprehensive review of key information and spending three days at Fictional Borough 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 LGA to support continuous improvement and assurance across the sector. These principles state that councils are responsible for their own performance; accountable locally, not nationally; share a collective responsibility for the performance of the sector; and rely on the LGA to provide the tools to support them. CPC is also key to councils in meeting their Best Value duty. UK Government expect all councils to have a CPC at least every five years. 

Scope and focus

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

As part of the five core areas outlined above, every CPC has a strong focus on financial sustainability, performance, governance, and assurance

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 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 information on the local context at Fictional Borough Council 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 spent three days onsite at the council during which they gathered evidence, information, and views from more than 30 meetings, in addition to further research and reading and spoke to over 100 council staff together with councillors and external stakeholders.