LGA Corporate Peer Challenge: City of York Council

The peer challenge team can attest to having found a strong and palpable sense of pride in, and commitment to, the city of York as a place in virtually every conversation during the Corporate Peer Challenge. In no small part this message came through strongly from the council’s passionate and dedicated staff who are hugely committed to the place and its people. 

Now feels a time in which there is a huge opportunity to take advantage of York’s unique assets such as the newly established Combined Authority, the connectivity advantages of its location in the country, its proud heritage and its wealth of respected and influential anchor organisations (such as its two Universities and major institutions such as the Joseph Rowntree Foundation). There are already some examples of great practice and delivery in how the council is delivering its agenda for children and young people as well as the exciting Community Stadium initiative.

City of York Council (CYC) has really positive links and connections into communities and this engagement is well aligned with social provision such as libraries and leisure. The Community Stadium initiative clearly demonstrates the council’s ability to connect services such as health and adults’ delivery into the project. The peer team saw examples of the council beginning to map this positive community working whilst continually strengthening connections into these communities.

The ‘Single Customer View’ represents a very significant opportunity for CYC to develop an ever deeper understanding of its communities and customers. However, at present the benefits are not yet widely understood and the system’s full potential is some way short of being fully realised. There would be value to CYC in further exploring the possible expansion of this capability more widely across the council and potentially with partners in supporting areas such as demand-led services and customer and community engagement in a wider sense. 

CYC is able to demonstrate good innovation in the delivery of climate change activities, although there remains a need for more financial and resource capacity to deliver additional opportunities. This is an area which may lend itself to being a part of York’s contribution to achieving Combined Authority objectives and potentially utilising resources from this avenue for delivery of climate change outcomes and priorities.   

In relation to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, the Council is currently being voluntarily assessed against DEI LGA framework with an aspiration to achieve the level of Excellent.

Another strong characteristic of the city’s current ‘mood music’ is that the new political administration has demonstrated a significant level of ambition and drive. Both have been broadly welcomed both internally to the council as well as amongst the city’s external partners. Within this point however resides a challenge which the council will need to ensure it confronts.

Taken in their totality, there was a clear and widely shared perception among external partners who met the team that the ambition and drive of the political leadership is not always fully mirrored among some of the council’s senior management.

The view of numerous partners is that capacity, capability and mindset of some senior managers in CYC is not consistent in matching the ambition of the new administration’s agenda. 

There are examples provided by partners which demonstrate that some of CYC’s senior managers are leading the council’s achievement of positive and well-regarded outcomes for the city. This is particularly true of some of the work relating to children and young peoples’ services, adults’ social care, public health, voluntary sector collaboration and community engagement. 

However, there was also a strong view expressed to the team by the same partners that there remains room for improvement in how some other of the council’s most senior managers are leading. The view is that there is more for these senior managers to do in proactively and effectively communicating that they welcome the prosect of future growth and economic development in York.  This perception, if it persists, could be extremely unhelpful in the necessary efforts for the council to be a convenor of a city-wide, multi-sector partnership of organisations bound by a shared vision of what York both wants to be and can be. The positive change CYC can lead will depend on the organisation clearly demonstrating to all partners that it is ‘One Council’ in having a unified member and officer leadership that are working together effectively. It will also be important that this united front from the council communicates clearly that CYC, as a whole, shares the passion partners express for realising the ambitions for the city’s future development. This will be a powerful alliance if these ambitions are jointly developed and assessed to ensure they are both realistic and achievable. 

With this partnership approach, achieving the ambitions of the city in the context of the new Combined Authority will have a greater chance of success.

There are already examples of good partnership working (such as some joint working with North Yorkshire and on the Integrated Care Board (ICB). This demonstrates the foundations on which further effective collaboration can be developed

There is need to build a greater degree of consistent, positive and visible strategic officer leadership and collective corporate responsibility for the organisation. This is key to ensuring there is greater synergy across the whole council in achieving corporate priorities whilst removing any perceptions of silo working. This all starts with how the Corporate Management Team comes together. Whilst CYC can point to some talented officers in the top team how they are deployed and how the CMT operates as a whole will dictate how successful the next stage of the city’s, and the council’s, journey plays out.

This next stage should seek to clarify and focus the council’s vision for the city and its values to address the perceived lack of a corporate ‘golden thread’ and single narrative for the organisation. Translating this ambition into tangible reality will then require both the members and officers of CYC to ‘prioritise its priorities’ and this will need to be articulated in a clear delivery plan, underpinned by a robust performance management framework, and delivered within the Council’s current financial means. This would allow everyone – staff, members and partners alike - to understand their role and contribution to delivering that ambition captured by the single narrative that drives all that happens in the organisation. 

It also provides the vehicle through which CYC can more effectively engage with and celebrate the successes of the council’s hard working and dedicated staff. 

There remains time to address the considerable financial challenge facing CYC and it is recognised the council is not alone in facing such challenges. However, to do so, CYC will need to improve the council’s corporate financial literacy and the overarching governance to support this. Currently there is some concern over how robust the planning and delivery of savings and budget is in both the coming financial year and in the medium term. This relates to City of York Council lacking a single, commonly accepted version within the council of CYC’s financial position. At the present time there seems to be variation of understanding rather than a common message. Prioritisation based on clear consensus and agreement and a properly resourced strategic transformation programme is required to achieve this.

It will be important for CYC to achieve a common view on, and approach, to lining up all resources – human or financial – in order to achieve outcomes.

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, These are set out below for the council to consider, drawing on the evidence presented and in the context of the council’s operating environment, financial challenges and capacity to change

Recommendation 1

Clarify a strong and consistent narrative that drives the ability of the organisation to take advantage of the opportunities available to York. 
 

Recommendation 2

Be clear on the need to prioritise the ambition of the new council plan to focus on key delivery.

Recommendation 3

Build on the clear leadership of the new administration to develop a more mature corporate culture that improves appropriate behaviours and relationships within the organisation. 
 

Recommendation 4

Consider how the corporate culture and senior arrangements of the organisation can help shape and deliver key priorities. 
 

Recommendation 5

Consider how the Corporate Management Team can establish a collective responsibility for the delivery of key priorities and provide clear and consistent positive leadership to the many hard working and dedicated staff.
 

Recommendation 6

Put in place a robust performance management   framework that recognises and rewards success and has clear accountability for delivery.
 

Recommendation 7

Ensure improved staff engagement that clearly communicates the shared aims ambitions and priorities of the organisation and celebrates success.
 

Recommendation 8

Establish a well evidenced and robust single version of the medium-term financial position that is collectively owned and understood.
 

Recommendation 9

Improve the financial literacy of the organisation, financial controls and financial grip that focuses on the big picture.
 

Recommendation 10

Develop a clear plan to deliver savings that includes a properly resourced strategic program for change with sound business cases that flow through a strong and more robust governance framework. 
 

Recommendation 11

Ensure there are appropriate support resources and structures to enable all members to undertake their respective roles including training, early access to papers and expanded access to information.
 

Recommendation 12

Develop a clear corporate strategy on how City of York Council can better utilise the desire capacity and ability of partners to help the city improve and achieve its ambition. 
 

Recommendation 13

Develop stronger, positive and strategic corporate relationships with all partners. Ensure these are more consistent across all partnership working utilising localised good practice -(for example the work of the ICB, engagement with the voluntary sector etc). Seek to replicate and embed these positive examples across CYC to establish effective collaboration as being the norm.
 

Recommendation 14

Properly understand the relationship with the Combined Authority and its role in enabling CYC to deliver its key priorities.
 

Recommendation 15

Implement an action plan to address these recommendations with urgency and pace that moves from single tactical interventions to a more strategic corporate approach.

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 on the basis of their relevant expertise. The peers were:
The Corporate Peer Challenge team is:  

• Lead Peer: Sara Todd (Chief Executive, Trafford Council)
• Member Peer: Councillor Peter Marland (Leader of Milton Keynes Council)
• Senior Officer Peer: Mark Fowler (Deputy Chief Executive and Corporate Director – Population Wellbeing, Luton Borough Council)
• Senior Officer Peer: James Dunn (Director Prosperity and Investment, Telford and Wrekin Council) 
• Shadow Officer Peer: Lo’ren Spence (Partnership Development and Monitoring Officer, City of Stoke-on-Trent Council)
• LGA Peer Challenge Manager: Ernest Opuni (LGA Senior Regional Advisor)

Scope and focus

The five high-level themes we have adopted for all LGA Corporate Peer Challenges provides the core framework for any Corporate Peer Challenges. These are forward looking. The relevant themed questions have been agreed between City of York Council and the LGA as follows:  

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 and achieving improved outcomes for all its communities?  Does the vision for the council build on its potential as an innovator and thought leader for the Yorkshire and the Humber region, as well as for local government more widely?  

2. Organisational and place leadership

Does the council provide effective local leadership? Are there good relationships with partner organisations and local communities?  Is it making the most of the strong range of partners and their assets across the city?  Could the council do more to utilise those assets on behalf of its communities, businesses and stakeholders?  Is it realising its ambition to become a ‘fantastic city, delivering the 10-year vision for everyone? 

3. Governance and culture

As with any Council, are there clear and robust governance arrangements?  Is there a culture of respect, challenge and scrutiny?  Does the council have the mindset and capacity to deliver? 

4. Financial planning and management

As with any Council does CYC have a clear understanding of its current financial position? Does the council have a strategy and a clear plan to address its financial challenges? 

5. Capacity for improvement

Is the organisation able to support delivery of local priorities?  Does the council have the capacity to improve? 

Within this, the council would like the team to provide reflections on: 

• How well the council is doing in providing a positive experience for City of York’s customers in keeping with the aspirations of York to establish the conditions that would make York a healthier, fairer, more affordable, more sustainable and more accessible place, where everyone feels valued. 
• How well the city is positioned to maximise opportunities for developing the local economy utilising among, other factors, the Local Plan and emerging Local Transport Strategy. This includes effectiveness in securing standalone external funding for the City as well as accessing additional resources in the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority arena – how ready is York structurally to fully benefit from future opportunities?

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. The team then spent four days onsite at City of York Council, during which they:

• Gathered information and views from more than 50 meetings, in addition to further research and reading.
• Spoke to more than 130 people including a range of council staff together with members and external stakeholders.

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. The findings reported are based upon the triangulation of information read, heard and seen by the peer challenge team. This applies to information supplied both in advance of and during the onsite visit.   

The city of York presents considerable opportunities on a number of fronts. In all of the meetings and conversations the peer challenge team had the opportunity to be involved with the strong sense of pride in, and commitment to York, from a variety of sources was palpable. This message came through consistently whether it was in meetings with City of York Council’s (CYC’s) fantastic staff (who are hugely committed to the place) or external partners. The city’s unique physical assets and beneficial location allied to  its committed partners and the ambitious new political administration provide a foundation on which CYC could be well-placed to take advantage of York’s opportunities. These emanate from a number of areas including the newly created Combined Authority, the city’s connectivity, and its heritage of strong anchor organisations including (for example its two universities and other organisations such as the Joseph Rowntree Foundation)    

There are already some examples of great practice and delivery (such as the council’s approach to working with children and young people in its Early Talk for York work and the exciting Community Stadium initiatives).  However, there is more to do for the council to better position and organise itself in order to maximise the benefits of all these features. 

The administration has detailed priorities from its manifesto to CYC’s Corporate Management Team (CMT). As of Sept 2023, there is an adopted Council Plan which sets out the ambition. However, the peer challenge team heard that the commitments, values and priorities were not yet fully understood by staff or partners and they found it difficult to articulate their role in delivery. This has resulted in a sense that a 'golden thread' connecting interdependent work and taking advantage of the potential input from all partners does not yet exist. The Peer Challenge team acknowledge the Plan’s comparatively recent adoption but suggest that there would be value in CYC considering how best to meaningfully embed this as part of the council’s communications and engagement strategy. Messages which are clear, visible and have the ability to be prioritised against improve the likelihood of success in embedding values and commitment. 

While there is a strong ambition in the Corporate Plan, its delivery is not yet clear as there is a sense of there being too many priorities. What is now needed is a greater clarity about key priorities from the new administration. Thereafter there is a need for a clear alignment between the vision and priorities with an assessment of what is realistic along with the timing of delivery. Further to this is a need to line this vision up with a realistic and clear corporate financial strategy which clearly underpins and supports the delivery of those priorities whilst identifying what needs to happen and when. It is also important that the organisation brings to life what delivery looks like bringing together staff actions with outcomes that deliver on the vision and priorities. Having this 'delivery' plan will facilitate the development of a strong performance management framework to provide that ‘golden thread’ (i.e., a clarity among staff about their individual priorities and those of their teams). This would provide a means of ensuring easier measurability of the impact of staff contributions in achieving outcomes whilst underpinning this work with clear lines of accountability.

CYC has really positive links and connections into communities and this engagement is well aligned with social provision such as libraries and leisure. The Community Stadium initiative clearly demonstrates the council’s ability to connect services such as health and adults’ delivery into the project. The peer team saw examples of the council beginning to map this positive community working whilst continually strengthening connections into these communities. 

In order to continue to build on this success, a whole corporate organisation and system buy-in as well as with partners is required. There appear to be opportunities to replicate this with Education and Children’s services for example which would be a means of further embedding ‘a golden thread’ and single narrative for the organisation in better connecting place, people and assets.

The ‘Single Customer View’ represents a very significant opportunity for CYC to develop an ever deeper understanding of its communities and customers. However, at present the benefits are not yet widely understood and the system’s full potential is some way short of being fully realised. 

The ‘Single Customer View’ represents a unique and innovative approach to more effective and customer centric service delivery. The valuable insight into CYC’s customers, the potential for a better joined up view of individual customers and families could have transformational benefits for the council. The efficiency benefits of reducing the numbers of contacts and repeat requests for the same information from the same customers could make a significant difference to service delivery. This is a resource which deserves a wider corporate roll-out and wider utilisation into the future. 

CYC is able to demonstrate good innovation in the delivery of climate change activities, although there remains a need for more financial and resource capacity to deliver additional opportunities. This is an area which may lend itself to being a part of York’s contribution to achieving Combined Authority objectives and potentially utilising resources from this avenue for delivery of climate change outcomes and priorities.   

In relation to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, the Council is currently being voluntarily assessed against DEI LGA framework with an aspiration to achieve the level of Excellent.  The prioritisation of this is a clear demonstration of the new political administration’s Four Core Commitments embodied in the acronym EACH.

EACH stands for:

• Equalities and Human Rights – a city of equal opportunity
• Affordability – a more affordable city
• Climate Change and the Environment – a more sustainable city
• Health and Wellbeing – a healthier city

The strong political leadership demonstrated by the new administration is recognised internally and externally by partners. There is a clear sense of place, and a passion about being in CYC and York itself. This was tangible at all levels that the peer team engaged with. A programme of member induction has been introduced and some engagement has been achieved, although with mixed results as attendance was not uniform. This can however be built upon to widen this further as it will be important to ensure members can be, and feel, confident in their roles in setting the priorities, vision and corporate objectives of the council.

The ongoing programme of regular joint Executive and CMT meetings taking place is a positive. The opportunity now is for CYC is to make these meetings more purposeful. This would be the place in which effective work can be undertaken to prioritise the commitments of the administration whilst using this clear direction as the basis for action planning which underpins and drives delivery. The feedback at the present time is that the agendas of the weekly CMT meetings can at times be viewed as too operational in their focus. This potentially is a product of where the council has been in recent times. To have their fullest impact there is a widely recognised need for these meetings to evolve and become more strategic and action focused There seems an opportunity for the dynamism and impact of these meetings to be further enhanced by moving towards ensuring that these meetings are held in person. Being ‘present’  is a key part of building that corporate culture and would go a long way towards strengthening this.

There is a significant amount of internal communications activity at CYC. However, feedback  the team received suggested that these are not felt currently to be connecting with staff as fully or effectively as they might. There would be value in reviewing the current approach to this and identifying how this can be undertaken more effectively. For example, the messaging from CYC meetings to teams on key actions/news was felt by staff to be disjointed and not consistent. There may be an opportunity to make proactive use of short videos from the CMT for example to bring to life the messaging that they wish to convey to the organisation.

Looking beyond the council more widely to the city at large, it is important to highlight some of the significant work that has taken place in York. CYC has grappled with the significant challenges the whole of the local government sector has faced. Reduction in budgets as well as in other forms of resources have had an undoubted impact on how the council has deployed its efforts. This is not a new situation and is true of times preceding that of the current administration.

Another part of the backdrop in which CYC, like other councils, has worked is the need to focus on preparing for and securing the deals relevant to devolution arrangements as well as setting up the Combined Authority. This reflects a 3-year programme of significant activity including liaison with central government, the Local Enterprise Partnership and the other partner in the Combined Authority, North Yorkshire Council. 

There has been significant work undertaken around the Integrated Care Board (ICB) and other health and social care functions which has been a draw on the capacity of the council’s Chief Operating Officer and other Director Level senior managers in recent years. 

There are a number of achievements which have been achieved in York during these challenging times. The highly regarded Community Stadium was a multi-million-pound development that has benefitted from the involvement and leadership of the council drawing together and involving many partners as well as private sector investment. 

York Central is one of the largest regeneration sites in the country. This has benefited from the leadership of Senior Managers in the council working well with key partners such as Homes England and Network Rail. The project has benefitted directly from approximately £35m of council funding which will be further boosted by a further £50m secured as part of the devolution deal.

The Guildhall development is another major project with a significant budgetary input from the council of approximately £20m alongside the input of other partners. There is work ongoing in relation to housing delivery which has benefited from significant levels of council investment being used to build new homes using council funds exceeding £100m. The York Ring road is a major infrastructure development which is also benefitting from further investment in excess of £100m.

The Castle Gateway Masterplan is still in development but is very much part of plans for ongoing future improvement of the City’s infrastructure. There has also been other significant private sector investment coming into the city in recent years.

Notwithstanding significant and positive work undertaken by CYC detailed previously, there remains a strong expectation among the majority of the partners with whom the team met that there remains more to do going forward. 

In a number of different meetings the team held with a diverse range of partners, a common thread fed back to the team is that a stronger, positive strategic leadership and convening role from some senior officers at CYC would be welcomed. It is important to point out that this view was explicitly applied to the most senior officers at CYC. The impact of a previous article about York which appeared in a national publication remains embedded within perception of many partners even though this occurred a number of years ago. Whatever the voracity of this perception, it is indicative of a narrative that the council would do well to engage with partners about in order to move forward from this being an unprompted but highly visible part of the narrative these partners hold onto. 

Now seems to be a critical time in which to build on the existing good practice detailed previously. The hope for the future is that partners share examples of how their collaboration with the council has delivered positively for the city on different initiatives. With the ambitious projects cited previously, there is much in the recent history of the city that can fuel a more positive narrative than was shared with the peer challenge team whilst onsite. 

There will be a great deal of value in a collective top team of the leading politicians at CYC and the senior managerial leadership working proactively with partners on how best to maximise the impact that effective collaboration can continue to contribute to the future development of York. There is an opportunity to show leaders of the city’s key ‘Anchor’ organisations and other partners that there is a genuinely transformed commitment among all of CYC’s most senior officers to delivering a bolder, more ambitious vision for the city. This will need to be underpinned by a new collaborative culture clearly embraced and demonstrated by all facets of the council, with partners proactively contributing to the city’s success. This, in turn, will lead to more meaningful and sustainable culture of collaboration involving and recognised by all partners in the city. 

When it comes to articulating and driving an ambitious vision for the city, there is a unanimous view that the council’s political leadership is dynamic and provides the main championing voice of this on behalf of the council. The way in which this is energising most of the partners the team met with bodes well for a future in which there is minimal distinction between engagement with members or some senior officers. The energy can be created from a positive perception of engagement with all at CYC.

The opportunity to turn partnership working into a vehicle for tangible benefits is clear and present. York is uniquely blessed with a strong group of anchor organisations which are not only based in the city but are deeply committed to the city. The peer challenge team were informed of some of the great examples that have happened in partnership in relation to Early Help York and ‘York Hungry Minds’, the Free School Meals pilot, which provide examples for what the art of the possible might be if this way of working is scaled up and embraced across the council.

Delivery of a new Combined Authority represents a major step forward, and both officers and members have worked well with North Yorkshire in recent years to make this happen. There is however further clarity required on how the city will fully contribute to, and benefit, from the York and North Yorkshire devolution deal, the recently launched Combined Authority (CA) and the achievement of desired outcomes.

Whilst there is some time between now and when an elected mayor takes office, this does not preclude CYC from commencing work in earnest on a longer-term strategic plan for how CYC will deliver on the place aspirations for York in that sub-regional arena in the short, medium and longer term. There is greater possibility of influencing future sub-regional strategies from a position of York being clear about what the city brings to the table as well as having clearly set out aspirations from its own Local Plan.

As part of the need to create a strategic plan it is noted that the initial list of asks of the CA from CYC are mainly short term largely revenue requests. With CYC’s new Local plan likely to be adopted this year it is recommended that greater focus is put on how working with the CA through whom support can be secured to ensure key developments come forward.  Ensuring the wider developments come forward will then enable additionality as referenced in CYC’s asks of the CA including enhanced sustainability of homes and accommodation for key workers for example.  Much of this work will, however, need to wait until the Mayor has been elected in May 2024, and has subsequently established their strategic direction for the CA. 

There are considerable opportunities when it comes to working with Integrated Care Board (ICB). The development of the Joint Commissioning Group provides an opportunity to drive integrated working as it evolves the group itself evolves. As part of this evolution, there may be value in considering how the co-location of partners in West Offices can be maximised as a means of partners working more closely together whilst still capitalising on the current income afforded by the current tenants and partners in the building. Again, in-person meetings, where viable, (recognising that space in the building is sometimes at a premium), could be a valuable part of embedding an effective culture of collaboration and joint working. In spite of challenges, finding ways of deepening collaboration seems an outcome to actively pursue. 

Prevention and population health is well placed to get ‘ahead of the curve’ in dealing with need and demand. Directors for Childrens’, Adults, Public Health and Place working together can be a positive and powerful team supporting integration and wrap-around services. The ability to support communities where they live will assist the work of the Health Place Board in being yet more impactful. 

Progress has been made over the last 6 months. The York Place board is chaired by the COO with additional attendance by the DPH and engagement of the DCS and DASS and political representation from the Leader of the Council and the Portfolio Holder. However, there are clear areas for consideration if the Health Place Board is to further progress including that there is a need to ensure that the priorities it has chosen now move more tangibly towards delivering more ambitious, longer-term outcomes. This also includes the introduction of an agreed mechanism for Continuing Health Care (CHC) and a more strategic approach that is informed by an improved market statement.