LGA Corporate Peer Challenge: Fylde 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 Fylde 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.

Comprising the seaside towns of Lytham and St Anne’s-on-Sea, the market town of Kirkham, and rural towns, the borough of Fylde has a population of 83,846. The population has risen by over 5,000 in the last 5 years, including a 23.8 per cent increase of people aged 65 years and over, a 2.8 per cent increase in people aged 15 to 64 years, and a 0.9 per cent increase in children aged under 15 years. Significant numbers of the higher-than-average elderly population are living with long-term, often multiple, health conditions. At the last Census a significant majority of the population were recorded as white; with 3.7 per cent recorded as a black or minority ethnic.

Several areas within Fylde are subject to flood risk, and a sea defence scheme at Fairhaven to Lytham St Annes was completed in 2021 to protect local areas from coastal erosion and flood. The need to act on climate issues has growing recognition with the Council and area, and a Climate Change Strategy for Fylde has been commissioned to ensure that climate objectives are widely understood, with deliverable actions and targets.

Fylde is considered as, and is statistically proven to be, a safe place to live. The overall number of offences recorded in Fylde remains low, making Fylde the second safest borough in Lancashire. There are relatively low levels of deprivation, though there are pockets of deprivation within the borough.

Fylde Council has strong foundations, providing good local services and achieving very positive customer satisfaction ratings across several service areas. The council enjoys good support from the community. The council has an enthusiastic and very knowledgeable workforce, who know the area well, and who are proud to work for the council. Councillors are committed and want to make a positive contribution to their local area. Staff know their elected councillors well, and members reported that officers are generally responsive in dealing with ward matters. The peer team was struck by the strong ‘sense of family’ across the council.

Following the 2023 elections, the council has sought to translate political priorities into a new Corporate Plan, which sets out areas of focus for the council for the 2024-2028 period, identifying priorities relating to services, environment, tourism, economy and community. A member-led activity, this new plan was approved in July 2024, and work is now underway to align the Medium-Term Financial Strategy to the new Corporate Plan in order to bridge the gap between the Council’s capacity and the ambition set out by the lead members. This is essential work, and members and officers will need to work together to determine how the council’s finite resources will be channelled to ensure the successful and sustainable delivery of political aims. Supporting delivery plans will need to be developed that articulate how, and by when, priorities will be delivered, and these will enable for members and officers alike to have confidence that political ambitions will be delivered. 

The council has moved from being inward-focussed to more outward-focussed over the last 18 months, and this is particularly welcomed by external partners. There is more that the council could do to further strengthen partnership working both with statutory and non-statutory partners across the borough and sub-region, and local businesses and residents. Key to this work is being clear about what the council can offer partners, what the council wants to achieve, and where the council has existing working relationships (in both the officer and member space) it can build upon to negotiate and influence. Dedicating further time and capacity to strategic planning within this area is needed to bring greater focus and chart impact. As part of this work, there are opportunities to strengthen relationships with the voluntary and community sector (VCS) and town and parish councils, improve timely delivery and to ensure consistent relationships with partners across the board.

There appears to be a good understanding across the organisation by both members and officers of many of the challenges facing the council, such as recruitment and retention, senior level succession planning, etc. That said, it was not clear what practical action the council was planning to take to address these challenges. There is a need for the council to horizon scan, plan and be more proactive, rather than reactive, on such matters so that it is on the front foot to strategically plan for and shape the future in a way that weighs up opportunity versus risk and minimises impact on strategic capacity and operational delivery.

Fylde Council has stable leadership: the chief executive at Fylde has held the position for 12 years and is very visible and approachable; the leader has been in position since 2020, and the peer team heard that she has brought an ambitious and focussed new approach to the council. Having a leader and chief executive who are both visible and aligned will provide an opportunity to collectively model the change they want to see across the organisation.

However, the leader and chief executive often operate independently and do not always present a consistent message which can cause confusion within and outside the council about prioritisation and decision-making. The leader and chief executive recognise this and are working together to address this. They both recognise a more collaborative approach, jointly articulated by the leader and chief executive, would benefit the organisation, partners and stakeholders, providing a clearly, agreed direction of travel for the council.

The peer team heard that Leadership Board and SMT Members had recently invested time and effort in strengthening working practices across their respective roles and responsibilities as part of a LGA Top Team programme, which is leading to new ways of working to enhance member-officer relations at senior levels.

Though the council sees itself as ambitious, a view shared by some but not all stakeholders, the peer team heard consistently that the organisation is too risk averse and that this limits the council’s ability to deliver. In the peer team’s view, the council is missing out on opportunities as a result and an open conversation about the appetite for risk and risk/reward would be helpful to ensure opportunities are not missed and that there is a clear position on this from members that can be communicated across the organisation and applied to deliver corporate priorities.

There was a clear driver to change the governance arrangements in May 2023, and this led to a revised committee arrangement with scrutiny arrangements re-introduced to the council. The peer team stressed that an honest conversation is needed about whether it is working effectively. The peer team heard that a number of members, especially those elected for the first time in 2023, are not clear about roles, processes, and the contribution of scrutiny for example, and often feel “in the dark” about what is happening and how some decisions are made. Some also feel disenfranchised on many issues. The peer team had the opportunity to review the draft scrutiny protocol that was in development when they were on site. The protocol aims to set out ways of working between the executive committee and scrutiny committees and the peer team were of the view that this is a helpful document, but it is untested as yet and it would be useful for the council to ensure that it has feedback into its effectiveness. As mentioned above, there is a more fundamental question to explore regarding the governance landscape of the council and a need to bring greater clarity to the decision-making model. 

Reflections from members and officers on governance arrangements have highlighted the importance of better understanding boundaries and clarity of roles and responsibilities for both members and officers, in respectively shaping and delivering the Council’s strategic vision and day-to-day interactions. There is a need for a sense of ‘one team’ – a member-officer partnership based on mutual respect and understanding of respective roles and responsibilities, and an appreciation of what everyone brings to the table. Some joint work on this would help both members and officers to maximise their contribution and recognise the important part they each play.

This is an important point in time regarding the devolution agenda, with a devolution deal for Lancashire announced on the last day the peer team was on site in Fylde. Though there is much to be clarified regarding the devolution deal, including which organisations take up the seats on the new combined authority, it is imperative that Fylde’s voice is heard, regardless of whether the council occupies any of those seats. The strong economic base in Fylde provides an excellent platform for further work with the private sector to position the Borough as a key player in devolution arrangements.

Fylde Council has benefited from prudent financial management in recent years and is comparatively financially robust. The council is well-regarded by both internal and external auditors and is seen as proactive. Financial controls in place have ensured that financial management is well-disciplined, however, the peer team questioned whether the tight controls may act as a blocker to improvement and innovation and would recommend that the council reflects on whether it has the right balance between control and flexibility, risk and reward.

Similarly, while the prudent approach the council has taken in the past has stood the council in good stead to date, the peer team heard the council consistently described as risk averse. The peer team would recommend that the council undertakes an exercise to assess whether some of the standing positions on key issues are still right for the council today and looking to the future, or whether there may be a need for new positions.

There is a growing recognition for the need for change across the council – from politicians and senior officers – in light of the clear challenges that are coming down the track. Staff are up for the challenge, but they need clarity about what change looks like and what is needed to deliver. The council would benefit from developing a narrative about what change looks like and the need for change.

There is a need to develop a clear workforce plan that considers recruitment and retention, learning and development, succession planning, and future workforce needs aligned with the corporate plan. Fylde is a very attractive place to live, work and raise a family, and there is an opportunity to use this as a lever to market the council as an employer of choice.

There was a clear sense that staff work together to deliver council priorities, this is a real asset for Fylde and something to be proud of. Staff have a strong loyalty to each other, the management team, and the priorities of the Council and community as whole. However, concern was raised by staff about their resilience. Staff discussed pressures of work, but at the same time are clear on the priorities and are willing to be stretched to meet the demands, however opportunities to deliver and be part of the solution were not always forthcoming. Staff also mentioned that organisational structures don’t allow for promotion. Training and development opportunities were also raised, there was a mixed understanding and awareness of training and development offer, something that can be readily resolved and be part of succession planning.

When it comes to equalities, diversity and inclusion issues (EDI), it was not clear to the peer team how the council considers such matters internally, in relation to community needs, and how EDI considerations are engaged with meaningfully in decision-making. This is an area of work that needs more attention.

The council has a number of shared service arrangements with other councils, though it is not clear that it is making the most of these arrangements. By acting as an active partner in these shared service arrangements and demanding more as a client from the shared services, the council could achieve greater benefits.

The peer team picked up on a perception that the council is good at gathering intelligence and making plans, but inconsistent in following through to delivery. Examples shared with the peer team included action in response to the staff survey, interactions with town and parish councils, and actions following the Top Team work. There is a need for the council to develop an effective framework to support good governance and delivery that is embedded in lived, SMART (SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) delivery planning throughout the organisation. This is fundamental to the council’s capacity for improvement and needs to be prioritised.

Regarding member development, there was a mixed picture about the quality of development opportunities that had been offered and member take up. The member development programme needs to be refreshed, and a commitment made for members across the council to engage in their own personal development, through formal and informal learning and development, and both in-house sessions and external programmes. The LGA can support and signpost the council in this area.

Fylde has a strong economic base, and the peer team heard about a range of positive activity in the regeneration space, including work across a range of partners to try and bring The Open golf championship to Royal Lytham St Anne's which would have significant economic impact, work with parish councils and community groups on the Fylde in Bloom initiative to increase tourism, and work with Blackpool Council and other partners to deliver wider initiatives, including environmental projects, to protect and boost the local economy.

Regeneration plans clearly set out what is achievable within the limited capacity the council currently has, but there is a question about whether there is sufficient capacity to bring about the scale of regeneration activity the council is keen to generate. However, there are missed opportunities that the council should capitalise upon, for example developing a shared plan for the economic development of the Fylde Coast, closer working relationships with the county council, and an engagement plan with developers and investors. The perception that the council is risk averse also has an impact on the extent to which the council is seen to be able to ‘punch above its weight’ to achieve its ambitions in this area. With this in mind, there is a need to consider what resources (officer and financial) the council is willing to put in place to support this activity to make more of the active partner space to contribute to the regeneration agenda.

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:

3.1 Recommendation 1: Strategically plan proactively in an inclusive way what the council wants to achieve and convert those plans into clear operation plans with SMART action plans and reporting mechanisms to support effective oversight.

3.2 Recommendation 2: Follow through on previous work to ensure that the council delivers agreed plans and actions –time and effort have been invested, don’t let this be wasted.

3.3 Recommendation 3: Align the corporate plan/ strategic plan with resources (money, people and process) to ensure that it is realistic and deliverable.

3.4 Recommendation 4: Bring a focus to strategic workforce planning by proactively developing a Workforce Strategy and workforce plan to support it, informed by the overarching strategy and future operating model. Ensure that this also has an equalities lens.

3.5 Recommendation 5: Revisit the governance arrangements to ensure that there is clarity about roles, responsibilities and how the governance system works together as a whole and communicate this clearly.

3.6 Recommendation 6: Co-produce a clear narrative and place-based vision on economic growth (in its widest sense) for Fylde with partners and stakeholders.

3.7  Recommendation 7: Define the cultural change you want to see with quick wins and longer-term actions to make it happen and be sustained.

3.8 Recommendation 8: Revisit the council’s approach to spending/ borrowing, risk and reward, to ensure ambitions and innovations are delivered, without losing focus on delivery of core services.

3.9 Recommendation 9: Recognise the important contribution that members and officers can make operating collaboratively within commonly understood boundaries (member-led strategy and direction, officer-driven operational delivery), clearly define those boundaries and live them.

 4.1 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 based on their relevant expertise. The peers were:

• David Parr OBE, former Chief Executive, Halton Council
• Cllr Simon Minas-Bound, Conservative Group Leader and former Leader of Basingstoke and Dean Borough Council
• Cllr Neil Prior, Cabinet Member for Communities, Corporate Improvement and the Well-being of Future Generations
• Miranda Carruthers-Watt DL, Governance consultant and former Monitoring Officer at Salford City Council
• Phil Drane, Programme Director, Major Projects and Regeneration, Westmorland & Furness Council
• Helen Whiting, Chief Officer HR and Support Services, City of York Council
• Mia Shelton, Senior Adviser, Local Government Association
• Kate Herbert, LGA Principal Adviser and Peer Challenge Manager

4.2 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 – Do 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, the council asked the peer team to provide feedback on its approach to regeneration in Fylde.

4.3 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 Fylde 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 then spent three days onsite at Fylde Council, during which they:

• gathered evidence, information, and views from more than 32 meetings, in addition to further research and reading
• spoke to more than 145 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.

Fylde Council has strong foundations, providing good local services and achieving very positive customer satisfaction ratings across a number of service areas. The council enjoys good support from the community (see Section 5.1.1 below). The council has an enthusiastic and very knowledgeable workforce, who know the area well, and who are proud to work for the council.

Following the 2023 elections, the council has sought to translate political priorities into a new Corporate Plan, which sets out areas of focus for the council for the 2024-2028 period, identifying priorities relating to services, environment, tourism, economy and community. With valuable officer feedback and input from scrutiny members contributing to revisions of the document, this new plan was approved in July 2024.

This is an important development for the council, and the peer team heard that this was a member-led piece of work. The peer team would typically expect such an exercise to have been co-produced between members and officers in such a way that would enable strategic planning that reflects political ambitions and priorities, financial and operational context, and horizon scanning around opportunity and risk. The council usually develops a new Corporate Plan following each set of all-out elections. The peer team would recommend future exercises of this type are undertaken in a collaborative way so that the Corporate Plan and medium-term financial strategy (MTFS) are drafted and developed concurrently.

The peer team heard that work is now underway to realign the MTFS to the new Corporate Plan. This is essential work, and it is important that these are in full alignment at the earliest opportunity. Members and officers will need to work together to determine how the council’s finite resources will be channelled to ensure the successful delivery of political aims. Supporting delivery plans will need to be developed that articulate how, and by when, priorities will be delivered, and these will enable members and officers alike to have confidence that political ambitions will be delivered.

The corporate plan is ambitious and wide-ranging, and it will be necessary to identify the most important priorities that need to be delivered. It is essential that this exercise also provides clarity about what is not a priority in order to identify areas of activity that can be paused or scaled back in order to reallocate capacity (money and people) towards priority workstreams. Similarly, this strategic planning work will involve decisions about sequencing of activity, identification of investment requirements, and a realignment of resources – both capital and revenue – to create capacity.

Having developed the strong delivery plans suggested above, the organisation then needs to establish strong delivery mechanisms, supported by effective performance management and oversight, to ensure that the plans are delivered. The peer team heard from a number of sources – and this was supported by evidence – that the council often does not always follow through with delivering the plans it makes, Examples flagged to the peer team included the town and parish council protocol that had not been agreed, and actions following the Top Team programme. It is important that the council bucks this trend and demonstrates that it can deliver and follow through the new Corporate Plan.

The peer team heard consistently over the course of the CPC that the council has moved from being inward-focussed to more outward-focussed over the last 18 months, and this is particularly welcomed by external partners. There is more that the council could do to further strengthen partnership working both with statutory and non-statutory partners across the borough and sub-region, and local businesses and residents. Some partners told the peer team that they were aware that there was a new Corporate Plan, but they were not clear what this might mean for opportunities for joint-working.

There is an opportunity to use the new Corporate Plan as part of a wider conversation to articulate the council’s aspirations for the borough and explore how these could be delivered, and how partners may be able to contribute to the achievement of the ambitions set out in the council’s Corporate Plan. This would complement the work the council already does to inform their understanding of community views and needs (surveys, feedback, complaints, online engagement and direct engagement, such as workshops, public forums and town hall consultation events), and lever in additional capacity to achieve the council’s vision, ambition and priorities for Fylde.

There appears to be a good understanding across the organisation by both members and officers of many of the challenges facing the council, such as recruitment and retention, succession planning, etc. However, members and officers sometimes identify different challenges and prioritise them differently. Inevitably, there is often a tension about what is an immediate priority and what requires a more medium-/ long-term solution and the timescale/ resource requirement for resolving the challenges presented. It was not clear what practical action the council was planning to take to address these issues and to prioritise appropriately. This needs to be addressed.

The peer team heard that the council tends to react to issues as they present, rather than have a proactive plan enacted in good time to resolve or reduce the impact of issues before they occur. Throughout the CPC, the peer team heard about a number of strategic opportunities and challenges that were on the horizon, such as the need for workforce and succession planning given the aging workforce and key members of staff approaching retirement, and concerns about council’s ability to influence the devolution agenda. There is a need for the council to be more proactive on such matters so that it is on the front foot to strategically plan for and shape the future in a way that weighs up opportunity versus risk and minimises impact on strategic capacity and operational delivery. This needs to be embedded as standard practice in the council’s operating model.

Linked to this, it was not clear to the peer team how the council ensures that evaluation and learning is embedded in day-to-day operations so that the organisation actively seeks to learn from both successes and examples of things not going well to identify wider learning that can be applied across different services. This includes how learning exercises are conducted, how learning is identified, recorded, shared, applied and embedded. Similarly, does the council understand what changes can be brought about as a result of embedding delivery as a result of learning lessons? It would be worth the council giving some thought to how this might be implemented in Fylde.

Finally, when it comes to equalities, diversity and inclusion issues (EDI), it was not clear to the peer team how the council considers such matters internally (for example in relation to staffing considerations), in relation to community needs (for example, how the needs of young people are addressed in Fylde), and how EDI considerations are engaged with meaningfully in decision-making. This is an area of work that needs more attention, for example through supporting staff to understand and explore EDI in relation to their operational delivery, as well as corporate activity around strategic workforce planning, service design and prioritisation. There are a number of examples of how the council has tailored services to support older residents, and there are opportunities to broaden this focus to other age groups, vulnerable residents or those with protected characteristics.

5.1.1 Performance

Overall, data shows that Fylde Council is performing within desirable parameters across key service areas. The results from the most recent Resident Survey, undertaken in 2023, were broadly positive with particularly strong ratings for refuse collection, household recycling services, parks and open spaces, and views on Fylde as both a place to visit and a place to live. 74 per cent of respondents were positive regarding the value for money received from the council, and 82 per cent were positive about the council as a whole (“taking everything into account”).

In Q1 2024, Fylde processed 96.2 per cent of planning applications for non-major developments on time (compared to an average of 85.8 per cent amongst Fylde’s CIPFA nearest neighbours) and 87.5 per cent of planning applications for major developments on time (compared with an average of 85.7 per cent among Fylde’s CIPFA nearest neighbours). Nevertheless, resident satisfaction with the planning service measured in the 2023 Resident Survey was notably low, continuing a trend in declining resident satisfaction over successive Resident Surveys.

The Council also performs well on waste. In 2022/23, the amount of residual household waste collected per household was 460.00 kilograms (above the median amount of 421.50 kilograms per household for Fylde’s CIPFA nearest neighbours), and there is high resident satisfaction with this service.

Housing services costs in Fylde remain low. In 2022/23 Fylde spent approximately £24.91 per person on housing, compared to the national average of £71.29 per person (or £35 per person compared to their CIPFA nearest neighbours). In 2022/23, there were 17.6 households per 1,000 households on the housing waiting list in Fylde. This compares to 71.29 households per 1,000 in England and an average of 43.0 households per 1,000 on average in your comparison group of Fylde CIPFA nearest neighbours. 

The overall number of those living in temporary accommodation in Fylde is also low (0.66 per 1,000), though Fylde is beginning to see an increase in households presenting as homeless. At the end of Q1 2024, there were 194 households living in temporary accommodation, against a target of 100. The number of households with prevention duty assisted to source alternative accommodation owed was 48, against a target of 100.

Employee survey results continue to show high levels of employee satisfaction, with 86.2 per cent of staff expressing a strong sense of motivation and willingness to go the extra mile (when necessary to excel in their roles), and with 95 per cent of staff responding saying that they would recommend Fylde Council as a great place to work.

The employee survey also indicated that approximately 28 per cent of staff believe that Fylde Council could enhance its efforts in comprehending and delivering the necessary support to employees during challenging periods (which may stem from external factors such as cost of living, global issues, and economic downturn). With the percent of sickness absence because of long-term sickness (including due to depression, anxiety and stress) rising above 55 per cent (against a target of 30 per cent), these points warrant further consideration by the Council.

All performance data is regularly published online on the Performance Portal, which is accessible to all and is available to view at any time. Performance is reported to members through every six months, including end-of-year outturns through scrutiny. While scrutiny has an important role in holding to account on performance, the peer team was surprised that performance is not reported to the Executive Committee on a regular basis and would suggest that this is addressed.

Fylde Council has stable leadership: The chief executive at Fylde has held the position for 12 years and is very visible and approachable; the Leader has been in position since 2020, and the peer team heard that she has brought an ambitious and focussed new approach to the council. Having a Leader and Chief Executive who are both visible and aligned provides an opportunity to collectively model the change they want to see across the organisation. 

However, the leader and chief executive often operate independently and do not always present a consistent message which can cause confusion within and outside the council about prioritisation and decision-making. The Leader and Chief Executive recognise this and are working together to address this. They both recognise a more collaborative approach, jointly articulated by the leader and chief executive, would benefit the organisation, partners and stakeholders, providing a cleared, agreed direction of travel for the council.

Though the council is seen as ambitious, the peer team heard consistently that the organisation is too risk averse and that this limits the council’s ability to deliver. In the peer team’s view, the council is missing out on opportunities as a result and an open conversation about the appetite for risk/ reward would be helpful to ensure opportunities are not missed. A clear position on this from members is needed, that can be communicated across the organisation and applied to deliver corporate priorities.

The peer team heard that Leadership Board and SMT Members had recently invested time and effort in strengthening working practices across their respective roles and responsibilities as part of a LGA Top Team programme, which is leading to new ways of working. Feedback from those that the peer team spoke to suggest this work was seen as important and very helpful and is leading to positive improvements. That said, some were unclear about next steps in relation to this work, and others said there had been limited progress on actions set out in a draft action plan. Taking time out together as a ‘top team’ demonstrates good practice and the peer team would encourage Leadership Board and SMT Members to ensure that they revisit this work periodically, ensuring that there is clarity about what action is to be taken following such sessions within a short timescale afterwards. This work will also help and support the Leader and Chief Executive to develop their collaborative leadership approach.

Considering the council’s place leadership role, Fylde Council is well-regarded by its statutory and non-statutory partners at the local and regional level, and there are strong relationships between the council and partners operating in the borough, at both an operational and strategic level. There are however opportunities to develop stronger relationships with the county council and other partners to achieve the council’s strategic priorities. Key to this work is being clear about what the council can offer partners, what the council wants to achieve, and where the council has existing working relationships (in both the officer and member space) it can build upon to negotiate and influence. Dedicating some strategic planning time to this work would be beneficial in order to bring greater focus to work in this area and chart impact.

There is an active, passionate and effective voluntary and community sector (VCS) landscape in Fylde, despite the borough not having an infrastructure organisation such as a council for voluntary service. The VCS partners the peer team met with spoke highly of the council and expressed a desire to do more in partnership with the local authority. There are opportunities to capitalise on this enthusiasm to create stronger strategic working relationships between the council and the VCS. This could be sketched out through a process to develop a local ‘Compact’ (More detail about the National Compact and approaches to developing local Compacts is available from the NCVO) between the council and the local VCS, which would set out principles to underpin the way they will work together to improve their relationship for mutual advantage.

Similarly, the council has good foundations in place supporting the relationship with the town and parish councils across the borough, such as the liaison group and the parish planning forum. Town and parish councils spoke highly of the excellent support provided by some council officers, citing colleagues from the parks and planning teams especially. There are opportunities to build on these foundations to work better and more consistently with town and parish councils, for example by developing an action list from the liaison forum to provide clarity about what action will be taken, by when and by whom; and by identifying a liaison officer to act as a single point of contact for town and parish councils who can coordinate Fylde Council activity and communications. Though the peer team recognised that the parish charter that has been in development for some time had been delayed in agreement with the District Parish Liaison Group Chairman, there is a need to move this on at pace as this will have a positive impact on the council’s the relationship with the town and parish councils. 

Although the peer team heard positive messages about good working relationship between the council and partners, there were mixed views about the extent to which the council was seen as an active and responsive partner. Some partners reported that the council collaborates on the things that matter the most, while others said engagement is inconsistent. The council recognises expectations between Fylde and partners have not always aligned, and there have been differences in culture and in practice, which has at times created obstacles to delivering on objectives. Feedback from partners overall, however, has been positive and there is appetite to do engagement more often and more effectively.

It would be worth the council reflecting on how it can ensure a consistent relationship with all partners, focussed on mutually beneficial joint working to deliver shared priorities. In the view of the peer team, the borough would benefit from an inclusive and collaborative piece of work to develop a strategic vision for Fylde the place. By undertaking such an exercise in a way that places emphasis on early engagement, co-operation and co-production, this would bring together partners, businesses and residents across the borough, and also draw in key partners in neighbouring boroughs and across the sub-region. Identifying common challenges and shared priorities and exploring opportunities for co-design of solutions and co-delivery of responses, would enable deeper, more meaningful and inclusive relationships to be developed across partnerships which translate into additional capacity being created and levered in order to achieve more together. Partners are keen for the council to step up and lead more in this space. The risk is that if the council does not do this, then others will occupy that space and the council risks being sidelined, making it more difficult for local priorities to be realised.

There is evidence of impressive community building work led by the council and the council leveraging external funding to support local communities, such as the Housing Support Fund, and support for those fleeing the war in Ukraine. The council takes its role as a connector and catalyst for community projects seriously and is proud of the work it does in this space with very limited resources and officer time to dedicate to this work. That said, the communities work is relatively isolated and is often reactive in response to grant funding injections. This work would greatly benefit from a strategic direction or vision, with appropriate oversight, and alignment to the prevention agenda to make the most out of the funding channelled to this activity.

This is an important point in time regarding the devolution agenda, with a devolution deal for Lancashire announced on the last day the peer team was on site in Fylde. Though there is much to be clarified regarding the devolution deal, including which organisations take up the seats on the new combined authority, it is imperative that Fylde’s voice is heard, regardless of whether the council occupies any of those seats. There are wider opportunities to influence, not least alongside and through some of the key business partners who will be important to the combined authority, so efforts should be made to make the most of these opportunities so that Fylde maximises the benefits that will come via the combined authority. Fylde’s voice is not heard sufficiently given its economic strength and local assets. The strong economic base in Fylde provides an excellent platform for further work with the private sector to position the Borough as a key player in devolution arrangements. Partners and local businesses clearly expressed the untapped economic potential of Fylde, and the Council has an important role to play leading that vision and enabling growth.

The governance and decision-making model at Fylde Council has undergone changes in recent years. The council has operated under a committee system since 2015, a change prompted by a local referendum. The organisation is led by an elected member Leadership Board and the Senior Management Team (SMT). The Leadership Board, comprising seven elected members (Leader, Deputy Leader, and five Lead Members), is approved by council.

Following a review of ward boundaries and councillor numbers in 2022, new constituency boundaries were drawn, and councillor numbers were reduced from 51 to 37. Councillors are committed and want to make a positive contribution to their local area. Staff know their elected councillors well, and members reported that officers are generally responsive in dealing with ward matters.

A revised committee arrangement has been in place since 2023, with scrutiny arrangements re-introduced to the council. Two new scrutiny committees were established: the Internal Affairs and the Community Focus Scrutiny Committee, and these committees have tackled some big issues, but recommendations have been amended by the Executive Committee leading to frustration by scrutiny members. Under the new committee arrangements, there is a mechanism in place for decisions made by the Executive Committee to be called in. This has happened twice: once relating to climate change, the second time relating to a local project. Both were addressed at the council’s July 2024 meeting.

There was a clear driver to change the governance arrangements in May 2023, but the peer team stressed that an honest review is needed about whether it is working effectively today. The peer team heard that a number of members, especially those elected for the first time in 2023, are not clear about roles, processes, and the contribution of scrutiny for example, and often feel “in the dark” about what is happening and how some decisions are made. Some also feel disenfranchised on many issues. With this in mind, there is a need to bring greater clarity to the decision-making model. The peer team got a strong sense that members across the council need to find the common ground that they can all agree on for the benefit of Fylde, and in exploring this there are opportunities to be more inclusive of opposition and non-lead members.

The peer team had the opportunity to review the draft scrutiny protocol that was in development when they were on site. The protocol aims to set out ways of working between the executive committee and scrutiny committees and the peer team were of the view that this is a helpful document, but it is untested as yet and it would be useful for the council to ensure that it has feedback into its effectiveness. As mentioned above, there is a more fundamental question to explore regarding the governance landscape of the council.

Reflections from members and officers on governance arrangements have highlighted the importance of better understanding boundaries and of clarity of roles and responsibilities for both members and officers, in respectively shaping and delivering the Council’s strategic vision and day-to-day interactions. It came across strongly to the peer team that the council is “member-led” in setting strategy and direction. This is of course right and proper, but the peer team also stressed that alongside this is a need for delivery to be “officer driven”, with appropriately protected boundaries demarcating the officer and member spaces. This balance between member-led and officer-driven is an area that causes debate in many councils, but it is important that proper time and effort is made to ensure that the political and managerial leadership of the council is operating effectively. To this end, there is a need for a sense of ‘one team’, a member officer partnership based on mutual respect and understanding of respective roles and responsibilities, and an appreciation of what everyone brings to the table. Some joint work on this would help both members and officers to maximise their contribution and recognise the important part they each play.

Some simple steps will also support further effective decision making and positive member-officer working. For example, ensuring that reports and background information are timely that members are reassured that they have all of the information needed to make decisions well; supporting officers to have exposure to and work with members in committee would be useful; or using the Audit and Governance Committee  more effectively to ensure that transparency of decision making is effective and that members are sighted on background developments.

The council would also benefit from creating more space and time for open debate, discussion, and problem-solving between senior officers and lead members. Such activity would build on the previous Top Team programme activity, to ensure that the challenges the council faces are explored fully and collaboratively by making the most of the skills, expertise and perspectives from both the political and managerial cadres of the council.

It is clear that Fylde Council benefits from hardworking, loyal and committed staff who care about the place. The peer team was struck by the ‘sense of family’ across the workforce that came out strongly and consistently over the course of the CPC. The peer team heard a lot about the need for culture change across the council, but limited detail was provided regarding a) what exactly about the existing culture needed to change and b) what kind of culture the council was trying to embed. There is a need to articulate what kind of council you want to be and the culture you want to see and explain how you intend to broach the gap between the Fylde Council of today and the Fylde Council you want to see in the (near) future. If this is not done, there is a risk that discussions about culture change are limited, vague and result in no change at all.

The council has a strong sense of civic pride, and it was clear that the organisation is in touch with its roots, with many people keen to tell story of the council’s history. The council now needs to have a clear story for the future of Fylde, that staff, members and partners can coalesce around. This would be beneficial in a number of ways, including playing a key part in work to brand Fylde Council as an employer of choice, as a place to live and raise a family.

Noting the wider context across local government in which many councils are facing financial challenges, Fylde Council has benefited from prudent financial management in recent years and is comparatively financially robust. The council is cautious in its approach to financial risk and borrowing. Whilst the council is required to borrow c. £4.4m (as represented by the Capital Financing Requirement) it is currently funding this from internal resources and therefore is debt free. The council is well-regarded by both internal and external auditors and is seen as proactive.

As mentioned, the new Corporate Plan was member-led but drafted without costings. The peer team noted that a process is now underway to bring about an alignment of the Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) with the political priorities set out in the Corporate Plan. It is important that future iterations of the Corporate Plan and MTFS are developed concurrently to ensure that council priorities inform financial planning and vice versa. Linked to this, it is important to communicate well about decisions being made; arguably in more financially challenging times it becomes more important to help people understand the need to prioritise limited resources. The council should consider how to deliver greater transparency both internally and externally about where you are spending and why, and why not elsewhere. This may help key stakeholders understand the tensions at play and explain decision-making.

The peer team found in discussions with both members and officers that there is widespread understanding across the council of the financial position and the need for compliance with financial controls. Financial controls in place have ensured that financial management is well-disciplined, and this is to be applauded. However, the peer team questioned whether the tight controls may act as a blocker to improvement and innovation (especially when it comes to seeking to install new systems and training and development). For example, do officers self-censor ideas before they are taken forward to members for consideration because the officers think they would not be approved? This may not be the case, but the peer team would recommend that the council reflects on whether it has the right balance between control and flexibility, risk and reward.

Similarly, while the prudent approach the council has taken in the past has stood the council in good stead to date, the peer team heard the council consistently described as risk averse. Some officers that the peer team spoke to are of the view that members will not approve proposals that would require the council to borrow, and there was a strong sense that this is hindering innovation and limiting business cases that are brought forward.

With this in mind, the peer team would recommend that the council undertakes an exercise to assess whether some of the standing positions on key issues are still right for the council today and looking to the future, or whether there may be a need for new positions. Such an exercise could consider, for example, what is the council’s appetite for risk, risk/reward, commercialisation, outsourcing/ delivering in-house? Might there be a need to consider a different stance on borrowing or other delivery model to deliver council priorities (eg regeneration, as a response to pools, options for fleet)? Are projects funded by external grant funding pursued because they contribute to council priorities, or because the funding is available; is the pay-off always worth it? By exploring these questions and determining the council’s position on them and communicating the council’s position (whether new or unchanged), would ensure that officers across the council can consider how best to explore and bring forward proposals for future service development. There is an opportunity to use the Audit and Governance Committee for some of these discussions.

Linked to the above, there is also a need for a conversation about the council’s approach to innovation, especially regarding any investment (money and people) that may be required to support delivery of innovation, whether funded by the council, or partners.

The recent emergence of unanticipated cost pressures coming to light (for example relating to the local pools, and the fleet) seems to the peer team to have caused concern among members about whether there is sufficient oversight and reporting in place to avoid big issues appearing to come out of nowhere. Some work is needed to provide members with assurances on this.

There is a growing recognition for the need for change across the council from politicians and senior officers, in light of the clear challenges that are coming down the track (devolution agenda, retirement of key officers, etc). These will need an active response. Standing still is not an option. 

The council benefits from highly motivated staff with goodwill who are up for the challenge, but they need clarity about what change looks like – what is the narrative about what change looks like and the need for change? The Leader and Chief Executive are key to communicating this to staff and jointly modelling the change and behaviours they want to see across the organisation. The relationship between the council and trade union could also assist with this work, for example strengthening trade union engagement on the future challenges the workforce face and culture changes could be explored. Elsewhere in this report, the peer team recommend that the council develops a strategic plan that is fully costed and clearly articulates what the council wants to achieve, supported by delivery plans that are owned, consistently project managed, and have effective oversight. This is essential to ensure that council resources (staff and money) are channelled towards delivering council priorities. The peer team heard consistently that capacity is a major challenge. It is therefore essential that, alongside the clarity around what the council wants to achieve, there is analysis of the skills and expertise will be necessary to deliver, and an assessment of whether the council has the right people with the right skills in the right roles to do so.

This leads on to a need to develop a plan for recruitment and retention (the jobs you need now as part of business as usual, and capacity for transformation), learning and development, succession planning (especially with some senior management departures), ‘knowledge harvesting’ to ensure continuity when long serving officers leave but allowing new starters innovation and creativity capacity, and future workforce needs aligned with the strategy. The peer team heard some positive examples of officers starting their council career in customer services and progressing with internal promotion. However, a number of officers mentioned the lack of promotion opportunities as a common reason for leaving Fylde, so it would be worth considering whether council structures need to be reviewed to enable more opportunities for career growth. Fylde is a very attractive place to live, work and raise a family, and there is an opportunity to use this as a lever to market the council as an employer of choice, alongside the employment offer. The council has a number of shared service arrangements with other councils, though it is not clear that it is making the most of these arrangements. 

This is an important area of work that needs attention. By acting as an active partner in these shared service arrangements and demanding more as a client from the shared services, the council could achieve greater benefits. Moving forward, Fylde and Wyre Councils are considering joint working or shared services arrangements as a way to address recruitment and retention issues within their workforces. This approach is welcomed but should be carefully drawn to ensure both partners are clear on the expected, inputs, outputs and outcomes.

There is also a need for the council to review its relationship with the Trade Unions in order to ensure appropriate arrangements for engagement and consultation. Such a reset will be important as the council explores wider workforce planning, organisational development, activity to support recruitment and retention.

Being a small council means that often small-scale innovations can have a big impact, and as a smaller organisation there is often agility to start immediately. The peer team saw that the council has the fundamental building blocks to use data to inform innovation and change. More work is needed in order to capitalise on this to understand what data is telling you and using this understanding to inform action.

More broadly, the peer team picked up on a perception that the council is good at gathering intelligence and making plans, but inconsistent in following through to delivery. Examples shared with the peer team included action in response to the staff survey, interactions with town and parish councils, and actions following the Top Team work. With this in mind, there is a need for the council to develop an effective framework to support good governance and delivery that is embedded in lived, SMART (SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) delivery planning throughout the organisation. This is fundamental to the council’s capacity for improvement and needs to be prioritised. With regard to member development, there was a mixed picture about the quality of development opportunities that had been offered and member take up. The member development programme needs to be refreshed and for members across the council to engage in their own personal development, through formal and informal learning and development, and both in-house sessions and external programmes. This will support good governance and effective decision-making. The LGA can support and signpost the council in this area.

Fylde has a diverse economy covering manufacturing, the energy sector, aeronautics, tertiary businesses, farming, and tourism. There are two Enterprise Zones within the borough: Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone (managed through a partnership with Blackpool Council) and another part of the BAE Systems’ Warton site.

The peer team heard about a range of positive activity in the regeneration space, including work across a range of partners to try and bring The open golf championship to Royal Lytham St Annes which would have significant economic impact, work with parish councils and community groups on the Fylde in Bloom initiative to increase tourism, and work with Blackpool Council and other partners to deliver wider initiatives, including environmental projects, to protect and boost the local economy. The need to act on climate issues has growing recognition with the council and a Climate Change Strategy for Fylde has been recently commissioned to ensure that climate objectives are widely understood, with deliverable actions and targets, and links to the regeneration agenda.

The health of Fylde’s town centres is a clear political priority and as a result these are seen as good places to visit. The peer team was shown town centre regeneration plans as part of the St Annes Masterplan, as well as council assets on the seafront that could unlock wider regeneration opportunities.

Regeneration plans clearly set out what is achievable within the limited capacity the council currently has, but there is a question about whether this is sufficient capacity to bring about the scale of regeneration activity the council is keen to generate. There appear to be other missed opportunities. For example, previous discussions about developing a shared plan for the economic development of the Fylde Coast has not translated into action; and county council colleagues reported that they were not sighted on the council’s plans regarding economic growth. Similarly, there appears to be limited contact with developers and investors. This may be due to limited capacity within the team and/ or concerns among officers that such engagement may be interpreted as compromising the planning process. Some conversations are led by the chief executive, but it is not clear how these translate into action. It would be worth agreeing an approach to undertaking appropriate engagement with developers and investors that helps officers navigate this space in a way that maintains the integrity of the planning process while exploring opportunities to further the council’s ambitions in this area.

As mentioned, the perception that the council is risk averse also has an impact on the extent to which the council is seen to be able to ‘punch above its weight’ to achieve its ambitions in this area. With this in mind, there is a need to consider what resources (officer and financial) the council is willing to put in place to support this activity in order to make more of the active partner space to contribute to the regeneration agenda. This may not just be about employing more people but securing the right type of additional expertise to deliver council priorities. Securing outside investment in schemes linked to housing growth could help unlock current regeneration challenges by leveraging Fylde’s untapped economic potential.

There was also a sense that Fylde’s voice is not heard sufficiently given its economic strength and local assets. As mentioned above, the strong economic base in Fylde provides an excellent platform for further work with the private sector to position the Borough as a key player in devolution arrangements. This is an area in which that the council needs to proactively position itself. When working with major employers in Fylde, such as BAE Systems at the Warton Enterprise Zone, it seems that the county council take a lead on economic development plans. If adequately resourced and by working in partnership, Fylde Council could be more involved in shaping the future economic strategy of the area with major employers and the wider supply chain.

As a final comment, the peer team queried the sustainability of the business support programme being completely funded by the Shared Prosperity Fund and flagged that the future of the programme needs to be considered.

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 the CPC report the council is required to produce and publish an Action Plan within 6 months of the time on site. As part of the CPC, the council are 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 a 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. 

The date for the progress review at Fylde Council should take place within around ten months of the CPC (so by 19 July 2025), with the Progress Review Report published within twelve months of the CPC, so by 19 September 2025.

In the meantime, Claire Hogan, Principal Adviser for the North West, is the main contact between your authority and the Local Government Association. As outlined above, Claire is available to discuss any further support the council requires. [email protected]