LGA Corporate Peer Challenge: Ipswich Borough Council

Ipswich is a fantastic place which deserves to be celebrated. As a culturally diverse town, Ipswich offers access to several Arts Council National Portfolio Organisations (NPOs), a historical waterfront which today hosts a centre for learning with the University of Suffolk, a place of leisure with hotels, bars, and restaurants, a high-quality living area with apartments overlooking the busy marina in the historic ‘Wet Dock’, and a business district that offers employment and economic growth to the people of Ipswich.

Ipswich Borough Council (IBC) is a very ambitious council and uses every opportunity available to lever in funding and resources to the advancement of the borough. There is huge potential for Ipswich and the council is driving regeneration via a £25m Towns Fund investment with a desire to lead place making. The council is actively regenerating the town by utilising its assets such as churches, the town hall, the old post office and an £8m regeneration fund to bring vacant and untenanted properties in the town centre into active use. 

Brought to life by a tour of the borough, peers were impressed by the volume of projects, plans, and vision the council has to regenerate Ipswich. It was clear the scale of ambition was not widely known by partners, stakeholders and staff and peers considered the council to be underselling itself by not sharing and promoting this. There is an opportunity to refocus the Vision Board, review its membership to include representatives from arts and cultural organisations and work together to develop a holistic vision for Ipswich which sets out how everyone can play a part in its regeneration for decades to come. 

Peers recommend the council holds a visioning event with stakeholders to pull together everything great about Ipswich – use this to set a long-term vision for Ipswich and communicate the plans for the borough. 

Peers heard of the tangible difference the new leadership has brought to the borough and the cultural change they are instilling within the organisation. The chief executive has taken the lead on delivering the Towns Deal projects, strengthened existing partnerships and worked to develop new ones. The leader has focussed on meeting community groups, attending events and awards and talking to local business owners in the town. The visibility of both is strengthening the key relationships of the council and will need further nurturing. There was recognition that IBC cannot deliver everything on its own. Partners and stakeholders are keen to work with the council to support delivery of shared priorities. 

Astonishingly, perceptions of Ipswich seem extremely negative, and peers were struck by the number of people who talked the town down. As an external group from outside the area, peers could see enormous potential in the borough, much of which is being led by IBC with partners. To change the narrative and negative perceptions peers recommend the council develops internal and external communications strategies which clearly communicate what makes Ipswich great, promotes its vision, ambition, unique selling points and celebrates its success.

The council is so eager to get on and deliver after a period of time “in the doldrums” that it is not prioritising the time to engage more widely on its vision, ambition and priorities. Peers recommend the council harnesses the good work being delivered in  the organisation and learn from it to improve the council’s understanding of what communities need and what the council delivers. Peers recommend developing a community engagement strategy, which is designed to, listen to your communities, work with your key partners/stakeholders, and learn from best practice within the council and from others.

IBC is delivering quality services for its residents. The council performs well against national performance indicators and peers saw some good examples where performance data is being used to drive improvement across services. 

Financially the council is challenged, with below average reserves and an increasing budget gap. The whole organisation needs to understand and be prepared to act on the future financial challenges. There are plans to address the deficit in the short-term with efficiencies, cost savings and income generation. Transformation plans are still at an early stage and savings are yet to be fully costed. Peers recommend the financial savings plans - not just one offs used to balance 2023/24 - are agreed and implemented at pace.

To deliver on the savings and transformation ambitions, the council needs to urgently recruit to the vacant roles at senior levels or implement a different plan to create the capacity required to drive this portfolio of work. Once in post, peers recommend the council continues to develop a realistic transformation programme which includes, sufficient skills and resources, clarity on the vison and objectives and a clear corporate delivery framework. There is a significant amount of learning in the sector which IBC could benefit from. It was evident that experienced project delivery professionals are in short supply within the transformation team, and, acknowledging the budget pressures, identifying talent that may already exist within the organisation is recommended.

IBC has a dedicated and committed workforce that is proud to work for the council. There has been a noticeable increase and emphasis on staff engagement over the past year, with manager away days, employee surveys, weekly staff news, regular updates from the chief executive via email, video and vodcast and a staff recognition scheme. 

Peers were also told that all staff in maintenance and contracts and waste and fleet services met with their directors in 2023 (two of the councils “hardest to reach” workgroups because of the nature of their work). Additionally, all Shared Revenues Partnership staff met with their Assistant Director. Together this equates to around a third of the workforce. 

Despite all these efforts, some staff who met with peers believed improvements could be made. In particular feedback on the results of the 2022 staff survey was mentioned. The results continue to demonstrate high levels of satisfaction with those taking part, although there are many that don’t engage (44 percent response rate in 2022). There was an underlying message from staff that peers spoke to in non-management roles that they didn’t feel listened to and lacked opportunities to network across the organisation.

Clearly huge efforts are made to engage with staff and groups of staff were asked to help unpack the 2022 staff survey results, identifying any underlying issues that needed to be addressed. However, this did not result in a formal action plan which was shared with the workforce. Peers recommend the council looks to create more/different opportunities to show staff they are valued and listened to. The council may want to consider publishing an action plan after the next staff survey to demonstrate “you said, we did”. There is also an opportunity when updating the People Strategy to articulate how the council supports, develops, engages and looks to retain its workforce. There are many best practice examples in the sector.

Peers identified opportunities for scrutiny within a number of formal and informal meetings of the council. Scrutiny currently takes place in many parts of the governance structure. The opposition leader has a seat on the Executive, all members take part in portfolio holder working groups, task and finish groups exist to review specific topics and there is also an overview and scrutiny committee. Peers encourage councillors to ensure there is effective scrutiny at every opportunity in order to remain agile.

Peers heard from both members and officers that a review of the constitution to look at decision-making processes, delegation, including around procurement was underway and will ensure the council can react with speed and momentum when required in the future. 

The role of area committees is also confused. As a method of communication and engagement with the public, the area committees are too formal and ineffective, with low resident participation. Clarity on their role and purpose is currently being sought through a scrutiny task and finish group. Peers believe the task and finish group should focus on looking at best practice in other local authorities with a view to establishing a more informal arrangement that encourages resident participation.

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

Recommendation 1 - Set a long-term vision for Ipswich, communicate your plans for the borough – consider a visioning event with stakeholders.

Recommendation 2 - Develop internal and external communications strategies to clearly communicate what makes Ipswich great – what are the unique selling points?

Recommendation 3 - Develop a community engagement strategy for residents and partners and stakeholders:

• Listen to your communities.
• Work with your key partners/stakeholders.
• Learn from best practice within the council and from others.

Recommendation 4 - Financial savings plans (not one offs) need to be developed, agreed and implemented at pace.

Recommendation 5 - Continue development of a realistic transformation programme which includes:

• Clarity on the vision and objectives
• Sufficient skills and resources
• A clear corporate delivery framework 

Recommendation 6 - Create opportunities to demonstrate to staff you value and listen to what they have to say. Through the refresh of the People strategy, look to best practice in the sector.

Recommendation 7 - Review the constitution to consider removing Area Committees and ensure decision making processes enable the organisation to continue to be responsive and agile.

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:

• Jane Eaton - Chief Executive, Horsham District Council 
• Cllr Dr Beccy Cooper - Leader, Worthing Borough Council 
• Alice Lester - Corporate Director of Communities and Regeneration, London Borough of Brent 
• Melissa Kemp-Salt - Director of ICT and Transformation, Epping Forest District Council and Colchester City Council  
• Connor Pearson - National Management Trainee Transformation, Innovation, Digital and Climate, Dorset Council 
• Kirsty Human – Peer Challenge Manager, LGA 
• Kaylash Patel – Project Support Officer, LGA 

Scope and focus

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

1. Local priorities and outcomes - Are the council’s priorities clear and informed by the local context? Is the council delivering effectively on its priorities? 
2. Organisational and place leadership - Does the council provide effective local leadership? Are there good relationships with partner organisations and local communities?
3. Governance and culture - Are there clear and robust governance arrangements? Is there a culture of challenge and scrutiny?
4. Financial planning and management - Does the council have a grip on its current financial position? Does the council have a strategy and a plan to address its financial challenges?
5. Capacity for improvement - Is the organisation able to support delivery of local priorities? Does the council have the capacity to improve?

The peer challenge process

Within the core themes, the council asked the peer team to provide feedback on 

Partnership working - IBC recognises that much of its agenda and aims can only be delivered in strong partnership across Suffolk, and with the wider private and community sectors. The new leader and chief executive have renewed the organisation’s partnership focus and would welcome supportive peer challenge on how these relationships can be enhanced further to the benefit of the town and its residents. 

Regeneration - The council’s top priority is the revitalisation of the town centre. The council would welcome supportive peer challenge on its plans and delivery in this area and how its work could be enhanced and more effective.

Finance - In support of the organisation’s Medium Term Financial Plan, the organisation has embarked on a Finance Improvement Programme to modernise its approach to the budget, improve its strategic procurement and deal with ongoing budget issues. The council would welcome specific review team challenge on the work so far, scope and future plans. 

Capacity and Culture - With a new target operating model, the organisation recognises that it will need different skills and capacity, including a smart and agile new corporate centre and customer driven service delivery. The council would welcome the review team’s thoughts on emerging plans and recommendations for the future. 

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 in Ipswich, during which they:

• Gathered information and views from more than 40 meetings, in addition to further research and reading.
• Spoke to more than 100 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.

Ipswich Borough Council (IBC) has been a Labour administration since 2011 with the same leader. In May 2023 after 12 years in the role, the leader returned to the backbenches and a new leader was elected, at a similar time a new chief executive had also been appointed. Together the new leadership teams have articulated a clear strategic direction for the council through a new corporate strategy “Proud of Ipswich”. It sets out five priorities: a thriving town centre, meeting the housing needs of our community, a carbon neutral council, promoting community well-being and fairness in Ipswich and a financially sustainable council providing good quality services.  

Having adopted the strategy in summer 2023, work continues to embed the new priorities, actions and operating model within the organisation. In parallel the council is reviewing key strategies such as housing and people. This will support the new priorities, wider implications of the corporate strategy and key service-related strategies to align. Attention also needs to be focussed on the wider officer network to support them in understanding the vision, values and actions and how they are integrated into business planning and personal workforce objectives. 

Both members and officers are committed to delivering outcomes that make a difference to residents. This is evidenced in the delivery of the previous corporate strategy “building a better Ipswich”. Executive members have a good understanding of their portfolio areas, roles and responsibilities. A new performance management framework is being developed which will align key performance indicators to the new corporate plan priorities. Once in place, members will need to take more responsibility and own the council’s strategic priorities - working with senior officers to ensure they are being delivered. 

Many partners and stakeholders knew about the new corporate strategy and were supportive of its intent. However, few of those that peers met remembered being involved in directly shaping it, despite over a year of consultation and informal discussions as it was developed. This was of concern to peers who also considered it was a missed opportunity to work with residents and stakeholders to understand the issues faced in the community and plan together the best interventions to drive improvement across the borough. Future engagement with communities and stakeholders should test the priorities of the council to ensure IBC is delivering what they need.

IBC is a very ambitious council and uses every opportunity available to secure funding and resources to the advancement of the borough. Already a significant landowner in the borough, the council has used its wholly owned company, Ipswich Borough Assets to acquire Anglia Retail Park to ensure it has an offer which is complementary to the town centre rather than in competition with it. It has acquired stalled sites such as the Pauls Silo for development and works strategically to use its property expertise to regenerate the town. This is particularly evident on the Cornhill, where the council has a strategy to develop the area and make it the beating heart of the town. By working with businesses, developers and property owners there is a clear vision to redevelop the empty buildings, making the most of the beautiful, listed buildings including the Town Hall, old Post Office and Lloyds Bank to enhance the visitor experience, night-time economy and multiuse events space. 

Also supporting this ambition is £25m from the Towns Fund programme, which the chief executive took decisive action on immediately after her appointment. There are ten projects to be funded bringing a wealth of improvements and benefits to the borough including, educational, digital, cultural, tourism, recreation, leisure, public realm, transport and local amenities. Brought to life on a tour of the borough, peers were staggered by the volume of projects, plans and vision the council has to regenerate Ipswich. Peers noted that the council understood the changing nature of high streets and the need to diversify away from retail uses. The council needs to find a way to piece all these projects into a single vision for the borough which should be developed with partners, stakeholders and communities. Having separate strategies, for example the Cornhill only presents one piece of the picture. 

Peers understand from stakeholders that the Vision Board was set up in 2015 to develop this, but since the award of the £25m Town Deal in 2020/21 has taken on responsibility to oversee the delivery of this programme. It has only recently begun to consider other non-Town Deal matters again. There is an opportunity to refocus the vision board, review its membership to include representatives from arts and cultural organisations and work together to develop a holistic vision for Ipswich which sets out how everyone can play a part in its regeneration for decades to come. Peers recommend the council considers holding a visioning event with stakeholders which helps to pull together everything great about Ipswich – use this to set a long-term vision for Ipswich and communicate what the plans for the borough.

The council is performing well nationally against key performance indicators especially in its housing services. Vacant dwellings, households on the housing waiting list and households in temporary accommodation are below average. Housing benefit new claims and change events are being processed in five days, 14 days faster than the poorest performing council in the Cipfa comparison group. The processing of planning applications is 100 percent for every category.  

Affordable housing delivery is very low; however, the data is from 2022/23 and reflects the slowdown of housebuilding during the pandemic. There are plans to deliver around 300 affordable homes in 2023/24 at Bibb Way, Ravenswood, Fore Hamlet and Hawke Road.  Household waste sent for recycling is below average at 12.4 percent lower than the best performing council but reflects that the council does not currently collect food waste or glass.

Performance data is collated centrally on a digital platform, discussed with portfolio holders monthly, reported to CMT quarterly and taken to scrutiny annually for public review. Annually achievements of the previous year are listed in the MTFP to provide the context for budget setting. The new performance framework for the current corporate plan is focussed on delivering the new priorities. 

Peers heard from the housing service how performance data is used to drive improvement. The portfolio holder working group invited all members to review the new housing regulations and produce a combined response to government. In addition, following the pandemic there was a backlog of repairs and housing voids to be managed - voids had gone from 30 to 149 days. A recovery plan was put together, overseen by the Early Warning Group (EWG) and soon the council was completing 20,000 repairs a year instead of 16,000. Demand has also increased, and the average house is now receiving three repairs a year, which with a housing stock of almost 8000, means circa 20,000. In order to manage this increase, dynamic resource scheduling has been implemented which allows customer services to send jobs direct to the operatives via a mobile device. Customers can also report repairs online and these requests go direct from tenant to operative. As a result, staff are working more efficiently and the hope is that when more tenants report online, there will be financial savings driven out of the technology. 

In respect of voids, a taskforce was set up to monitor the performance and focus on the areas causing the most issues. Void times have been driven down from 100 days to 32 days, releasing properties back to the stock faster and housing families in need. Taskforces are being set up across the service to look at issues such as fire compliance, mould and damp and disrepair. The mould and damp group is a county wide project involving partners from health. Similarly, the fire compliance group is using consultants to do the assessments and create action plans given the specialist skills required. 

Homelessness and rough sleeping have also been under the spotlight and personally championed by the leader. Officers take a proactive approach and try to engage with people in advance of the 58-day minimum period. The council operates a landlord guarantee scheme which sees the council pay landlords the rent owed and then claim it back through the tenant. The Council has three primary hostels used to temporarily house families, including a converted former care home. Demand for temporary accommodation is rising and includes care leavers, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and asylum-seeking households. 

A government led four-year rough sleeping initiative (next steps accommodation programme) has provided certainty of funding to third sector providers who support the council in housing rough sleepers. The funding enabled eight single person pods to be built at Armitage Place which provide accommodation, a mental health link worker and navigators to support residents in moving on within two years. In addition, the council has operated a Housing First scheme for the past three years which officers believe has saved lives.

IBC is taking a proactive approach to tackling the climate emergency, a priority of the new corporate plan. In the last year the council was awarded Tree City of the World Status, one of only 138 in the world. Almost 3000 new trees were planted with £0.113m of funding from a range of sources. Over 150 solar PV panels were installed on council homes, over half the council fleet has been replaced with zero emission or ultra-low emission vehicles and £0.150m has been secured to fund a further 14 EV charging points in IBC car parks. 

Investment in a new carbon neutral BREEAM outstanding depot which will be operational in 2024 is a current priority, enabling the end of fossil fuel operated refuse vehicles in favour of EV or HVO. It will also enable the council to respond to the governments changing requirements on waste and recycling. 

The council appointed a new chief executive in February and leader in May 2023. Both have been part of the council for some years. The new appointments have brought new ideas, fresh perspectives, drive and ambition.

Partners and stakeholders told peers of the visible difference the new leadership has brought to the borough. The chief executive has taken the lead on delivering the Towns Deal projects, bringing focus and pace, strengthened existing partnerships and worked to develop new ones. The leader has focussed on meeting community groups, attending events and awards and talking to local business owners in the town. The visibility of both is strengthening the key relationships of the council. 

IBC has a desire to lead place making within Ipswich and is actively regenerating the town by utilising assets such as churches, the town hall, the old post office and an £8m regeneration fund (part of the Towns Fund) to bring vacant and untenanted properties in the town centre into active use. The council has a plan for the town which requires the redevelopment of sites around the Cornhill to be bought back into use. Ipswich Borough Assets (IBA), one of the council’s companies, has protected the town centre through its control of out-of-town retail parks in the north and east of the town. Acquiring strategic sites has ensured that shops which would otherwise be in the town centre are not granted tenancies on the parks. Its ownership of a Cornhill asset has also been instrumental in protecting the heart of the town from an additional vacant unit following the collapse of the Arcadia chain. 

Partners share the ambition and priorities of IBC and want to work with the council to help it succeed. Peers spoke with education, health, police, arts, culture, business, county, Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and Business Improvement District (BID) representatives who were all very positive and engaged. They shared experiences of constructive joint working, for example, working with the college to facilitate Galliard Homes providing apprenticeships to students at its development on Grafton Way. There was also a sense the partnerships could go further with some saying, “we can deliver for them if only we knew about it.” 

Ipswich is an arts, culture and heritage mecca, considered an area of strategic interest by the Arts Council who jointly fund with IBC, five National Portfolio Organisations (NPO) in the borough. These include the New Wolsey Theatre, DanceEast, SPLILL Festival (formerly the Pacitti Company), Gecko, and Eastern Angles. Ipswich and Colchester Museums (joint partnership) also received over £1.1m Arts Council funding as an NPO for a three-year period 2023-26. These organisations are working in communities and providing an arts and cultural offer many areas of the country can only dream of – the council should be proud of its commitment to support them.

The partners peers met were very complimentary about their relationships with officers of the council. It was clear the chief executive and leader have been instrumental in building up the relationship with partners and operational, front-line staff are very engaged in the delivery of projects.

Councillors play a key role in community leadership in Ipswich. Peers heard how active ward members are in their communities, regularly door knocking at weekends and listening to the views and concerns of residents. The council has a number of area committees which members sit on, and the public are invited to. They have the ability to provide grants to local community groups and receive updates from the police and county councillor as well as providing a borough council update. 

As a method of communication and engagement with the public, they are too formal and ineffective, with low resident participation. People attend if they have an issue or a request for funding, but in the main they exist to allow members to share details of their work in their wards. There is clearly confusion over their role and purpose with a scrutiny task and finish group currently looking into them. Peers recommend they are disbanded and the task and finish group focus on looking at best practice in other local authorities with a view to establishing a more informal arrangement that encourages resident participation. This should be done as part of the development of a community engagement strategy. 

In addition to the member leadership, there are pockets of good operational community engagement across the borough, for example, the Triangle Youth Club, Race for Change Reference Group, Integrated Neighbourhood Teams and the work delivered by the Community Support Service. However, peers heard in numerous meetings with officers, members, partners and stakeholders that IBC “doesn’t listen to its communities enough”. This was a theme peers picked up throughout their time in Ipswich. The council is so eager to get on and deliver after a period of time “in the doldrums” that it isn’t necessarily taking the time to engage more widely on its vision, ambition and priorities. Peers encourage the council to harness the good work being delivered, and learn from it to improve the council’s understanding of what communities need and what the council delivers – consider something like a big listen campaign.

Peers recommend the council develops a community engagement strategy with partners and stakeholders which:

• Listens to communities.
• Works with key partners/stakeholders.
• Learns from best practice within the council and from others.

Communications both internal and external has been a focus of the new leadership. Peers were surprised by the amount of negativity directed towards Ipswich and the way a narrative had been created that saw people talking the town down at every opportunity, peers heard “there is an addiction to nostalgia in Ipswich.” There appeared to be a perception the town was unsafe, and crime was on the increase. Peers spoke to police partners who confirmed the statistics show a decrease in crime and pointed to numerous joint projects with the council which have prevented antisocial behaviour, for example, removing benches at the bus interchange and clearing vegetation and improving lighting at St Lawrence Church. 

The emerging communications strategy is focussed on being “proud of Ipswich” and puts digital communications at its core. Work is progressing on gathering and promoting 1000 positive stories over a 12-month period. Peers recommend continuing to change the narrative, by ensuring all communications are effective in promoting the borough and challenge the negative perceptions. Partners expressed a desire to support this work with combined communications resources and methods adding strength to the messages. One partner said, “a strong Ipswich means a strong Suffolk.”

Staff told peers that internal communications have improved this year and there is a much greater flow of information around the council taking different approaches such as, emails, weekly staff bulletins, Vlogs, intranet updates and in person away days. Many staff are also residents, and the council could use this as an opportunity to develop an internal communications strategy which also promotes what makes Ipswich great, its unique selling points and why it is a great place to live and work.

Peers met with a strong head of service cohort who are clearly proud to work for the council and focussed on delivering quality services to residents. They welcome the distributed leadership model, which empowers them to take responsibility and accountability for their service areas. They support each other and help colleagues when service delivery requires it. Meeting every six weeks as a Senior Management Group (SMG) allows them to share and develop strategic approaches and consider corporate themes such as the financial challenge. Twice-yearly Management Away Days (MADs) which bring together any employee with either a budget or people responsibility allow some 200 staff to come together to problem solve, think creatively, celebrate success, and contribute to strategies which drive the council forward. 

The success of the MADs has not gone unnoticed amongst other staff. There was a clear ask from staff who don’t have budget or staffing responsibilities for opportunities for them to come together and have the ear of the senior team. There was a sense this was borne out of the disconnection post pandemic and the need for more cross directorate networking. Peers understand there are roadshows planned in 2024 which will involve the chief executive and leader meeting with staff across all services. This is a positive step and peers encourage further engagement of this nature with the harder to reach, frontline and peripatetic staff cohort. 

Peers were struck by the good relationships between members and officers. There is a high level of political maturity and respect for each other. Members welcome the new chief executive’s leadership and are supportive of the drive and ambition being shown. Peers witnessed a positive and encouraging culture across the many meetings and informal discussions held during their visit. 

Newly elected members are provided with a “buddy” from the CMT to help them navigate how the council works and to build relationships. There is also a good member induction and training and development programme in place which is developed with a cross- party member development group each year. It focusses on core training and areas of interest. Peers commend the involvement of members in this programme and considered it an example of best practice.    

The leadership and knowledge displayed by members of the planning and audit and governance committees was highlighted to peers by a number of sources. In line with best practice the council also has an independent member of audit and governance. The operation of these committees was considered effective – compared as a machine with a good engine. It was also good to see evidence of member succession planning with the appointment of portfolio holder deputies. Many members of the executive have years of experience and knowledge so having deputies to share this with is another example of good political health.

The council has one overview and scrutiny committee which in the past has been instrumental in leading to improved outcomes for the town, for example, through its engagement with Highways England over the closure of the Orwell Bridge in high winds. Under a new chair since May 2023, there are currently three task and finish groups reviewing, the area committees, homelessness and rough sleeping and town cleanliness which are aiming to deliver positive results for communities. 

Portfolio holders host cross-party working groups, which provide an opportunity for nominated members to attend, challenge, scrutinise and also engage with the executive members on policy issues. Portfolio holders are also requested by the overview and scrutiny committee to attend annually where they are held to account for the performance of their services. Peers considered these good examples of members from all parties having an opportunity to influence and inform scrutiny. 

IBC operates a strong leader and cabinet model of governance with cabinet referred to as executive. The current and former leaders have offered the leader of the opposition a seat on the executive without portfolio, a position the current Conservative leader has taken up. Whilst this does ensure transparency of decision making and provides the opposition with a seat at the table, it was not something peers had come across before and, in their opinion, felt it compromised scrutiny of the executive. The conservative group leader can ask questions at executive, but other members must provide theirs in writing in advance. Peers understand it is a situation which works for IBC and the group leaders have no wish to change the current arrangement.  

Peers observed multiple opportunities for scrutiny within the current structure, but it wasn’t clear how robust and effective it is overall. A review of the operation of the executive, the function of the opposition and where scrutiny is most effective is recommended to ensure all members have the ability to inform and influence and drive improved outcomes. 

The chief executive and leader meet several times a week to discuss key and emerging issues. The chief executive, monitoring officer (MO) and section 151 officer meet on a regular basis to discuss governance issues and this is supported by regular meetings with their deputies and the head of internal audit. 

Following the last Corporate Peer Challenge, the council implemented a Strategy Group which consists of portfolio holders and CMT. Meeting face to face on a monthly basis it enables the discussion of wider strategic or emerging issues. Recent topics have included how to improve the cleanliness of the town, how to improve the housing offer to older residents and thinking around the corporate strategy and operating model. Peers heard it described as the place where members and officers are equal and honest conversations can be had about the direction of the council. 

The council’s distributed leadership model encourages managers to discuss proposals with their portfolio holders and CMT sponsor before bringing them to the attention of CMT and the executive in a timely way. When a report is drafted it is considered by officers in finance, legal and potentially procurement, ICT and HR before being scrutinised by CMT ahead of the Early Warning Group (EWG). The EWG consists of all portfolio holders, five members of the administration and CMT. It meets two weeks before the publication of executive reports. 

Meeting in two parts, officers discuss the reports and answer questions from members ahead of a member only session where a decision on the report is made and officers are provided with the outcome by email the following day. Final versions of reports are signed off by the chief executive in consultation with the leader, MO and S151 officers. This is a robust and transparent process which requires officers to be very well organised.

The role and purpose of the EWG reflects that of informal cabinet/executive in many other councils. When peers first heard the term, they assumed it referred to a group overseeing impending disaster. IBC can name a group whatever it likes, however peers wondered whether considering a rebrand of the EWG to informal executive for example might give a greater understanding of the groups’ purpose to officers new to the organisation and external partners. 

A number of staff networks exist for those with protected characteristics, such as the REACH (Race, Ethnicity and Cultural Heritage) network, and in support of health-related issues, such as menopause champions. The council is actively working with the unions to roll out training on topics including, trans-ally and have an action plan to deliver the commitments of the Anti-Racism Charter. The staff peers spoke with referred to the support as a bit of a “patchwork” of provision and would welcome work in this area being brought together under an umbrella. 

IBC has a dedicated and committed workforce who are proud to work for the council. There has been a noticeable increase and emphasis on staff engagement over the past year, with manager away days, employee surveys, weekly staff news, regular updates from the chief executive via email, video and vodcast and a staff recognition scheme. 

Peers were also told that all staff in maintenance and contracts and waste and fleet services met with their directors in 2023 (two of the councils “hardest to reach” workgroups because of the nature of their work). Additionally, all Shared Revenues Partnership staff met with their assistant director. Together this equates to around a third of the workforce. 

Despite all these efforts, some staff who met with peers believed improvements could be made. In particular feedback on the results of the 2022 staff survey was mentioned. The results continue to demonstrate high levels of satisfaction with those taking part, although there are many that don’t engage (44 percent response rate in 2022). There was an underlying message from staff that peers spoke to in non-management roles that they didn’t feel listened to and lacked opportunities to network across the organisation.

Clearly huge efforts are made to engage with staff and groups of staff were asked to help unpack the 2022 staff survey results, identifying any underlying issues that needed to be addressed. However, this did not result in a formal action plan which was shared with the workforce. Peers recommend the council looks to create more/different opportunities to show staff they are valued and listened to. The council may want to consider publishing an action plan after the next staff survey to demonstrate “you said, we did”. There is also an opportunity when updating the people strategy to articulate how the council supports, develops, engages and looks to retain its workforce. There are many best practice examples in the sector. 

The council adopted a four-year Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) in February 2023. It aims to reduce reliance on central government funding and increase self-sufficiency. The General Fund (GF) net budget for 2023/24 is £25.6m and the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) gross spend is £31.1m. In November 2023 a £2.9m increase in spend was reported against the original February budget due to approved in-year budget increases. This means the council will now use £3.4m of balances – an increase of £1.58m to balance the budget for 2023/24. Peers urge members and senior officers to understand the seriousness of the budget gap and to think carefully about the “nice-to-have” services and provisions when reviewing the finances.

Reserves have been depleted, particularly to cover income shortfalls and inflationary costs at a time when opportunities to replenish them through additional income have been limited. The GF balance is currently £16.4m and the HRA is £7.3m. General Fund reserves (excluding the working balance) are anticipated to fall from £11.767m at the end of 2023 to £9.465m by the end of 2027. With a currently low minimum balance, peers endorse the prudent move to increase the required working balance from £2m to £4.5m considering the current environment – this was also a recommendation from the LGA financial desktop review. 

A council-wide budget challenge month in June 2023 identified over 100 potential cost-saving ideas in addition to the “big ticket savings” already identified. The council also plans to introduce thematic reviews - a way of systematically identifying and delivering the better customer experience and cost reductions needed to balance the budget. This will be the primary way of delivering savings over the next two years. In addition, heads of service are identifying pressures in their services post pandemic and the rising cost of inflation is becoming clearer. This is enabling a resetting of service budgets and a better understanding of the savings target for 2024/5 onwards. 

The transformation programme is still at an early stage and the savings expected are not yet developed. This presents a risk to the council’s future financial strategy. Once the programme is more developed and the projects have been costed, peers advise CMT monitors the business case outcomes closely to ensure the savings are delivered.

Peers noticed that many of the in-year budget gap savings are being covered by one off solutions, for example, an extra contribution from the countywide business rates pool. IBC has been challenged by pay awards, inflation, reductions in income, service demand pressures, borrowing costs and MRP. To ensure a longer term sustainable financial position, peers recommend the financial savings plans (not including one off solutions) are firmed up and implemented at pace. 

Unlike many councils, IBC has managed to prioritise and deliver front line services despite budget pressures since 2011. Performance is good in respect of council tax collection (99 percent) and business rates collection (98 percent). It is commendable that so many of the councils’ services remain in house or delivered by wholly owned companies with just internal audit, shared revenues and museums being part of shared service arrangements. This has ensured the council has direct control over its services and can monitor performance closely. Peers recognised the sense of pride both officers and members had in this philosophy but encourage IBC to revisit the “inhouse is best” viewpoint as financial pressures intensify. 

Risk management processes have recently been reviewed with external assessment sought on the framework. Internal audit also completed a light touch review as members of the Audit and Governance Committee were struggling to understand the framework. The new risk register is due to be approved by the Audit and Governance Committee. CMT review risks on a monthly basis and peers observed discussions around the likelihood of delivering a balanced MTFP. A sensible debate took place with consensus that a score of four was prudent given there were still savings to be delivered. The option to move to a three could be explored when more certainty could be provided over anticipated savings. 

The council has a number of subsidiary companies:

• Ipswich Buses (IBL) – one of just 10 municipal bus companies. 
• Ipswich Borough Assets (IBA) – Investment company managing a £100m portfolio.
• Ipserv – Trading services company with two employment subsidiaries
• Ipserv Direct – Teckal compliant only trading with IBC.
• Handford Homes – Teckal compliant providing new build housing and non-housing developments for IBC with a letting’s subsidiary.

The companies generate revenue income and reduce the cost of services by lowering their charges to the council, which is now a crucial part of the council’s base budget income and part of the financial strategy moving forward. The council forecasted to receive a gross £5.5m of investment income from the arms-length companies in the 2022/23 financial year.

The council is investing in the borough. Since 2016 it has invested £120m in property using the company route for example, the Birketts building and Anglia Retail Park. Although the company has made a cumulative loss it has continued to make payments to the council which helps with the cost of borrowing, and the council sees that the investment portfolio is a long-term plan.  Funding the capital programme through internal sources in 2022/23 avoided the need to pay net interest (at approx. five percent), which is a significant benefit to the GF.

The council held external borrowings totalling £205m at 31 March 2023. At 31 March 2023, £102m of the council’s borrowing had been taken out for the purpose of financing lending to subsidiary companies and is projected to fall to £97m by June 2024. Peers spent time understanding the company structure, the subsidiaries and the organic way they have grown. There is a robust governance process in place to monitor the activities of the companies. Each company consults the council’s executive on its draft business plan ahead of adoption and executive has reserved a number of decisions to it as shareholder. 

An LGA desk top review of finance in summer 2023 suggested a review of the companies and their purpose. Peers were pleased to hear that internal audit are scheduled to complete a review of governance arrangements in respect of the wholly owned companies in 2024/25 with a high-level report so far indicating a “responsible” approach. In addition, peers recommend the council continues to keep the governance of its  companies and its board members under review in line with current and changing guidance and regulations, for example, by using the local authority company review guidance.

There is a distinct strength in the knowledge and experience of the senior finance team. This has been developed over many years and serves the council incredibly well. However, peers had concerns over the future resilience of the team given their demographics and suggest a succession plan with opportunities for mentoring be put in place to ensure those coming into the roles have the required capability and skills. 

IBC is fortunate to have external audit reports to 2021/22. The relationship with both internal and external auditors is positive and respectful. Peers heard how the council had worked with the external auditor over a disagreement regarding the value of assets and had reached a mutually agreeable situation by using different valuers.

Internal Audit regularly reviews the council’s procurement and contract management activity. A report entitled ‘Procurement and Contract Management 2022-23’ received a Limited Assurance Opinion with associated agreed actions. There continues to be underlying non-compliance with contract standing orders, and a number of contract requirements or deliverables were not being effectively managed. Some actions have been completed and the remainder are being actively progressed by officers in a timely manner. The council has used EELGA to carry out a more detailed review and is in the process of implementing its recommendations. Peers heard that the issues appear to stem from a sense that many officers see this as the job of the procurement officer rather than taking responsibility themselves. Managers need to be reminded of the importance in actioning the audit recommendations. Then focus on resetting the roles and responsibilities with the assistance of refresher training.  

IBC is fortunate to have a loyal and dedicated workforce who care about delivering good services to their communities. Staff feel supported and empowered. Peers heard comments including, “I’ve worked in the private sector my whole life and I’ve never felt so safe and respected as I do now.” “I love working and living here, it’s a great place.” “It is brilliant to work somewhere where housing is so supported by members.” Around 50 percent of the apprenticeship levy is being used to develop skilled staff from level three to level seven. Staff turnover rates are lower than average at 11 percent (15 percent nationally) and there are good relations with unions. There is also a good track record of growing your own talent with half the current heads of service being promoted from within the organisation. There was less success in appointing to the CMT roles and the council needs to think about what opportunities and development needs are required to support future transition from heads of service to assistant director roles. 

The chief executive is driving a change in the organisational culture and supporting the council to think about its ambition to change. This is reflected by the wider workforce who are loyal, passionate about the future and proud to work for Ipswich. The pride and ambition are also recognised by external partners. The new corporate plan and priorities are helping to set the future direction for service delivery.

The new management structure provides additional resources at a strategic level. Recruitment to these roles has taken time with three of the assistant directors not in post at the time of the CPC and the director of transformation and strategy yet to be filled. Once the assistant director tier is in place and handovers have been completed, peers urge the chief executive and directors to move into the strategic space to focus on the corporate direction of the council and to reap the benefits of capacity that the restructure has enabled.

Peers heard in some of their meetings that the good will amongst staff which has been filling gaps, or doing that bit extra, is fraying at the edges. A challenging recruitment market is not helping with vacancies and technical/specialist teams are struggling to fill roles. This situation in not unique in local government and the sector as a whole is struggling to remain attractive in a competitive market. In addition, IBC has a future resilience risk at the head of service tier with some officers coming up to retirement age. There is also the draw of external opportunities with increased benefits within walking distance of the council. IBC will need to draw upon all its reserves to think creatively to establish a strategic approach to talent management and recruitment, focussed on its skills gaps. 

With some dedicated resource, there are opportunities to develop rising stars in the council, by offering training and development through the apprenticeship levy, T levels and other programmes focussed on the technical skills the organisation needs, such as planning, environmental health and project management. Working with the local colleges and university the council could consider work placements and targeted approaches to university leavers. There are also opportunities to join the National Graduate Development Programme, consider career grade roles and use planning performance agreements, within the planning service to fund posts linked to the major projects.

To achieve the organisation’s transformation ambitions and respond to financial challenges the council must invest in additional skills and delivery capacity. Peers were not confident the right skills are currently being deployed, it appeared to be more business improvement rather than transformation. There are also limited officers with qualifications in project management and with relevant experience. The head of transformation is currently developing the transformation programme linked to the corporate plan and covering all aspects of the target operating model (TOM). This is a big job, and it was clear to peers that there is an urgent need to recruit to the director of transformation and strategy to lead the team and provide much needed additional capacity. 

Further development of the project and programme management framework and governance is needed to ensure the approach is understood and embedded throughout the organisation and managers take ownership of thematic reviews in their service areas. 

Another strand of the programme should be the enabling role ICT and digital services play in driving the organisational outcomes and efficiencies. Consideration of invest to save projects, particularly in digital infrastructure and software is needed to provide effective delivery of change and drive savings from the wider organisation. Peers encourage the council to agree a digital vision, system architecture and develop a strategy and roadmap to outline how digital will support the efficient and effective running of the council, how it can save money without compromising outcomes and how it can make services simpler, easier to access and more straightforward to use. Without a plan for digital transformation the council will struggle to deliver against its corporate plan priorities.

Peers recommend the council continues developing a realistic transformation programme, paying particular attention to:

• Clarity on the vison and objectives 
• Sufficient skills and resources
• A clear corporate delivery framework.

It is recognised that senior political and managerial leadership will want to consider, discuss and reflect on these findings. 

Both the peer team and LGA are keen to build on the relationships formed through the peer challenge. The CPC process includes a progress review within twelve months of the CPC, which provides space for the council’s senior leadership to update peers on its progress against the recommendations from this report.

In the meantime, Rachel Litherland, Principal Adviser for East of England, is the main contact between your authority and the Local Government Association. Rachel is available to discuss any further support the council requires. [email protected] 

6.1 Communications and Engagement

Building council and place narratives

Tools to build stronger dialogue with residents.

6.2 Transformation

The LGA’s new Transformation programme is bolstering capacity and capability in local government by offering councils:

• support and expertise to lead transformation projects.
• data-driven tools to improve efficiency and support continuous improvement.

Learning and skills

We will be supporting councils with their transformation plans through our programme of masterclasses and workshops.

Peer support

We are offering peer support to councils through our Transformation Experts programme and our Transformation matching service. Our Transformation panels will enable officers to network, challenge and support each other through common transformation challenges.

Our Transformation programme is informed by two groups of local government officers – the Transformation Network and the Behaviour Change Leads Group (BCLG). These groups give officers valuable opportunities to learn new techniques, network, share notable practice, and hear from guest speakers.

Contact us - If you would like further information on any aspect of our Transformation programme, please email us at [email protected]