The Local Government Chief Executives’ Leadership Standards: Guidance for Leaders and Directly Elected Mayors

The Leadership Standards present a set of professional leadership standards for local government chief executives. They were created following an extensive engagement exercise with the sector, to build a comprehensive picture of the complex accountabilities that local government Chief Executives hold. 

The research interviews that formed the basis of the work centered around a discussion on ‘what makes a high performing Chief Executive?’ One of the ways in which the Leadership Standards can be used is by Leaders, Directly Elected Mayors and Senior Members in conversations with their Chief Executive to help them understand the Chief Executive role and to inform the annual performance appraisal process.

In high performing local government organisations, the working relationship between the Leader and Chief Executive is central. It sets the tone for relationships within the staff group, within the groups of elected members and between the two.  

This unique relationship means that when things go wrong the implications can be far reaching. They can impact wider staff morale and the good functioning of the organisation. Appraisals can be a key way to ensure that expectations, performance, and development needs are optimally addressed.

The relationship between chief executives and lead members within local government is distinct from hierarchical managerial relationships found in arms-length bodies of Government or in the private sector. Chief officers act as the head of the paid service, whilst political Leaders manage the political dimensions and ultimately make decisions, supported by appointed officers.

The chief executive is not just accountable to the most senior politician – they are also accountable to the whole local authority. As head of the paid service, the chief executive is principally responsible for managerial leadership of staff and for advising the council on the best ways to organise its many functions. 

Furthermore, not all duties of a chief executive are politically directed. Some requirements of a chief executive are legislative, directed by Government, or related to civil contingencies. At times these could conflict with political direction or intentions and so the chief executive is required to mediate these. 

That said, Leaders/Directly Elected Mayors and senior elected members (referred throughout the rest of this document as ‘Members’) have a role in holding chief executives to account for their performance and delivery of the priorities of the council.

As the working relationship between Members and chief executives is so unique, the appraisal process needs to reflect this. Use of an external facilitator can be very helpful in both designing the appraisal process and undertaking it. Facilitators can support both parties and provide protection too.

The Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) has produced joint guidance on appraisal of the chief executive which will be helpful to you.The process of setting objectives should be by agreement and the result should be to identify objectives which are relevant and challenging, but also achievable. The use of a facilitator can assist this process considerably. The guidance recognises that the chief executive’s position is unique – in one sense their objective is to deliver the corporate priorities set by the whole council as well as delivering their duties under legislation.  

The Leadership Standards can be part of the toolkit for Members when preparing for Chief Executive appraisal. 

In local government organisations that are under No Overall Control, special arrangements will be needed beyond this guidance. We recommend you speak to your LGA regional adviser, ALACE, or SOLACE in these cases.

The Standards cover seven core themes, which have been identified as the foundations for a chief executive development curriculum.  Under each theme, there are several bullet points.  Each bullet point, when achieved, is what our research demonstrated as indicators of high-performance.  Taken together, each of the bullet points set out a high standard for what excellent looks like in each of the seven areas.   

However, it is important to recognise that Chief Executives will not be universally expert across the seven standards.  Some will excel in certain areas and indeed some of the areas might be more relevant to particular councils, at particular points in time.  Subsequent appraisal discussions might highlight new and different standards, with the aim of building a strong platform across all areas.

• Understanding the Chief Executive role:  In politically-led organisations with members setting the policy framework and officers responsible for delivery, there are areas where the responsibilities intersect and overlap and having a good understanding of how this works in different circumstances is critical to effective working and good governance.  The Standards provide a good starting point for understanding the key roles of a local government Chief Executive.  They are not a definitive list of all the responsibilities that a chief executive undertakes, and should not be taken as such, but they do provide an overview of some of the fundamental themes that Chief Executives will be grappling with as they develop in their role. It is helpful to bear in mind that not all duties of the chief executive are politically directed, and so a more nuanced conversation may be needed relating to these areas. Therefore, the full range of chief executive responsibilities and duties should be accounted for as part of the appraisal process. It is also important to note that chief executives may not be able to successfully achieve objectives without a mature and effective relationship with the leader and other senior members. Appraisals should reflect this. 

• Celebrating positive achievements: the Leadership Standards can help provide a common language to talk about development and positive achievements. If a Chief Executive is routinely using the Standards (and accompanying self-assessment tool) to review their development, they can point to areas where they have built their knowledge, experience and sharpened their judgement since their last review. 

• Discussing development: Local authority Chief Executives come from a range of professional backgrounds – some will belong to a specific profession (for example accountants, lawyers, planners or social care), but others may have come from different sectors or followed a different local government career path.  Commitment to personal development is important at all stages of a career, and the Leadership Standards can help chief executives identify and focus their development as they continue to progress within their roles. In advance of an appraisal, the chief executive could share a self-assessment with their Leader, to facilitate an open dialogue about where to focus or invest in their continued professional development for the coming period or specific improvement needs.

• Tackling under-performance: Having a clear record of expectations and objectives and regular and honest appraisal conversations is a critical part of holding Chief Executives to account for delivery of the objectives. Where the activity falls short of expectations, Independent facilitation is vital. An experienced and knowledgeable facilitator can assist both parties to agree how to frame both objectives, measures and assess outcomes. They can also be vital in situations where the Leader is new to the role. An independent perspective can support ongoing development (Leader and chief executive) and provide protection and reassurance as well as objective challenge.

• Setting objectives: the objectives of a chief executive should focus on the Corporate Plan which sets out the key priorities for the local authority. This should not be an exhaustive list of everything the Chief Executive does, but reflect the key priorities for the Council. Although some of these may not be directly Council responsibilities, how chief executives manage these relationships is key for the appraisal for example the relationship with local health partners.  Modelling behaviours and values of the organisation both internally and externally is a key part of this (as it is for Members).  The Standards could help articulate these and provide a starting point for discussion on issues such as:
   
  • Effective leadership with councillors and parties; 
  • Leading change and developing the organisation;
  • Enabling effective external partnerships relationships and networks;
  • Maintaining focus on strategic and long-term issues for the Council;
  • Leading and integrating performance management & risk management within the organization; and 
  • Maintaining personal perspective and self-knowledge
     
• Ensuring the appraisal is clear about what needs to be done, and the leadership behaviours to achieve this will provide an evidence-based evaluation of achievements and help build a trusting and honest relationship across the political and managerial leadership in a local government organisation.
• It is also important to see the appraisal as just one-way of developing a successful working relationship between chief executives and Members. Very regular meetings both 1-2-1 and with the wider political portfolio leads, are standard ways to promoting a clear understanding on both sides about priorities and how to get them achieved.

This document is provided as general best practice guidance for the local government sector based on peer-based advice – every local government organisation is unique and so you may want to seek further specific guidance according to your particular circumstances and context.

Your internal HR lead is a key confidential source of advice and support for appraisals and progressing development opportunities.

You can also access the following further sources of support and guidance to progress chief executive and senior officer appraisals and development: