Agenda item

The Chief Executive to submit a report the purpose of which is to publish the full LGA Peer Challenge Report following the visit from the Peer Challenge team 11-13 December 2017. This report summarises what the Peer team found including both areas of good practice and areas where the Council could improve. It also includes a summary of what the Council has been doing up to this point and plans for the future.

In a report previously circulated, the Chief Executive provided Members with the LGA Peer Challenge Report following the visit from the Peer Challenge team during 11 to 13 December 2017.  The report summarised what the Peer team found including both areas of good practice and areas where the Council could improve.  It also included a summary of what the Council had been doing up to this point and plans for the future.

The Leader, in presenting the report to Members and moving the recommendations it contained:

(a)       reminded them of the background to the Council’s decision to invite a Peer Challenge team to visit the Council in order to act as a critical friend and how this process operated;

(b)       reported that the Peer team had found that staff, Members, and stakeholders were positive about the new direction of the Council and that there was a real opportunity for it to maximise the potential of the area.  The new corporate management structure and new performance framework were seen as positive steps and would add capacity and accountability to the priority areas.  They had identified that the Council had been well run financially but that it must ensure there was a wider recognition of the financial challenge and consider how it might utilise borrowing to fund future investment opportunities;

(c)        explained that a shortage of capacity, turnover of key staff and vacancies were identified as key challenges currently.  This was something that had been prioritised over the last few months and a recruitment drive was now underway to fill posts and a new Workforce Strategy under development which would be brought forward in the near future.  Whilst this would undoubtedly help, the Leader stressed that the Council must recognise that some parts of the organisation remained extremely lean and it would have to explore whether further investment in some areas was required to support effective service delivery;

(d)       stressed that, most crucially, the peer team confirmed the need for the Council to undergo a very focused prioritisation exercise.  The Council’s ambition and the commitment of its staff to deliver set it apart, but the Council must collectively ensure it was clear on its priorities and then resource them effectively.  The Council also needed to ensure that its decision making and governance processes were clear and streamlined.  To this end, the Council had already commissioned the LGA to provide further support by working with officers and Members to review its governance processes and provide support during the prioritisation exercise;

(e)       assured Members that they would be fully involved in these processes and the LGA would provide specific recommendations on what should be changed.  This work would take place over the next couple of months and the aim was to have proposals for a refreshed set of corporate priorities, a new set of corporate values and an updated Constitution and Scheme of Delegation ready to present to the Annual Meeting in May;

(f)        stressed that this remained an exciting time for Melton.  The outcome of the Local Plan Examination and the submission to the Department for Transport for distributor road funding was awaited.  The Council was exploring opportunities to build new homes in Melton and to create a wider place partnership which would enable it to maximise the potential of the ‘Rural Capital of Food’.  The Council could and should remain ambitious and the work it would do following the peer challenge would help ensure it was better equipped to deliver.

After the motion was seconded by Councillor Higgins, the Mayor moved to the vote which resulted in the motion being carried unanimously.

RESOLVED:

(1)       to note the report and accept the recommendations as set out in the LGA Peer Challenge Report;

(2)       to note what action has been taking place over recent months and the next steps as set out in the developing Action Plan (Appendix B of the report).

[Before moving to the exempt item, as the Scout Group would now need to leave the meeting, Councillor Greenow wished to publicly congratulate them for how well presented they had been and how pleasing it had been to hear their excited chatter before the start of the meeting.]