LGA to increase focus on governance, scrutiny and assurance issues in future Corporate Review Challenges

The Local Government Association (LGA) has said it plans to focus more on governance, scrutiny and assurance issues at local authorities in future Corporate Peer Challenges (CPC), in response to trends it has noticed in this year's CPC reports.

In its 2022/23 report on CPCs and Finance Peer Challenges (FPCs), the LGA highlighted a number of prevalent issues, raising concerns about governance, financial scrutiny, and recruitment.

Corporate Peer Challenges are voluntary and involve a team of expert senior and experienced local government officers and councillors spending time at a council as 'peers' to provide challenge, assurance and learning.

The process ends with a detailed report which outlines recommendations made by the peers.

Among the trends the LGA noticed in its CPCs in 2022/23 was a trend in problems with the understanding and application of the key roles and responsibilities of statutory officers, the report noted.

It said that: "CPCs have identified the need to strengthen and improve the understanding and application of the key roles and responsibilities of statutory officers. It was felt that some councils need to ensure that there is a better, shared understanding, amongst senior members and officers, of these roles.

"Some CPCs also found a blurring of roles and responsibilities of officers and members and a need to undertake engagement and development work to address this."

The report also stated that the peer challenges commonly recommend that councils strengthen overview and scrutiny's focus on key strategic issues and priorities.

On financial management, the report said that peers often recommended that councils strengthen collective ownership, understanding and responsibility of financial management and oversight.

"This includes ensuring wider senior officers and members are engaged in both the budget setting process and financial monitoring and ensuring the approach to budget setting is collaborative and inclusive," the report stated.

The report also emphasised a trend in recruitment and retention challenges, particularly in relation to children's services, adult social care and planning.

It added that while these issues were subject to wider market and labour forces, some reports highlighted opportunities for councils to explore shared services and/or to work with partners as a route to look strategically at the issues.

"Councils are also responding through the development of people strategies which focus on staff engagement, learning and development, upskilling, mandated appraisals and celebration of achievements," the report added.

As a result of the findings, the LGA said it plans to strengthen the CPC process through an improved focus on assurance, governance and scrutiny by introducing a new set of core elements, new prompts and questions.

It also wishes to encourage an increased focus on governance arrangements and structures as well as culture, relationships and values in future CPCs.

In addition, it hopes for CPCs to consider performance and outcomes more deeply with a focus on how the council is performing and what it is achieving for its communities.

In 2022/23, 55 councils received a CPC or FPC, and 48 received a peer team-led CPC progress review. Out of the 55 councils that received a CPC, eight councils received a CPC for the first time.

The LGA reported that 100% of respondents indicated that the process of preparing for and participating in the peer challenge had a positive impact on their council.

Adam Carey