Peer review says there has been progress 'at pace' within West Northamptonshire Council but 'more to do'

From March 4 to March 7 this year, WNC took part in a Corporate Peer Challenge – also known as a peer review – undertaken by the Local Government Association (LGA), as part of their improvement programme.

The review saw a team of senior officers and members from other councils across the country visit WNC offices. They looked at how effective the organisation is at providing services, measuring its own ability to deliver upon its plans and vision for improving West Northamptonshire, in terms of governance and leadership.

The process is designed to be “problem-solving" and does not rank or score the council. However, it does highlight recommendations that the council should consider to make improvements.

The review, published this week, says: “Much has been achieved at pace, and the council knows there is more to do across a wide range of services and how it works.

“There are good and constructive working relationships between councillors and officers, and those relationships are often described as having mutual respect and support.

"Cabinet members know their subject matter well and show good leadership of their portfolios; directors are visible, accessible and are well regarded by their staff.

“Overall, how it engages with external partners has improved over the past three years and there are fewer relationships which are described as difficult. Despite this there is room for improvement in some strategic relationships which the council recognise need strengthening and ongoing attention.

“A great deal of change has been delivered already, with more planned. This is manifested in many reviews and restructures, the introduction of different ways of working, the rationalisation of some buildings and the repurposing of others, and new terms and conditions and pay scales for staff.

“Sometimes it [the council] will need to be more flexible in its thinking and approach, as well as recognise that it cannot solve everything on its own.”

The review also highlighted eight recommendations to the council, which are:

• Work with partners to shape the future, including developing a long-term vision, developing ownership of the housing strategy and exploring the ambition for the children’s services.
• Develop a strategic engagement plan for partnership working, as partners want to work more extensively with the council.
• Process map high traffic customer transactions to back-office functions.
• Review and overhaul the council’s website. The peers say the website can be “difficult to navigate”.
• Review the council’s appetite for risk and delivery, linked to ambition.
• Continue to develop overview and scrutiny.
• Raise the profile of the council both within and beyond WNC’s borders.
• Develop a plan to manage medium to long term budget pressures, linked to corporate priorities.

Councillor Adam Brown, Leader of West Northamptonshire Council, said: “We welcome the findings of the LGA’s Corporate Peer Challenge as an excellent test of our organisation’s priorities, strengths, challenges and culture.

"It’s encouraging to know our partners share our aspirations for the area and are keen to join us on our journey ahead and we will welcome their closer working and the invaluable involvement they will bring towards shaping a long-term vision for West Northamptonshire. I would like to thank everyone who was involved or contributed to this peer challenge.”