If you are reading The MJ, it is likely you are knowledgeable about and interested in the local government sector. You know the amazing work councils do up and down the country, the vast array of services they deliver and the challenges that they face – and do a pretty good job of quietly tackling.
In recent months, however, if you opened any mainstream newspaper or logged on to a news website, you could be forgiven for thinking we are a sector that is failing and in huge trouble.
Big headlines detailing the horror surrounding a relatively small number of councils have got the Government excited and the creation of Oflog, alongside a new narrative on Best Value, has raised the collective hackles of the local government sector. And rightly so.
We pride ourselves on looking after our own and working together to share best practice across our local government family. We are also a pretty humble lot, massively downplaying the complexity of the services we provide across diverse geographies and populations.
Having led a challenged council, I also know when you are focused on improvement, it is just as important to keep your head up and your narrative flowing. The endless inspections and reflections can feel like a hamster wheel you can't get off. But getting out of intervention cannot just be an end in itself. The story of your place, the vision and the aspiration is crucial, to not just raising your service standards, but also taking your team and the wider community with you. This applies to all councils.
A key part of the Local Government Association's (LGA) Corporate Peer Challenge is understanding if you have got the wider message understood and flowing and whether it is reaching the places it needs to.
As the Government continues to look to us as a sector to continually review its sector-led improvement offer, it is right we challenge ourselves about how we help each other.
Some of the best advice I received was from fellow leaders who faced the issues I was confronted with. Now I am one of hundreds of councillors – and officers – using their experience and expertise to advise and assist colleagues on a range of issues.
But we need to go further – the LGA's decision to ensure all member councils have had a corporate or finance peer challenge by 2027 is very welcome and this sits alongside previous changes that mean reports are now required to be published alongside an action plan and a return visit occurs too.
Over the last year I have been part of focused work on reviewing how we train and support councillor and officer peers to enable them to even better support colleagues in other authorities, as well as how to provide assurance to Government. These issues and others form a significant part of the work programme for the LGA's Improvement and Innovation Board in 2023-24 I have the privilege of chairing.
Hand-in-hand with this needs to be a stronger narrative around how we are both continuing to review what we as a sector do to support each other and also how we respond to Oflog and the Best Value framework.
This message needs to not only get into every council – with a clear message of support and assistance, underpinning the Best Value framework that we are all on an improvement journey – but also be loud and clear across Government as a sector with a clear vision and plan for its future. Time for local government to be a bit less bashful and instead to be bolder about the role it plays in touching the lives of every resident every day.
Cllr Abi Brown is chair of the LGA Improvement Board and former leader of Stoke-on-Trent City Council
