The Local Government Association (LGA) should consider what further action it could take to encourage increased participation in sector-led improvement (SLI), an independent report has urged.
There is an expectation that every council should receive a corporate peer challenge (CPC) but the report, conducted by Shared Intelligence and commissioned by the LGA, found a ‘small minority' of councils have still not taken part nine years after they were launched.
The review suggested the LGA should consider making ‘more unequivocal statements about its expectations of councils' participation in SLI' and ‘using both political and member networks at national and regional levels to enable direct conversations with leading figures in non-participating councils'.
A number of people interviewed by Shared Intelligence also floated the idea that communities secretary Robert Jenrick could ‘issue a statement making it clear that the Government expects all councils to participate in SLI including CPCs'.
In addition, interviewees questioned the extent to which SLI was getting the ‘necessary traction in councils in difficult circumstances,' with concerns raised about the ‘robustness of the process, the strength of the recommendations and the rigour of follow-up action'.
The report read: ‘The LGA should explore whether when providing SLI support to councils in challenging circumstances there would be benefit in adopting a more assertive approach in relation to the type of SLI intervention(s) that may be appropriate, the focus of those interventions and the selection of the team to deliver it; the make-up of the team and its ability to craft recommendations in a way that is most likely to lead to improvement; publication of the findings and follow-up action and reporting.'
It suggested that ‘more could be done to encourage the small minority of councils which have minimal engagement with SLI to become more active and enable SLI interventions to have more traction with councils in difficult circumstances'.
The report added: ‘These two aspects are seen as being linked because of a concern that a failure to embrace the ethos of SLI, particularly openness to constructive challenge and learning, is in itself an indicator of a council being at risk of poor performance.'
On the annual basis of the memorandum of understanding between the LGA and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the report raised concerns that this drove a ‘short-term focus constraining both the impact of SLI and the sector's ability to evidence that impact'.
Interviewees suggested that civil servants should regularly be members of CPC teams, which they felt would ‘add value to the process, providing government with useful learning about the current position in local government and the challenges and opportunities it faces, and about the robustness of the process'.
The report found 80% of councils believed that the LGA's SLI offer added value to the sector.
Chairman of the LGA's improvement and innovation board, Cllr Peter Fleming, said: 'The evidence and feedback collected clearly demonstrates the overwhelming support for SLI and the very high levels of satisfaction with our offer.'
A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokeswoman said: 'We will consider the report's recommendations and continue to work closely with councils to ensure best practice is shared.'
