Progress Review: Stratford-on-Avon District Council

The council undertook an LGA Corporate Peer Challenge (CPC) during March 2024 and promptly published the full report with an action plan.

The Progress Review is an integral part of the Corporate Peer Challenge process. Taking place approximately ten months after the CPC, it is designed to provide space for the council’s senior leadership to:

• Receive feedback from peers on the early progress made by the council against the CPC recommendations and the council’s CPC Action Plan.
• Consider peers’ reflections on any new opportunities or challenges that may have arisen since the peer team were ‘on-site’ including any further support needs
• Discuss any early impact or learning from the progress made to date

The LGA would like to thank Stratford-on-Avon District Council for their commitment to sector led improvement. This Progress Review was the next step in an ongoing, open and close relationship that the council has with LGA sector support.

The progress review at Stratford-on-Avon DC (SDC) took place onsite on 21^st January 2025.

The progress review focussed on each of the recommendations from the CPC.

For this progress review, the following members of the original CPC team were involved:

• Cllr Richard Keeling – Leader, Teignbridge District Council
• Donna Nolan – Chief Executive, Watford Borough Council
• Andrew Cummings – Deputy Chief Executive & Strategic Director of Resources, Stroud District Council
• Paula Maginnis - Service Director - Corporate Services & Interim Monitoring Officer, Epping Forest District Council
• James Millington, Peer Challenge Manager, Local Government Association

Out of the CPC’s 10 recommendations, the council’s action plan reports that all have been completed or have been progressed.

The peer team observed good progress from SDC in addressing the recommendations from the CPC and can therefore validate the council’s own assessment. Following the CPC the council quickly developed an action plan and this has been monitored by the senior management team and the Cabinet.

Following the publication of the English Devolution White Paper in December 2024 it was clear that local government reorganisation (LGR) was a key focus for the council at the time of the peer team’s revisit. This review focused on the CPC recommendations made by the peer team in March 2024, but LGR naturally featured as part of the conversations onsite. It is important to say that although at this stage the future is uncertain, feedback from staff was that the open and transparent briefings from the CEX were important. The peer team agree that this approach to communications is critical in this time of change and the political and officer leadership being demonstrated by SDC will continue be important for the organisation.

This report provides the peer team’s feedback on each of the recommendations:

Recommendation 1: Codesign a compelling and long-term place-based vision and narrative to define the District. Use this as an opportunity to galvanise partners and improve the District's economic and cultural strength

Following the CPC in March 2024 the peer team made this recommendation as an opportunity for SDC to galvanise partners and stakeholders to build on the significant economic and cultural strengths of the district. Discussions during the Progress Review made it clear that the council has approached this through weaving the place based vision and narrative into the development of the local plan. The Preferred Options for the South Worcestershire Local Plan (SWLP) sets out the place based vison for the District.

The peer team would encourage SDC to consider this recommendation further and the benefit of developing a stand-alone narrative, separate to the SWLP. This is important for the strategic framework as the council engages with a wide range of important sector-wide partners including the tourism, cultural and business sectors and other community leaders. A narrative can create a wide voice specific to the district and this allows stakeholders to come together to create an authentic story of the place under one banner.

The peer team do recognise that following the publication of the English Devolution White Paper SDC is considering its priorities, and this may impact on decisions with progressing further with this recommendation. This is a consideration for the council in how to move this forward but, the peer do think that it is important not to lose the pace which the SWLP is being developed - and should not be held up by these reforms - this is important for the future of the district.

Recommendation 2: Strengthen political and officer leadership of place roles – map your anchor institutions, partners and stakeholders to bring focus, capacity and capability for place transformation.

SDC has developed a long list of stakeholders which has been mapped to the council’s lead Members and officers. This appears to be comprehensive and provides important clarity. The peer team encourage SDC to build on this exercise, and for the council to consider how to leverage the collective impact of these relationships. These can be used to deliver positive outcomes by using collective effort for shared ambitions.

In the context of future change, developing a trusted network will also be helpful from a strategic point of view as advocates for the district. The council should consider the benefits of this for Stratford-on-Avon, as stakeholders will have a different voice to that of the council and there will be advantages for SDC in working together.

Recommendation 3: The council should prioritise publication of draft accounts in line with the statutory deadlines for doing so, and work closely with their new external auditors to ensure these are audited in a timely fashion.

SDC has fully met this recommendation. The council has worked extremely proactively to publish two sets of accounts since the CPC in March 2024, and will be publishing a third set in February 2025. This is a significant achievement and SDC has done this by bringing in additional dedicated external resource. Now that the additional resource is no longer in place SDC should ensure that there has been appropriate skills transfer and the in-house function remains sufficiently able to ensure things remain on track.

The council has also developed a constructive working relationship with the new external auditor and for the most recent accounts SDC has developed a process where the audit is taking place ‘in year’ so it will be ready when the accounts are published. This is a positive and proactive approach and although there will be a backstop opinion for the 2024/25 accounts SDC is now well placed to deliver timely financial reporting in future.

Recommendation 4: Further define the change programme, with a clear strategy based on objectives and plans relating to budget, resource and governance. Ensure the change programme is communicated and understood throughout SDC.

The council has been clear on how it has aligned funding with its priorities. In June 2024 the Cabinet allocated £1.6m towards council plan initiatives, with more to allocate as part of the budget process. The peer team view SDC’s Change Programme as underpinning the delivery of the council plan by allocating resources to deliver its ambitions. There does still appear to be a lack of awareness from staff on the Programme and this may now be because it is being confused with other LGR plans. The peer team think that this may better be described as the ‘resourcing plan’ for the council plan.

SDC discussed the council plan priorities in the LGR context. The council has already undertaken some work on this and the next step will be to review how the capacity and resources of the organisation will be deployed in response to LGR. Delivering business as usual as well as the political priorities and ambitions will be critical over the coming period of change. The peer team also encourage SDC to ensure there are adequate resources to support the CEX in relation to LGR as this will be a challenging period and will require a team effort to respond e.g. data and IT; legal and governance; finance; HR/OD and change management; communications and public relations; and ensuring effective programme management arrangements are in place. The council will need to remain agile and ensure that it has the right people in the right place at the right time.

Recommendation 5: Strengthen the Citizens' Panel and develop a parish forum to engage more effectively with local people on a range of opportunities and challenges.

The peer team saw some really positive developments on the Citizens’ Panel. The membership has been refreshed through activity including engagement in the Residents’ Survey process which has attracted 230 new members and communications in the newsletter resulting in a further 50+ residents now joining. The Consultation and Engagement Team had a target of 800 members, and this is currently at 740, so represents positive progress. There is a programme of council consultation and engagement work over the coming months, including on the budget, and the Citizens’ Panel will be an important forum in future for SDC.

SDC has undertaken some important work on developing the relationships and engagement with town and parish councils. The Parish Forum has been established and will be launched at the end of January. Draft terms of reference have been developed and the agenda reflects feedback from the comprehensive survey SDC has undertaken with local councils to focus on the matters which are important to them. SDC is also resourcing this approach through a new Parish Liaison Officer post. The peer team would recommend building on this to ensure the Warwickshire Association of Local Councils (WALC) are involved too and can work with SDC in co-designing this approach. Additionally, in the context of reorganisation this may also be an important Forum for discussions with local councils about the future of local government in this area.

Recommendation 6: Ensure the Audit and Standards Committee is effective and reviewed in line with CIPFA best practice guidance.

This recommendation has been met with the Audit and Standards Committee evaluated and subsequently SDC has further strengthened its approach. Following this SDC developed a new Counter Fraud, Bribery and Corruption Policy 2024-29 and with a changeover of membership, development support has been provided to committee members. This is good practice and should be kept under review to ensure that the Committee remains effective with the changing rules around local audit and the risk environment in local government.

Recommendation 7: Deliver the staff strategy and ensure that it places emphasis on the employee lifecycle and aligns with delivery of the council plan 2023-2027.

The Staff Strategy is being delivered with monitoring reports considered by the management team and the employment committee. Capacity was highlighted in the CPC and the council has responded by strengthening the HR team to support the organisation. In other areas resilience and capacity can also be an issue but apprenticeships and career graded posts are being utilised and this includes the creation of a new post within the communications team.

The leadership of the council recognises that now will be an important time to support all staff through this time of local government change. To support this the peer team would encourage SDC to continue to focus on how it can continue to undertake strategic workforce planning. The peer team heard that there are some good examples of this in areas across the organisation but there is an opportunity to do this more consistently.

Recommendation 8: Clarify how SDC's existing values will be further embedded with staff and define how they will help to achieve the council plan 2023-27 and its ambitions.

The values have been embedded through a recent relaunch and are part of the Employee Value Proposition, supported by initiatives such as a staff survey and clarity on hybrid working approaches. The January chief executive’s briefings will also reinforce these values, explaining how they contribute to the delivery of the council plan.

Staff the peer team met with discussed the positive working arrangements at SDC including the hybrid approach which includes a 40 per cent requirement for staff to work in the office. However, feedback from staff was that the desk space doesn’t always work, for example Wednesday was a peak office day with only some managers proactively managing this to help with the issues of desk space. The peer team would recommend that this good practice is shared across the organisation so that others can adopt a similar approach to consider how to use the office space.

Recommendation 9: Further develop the Member Development Programme, including the opportunities in the use of MS Teams and consideration of the timing of sessions given the constraints of members with additional commitments e.g. working, and caring responsibilities.

The Member Development Working Group (MDWG) is responsible for the ongoing Member Development Programme which places councillors’ views at is centre. There are also plans for the MDWG to consider: a single point of contact from the Group to work with group leaders to encourage attendance at sessions; a yearly feedback survey with Members to obtain their feedback on the Programme; more joint SDC and parish councillor training opportunities; exploring training opportunities with other organisations where appropriate.

There is range of development opportunities to support the continued development of Members at various stages of their councillor career, and this is a mix of virtual and face-to-face activity. This includes inhouse and external support which utilises provision from the LGA and others.

Recommendation 10: Continue the work on developing the internal/external communications strategy with stakeholders, and consider any external support, to amplify the voice of the council.

SDC commissioned the LGA to deliver a communications review in June 2024. This resulted in feedback which has influenced the direction of travel which the council has adopted. The communications strategy has now been approved and a new resident magazine has been introduced as well as a new app which allows the council to communicate information to residents e.g. bin collection dates, as well as providing more active communication and engagement opportunities.

Staff the peer team met with felt that in this period of LGR that the recent internal communications were very valuable and appreciated. This will continue to be important in future and the leadership leam should maintain this positive approach to staff communication and engagement.

The LGA would like to thank Stratford-on-Avon DC for undertaking a LGA CPC progress review.

We appreciate that senior managerial and political leadership will want to reflect on these findings and suggestions in order to determine how the organisation wishes to take things forward.

Under the umbrella of LGA sector-led improvement, there is an on-going offer of support to councils. The LGA is well placed to provide additional support, advice and guidance on a number of the areas identified for development and improvement and we would be happy to discuss this.

Helen Murray (Principal Adviser) is the main point of contact between the authority and the Local Government Association (LGA) and their e-mail address is [email protected].