North Lincolnshire Council – Progress Review

The council undertook an LGA Corporate Peer Challenge (CPC) during 11-15 November 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 RAG rated 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 North Lincolnshire 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 North Lincolnshire Council took place (onsite) on 15 September 2025. The Progress Review focussed on each of the recommendations from the Corporate Peer Challenge. 

For this Progress Review, the following members of the original CPC team were involved: 

• Lead Peer: Marcel Coiffait (Chief Executive, Central Bedfordshire Council)
• Member Peer: Cllr. Abi Brown OBE (former Leader of the Council, Stoke-on-Trent Council and Chair of the LGA Improvement Board)
• Senior Officer Peer: Carol Williams (Director of Transformation Delivery at Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council)
• LGA Peer Challenge Manager: Ernest Opuni (Senior Regional Advisor) was substituted by Satvinder Rana (Senior Regional Adviser) for the progress review.

Out of the CPC’s five main recommendations, the council’s RAG rated Action plan reports that 100 per cent of actions have been progressed. 

The peer team found clear evidence that the council has made significant progress in each of the five recommendations, while also developing a wider organisational culture of empowerment, collaboration, and delivery. A phrase that emerged strongly was the ambition to create “transformation that resonates.” This encapsulates both the intent and impact of the council’s approach: ensuring that transformation is not only delivered but is meaningful, understood and supported across the organisation.

North Lincolnshire is a well-run and well-led council. The ambition to function as “one council” is evident in the way senior officers collaborate, understand each other’s challenges, and support collective goals. Members and officers display confidence, empowerment and mutual respect, thereby creating a strong platform for continued transformation and improvements. The council is beginning to consider how to share its successes externally, through awards, publications and sector engagement. This is important not just for staff pride and recruitment and retention issues but also for contributing to sector-wide learning. This will become even more important as new councils are established across the county/country following Local Government Reorganisation. 

Outcome-Based Budgeting was highlighted as a particular strength of the transformation programme. It is already changing conversations, leading to better decisions and tangible outcomes for residents. The council’s practice in delivering its transformation programme is ahead of its documentation. While the work is impressive, more could be done to capture and communicate processes, milestones and impact more systematically.

Overall, the council has made good progress in addressing all five recommendations of the CPC and the peer team was impressed. Transformation is now better prioritised, capacity is being managed, a member development programme is emerging, statutory officers’ voices are well represented, and, most importantly, the narrative of transformation is resonating across the organisation.

The council should be proud of its achievements and can continue to work on strengthening the communication and documentation of transformation practice, continue to articulate the difference between transformation and continuous improvement, and proactively continue showcasing successes externally to influence and support the wider sector.

Recommendation 1: Clearly define the narrative for the transformation programme and the strategic plans for place in a language that is clearly understood and also continues to be a shared narrative with a regular rhythm to all stakeholders.

The council has made significant progress in focusing on embedding a clear, consistent, and accessible transformation narrative aligned with the council’s focus on delivering outcomes that are ‘Safe, Well, Prosperous, and Connected’. 

Senior staff consistently showed a clear understanding of the reasons for change, their role in it, and the actions being taken. They have been able to explain the transformation in a way that relates to their teams and responsibilities. Staff acknowledge that the pace of change is challenging, but conditions are better now than they were 10 months ago, even though they started from a strong position. Senior officers across departments expressed a shared sense of ownership of the transformation programme, demonstrating that its message is well established at the highest levels of the council.

The transformation narrative is now integrated into the organisational development plan and the council’s revised staff induction process to ensure alignment with strategic priorities for place and community. A tailored toolkit supports managers in onboarding diverse groups, including new starters, transferees and apprentices. Improved monitoring keeps track of participation, helping to reduce early leaver rates and boost employee confidence which reflects the council’s focus on outcomes. Regular rhythm of communication has been set up, including a Transformation SharePoint site for resources and feedback, newsletters every six to eight weeks, and an annual progress report to ensure transparency. 

The peer team heard about the Neighbourhood Treasure Hunts which were held in five neighbourhoods during May and June 2025 and engaged staff to encourage distributed leadership, gather and share community insights, showcase the community wellbeing hubs and promote collaboration across services to reinforce the transformation message through hands-on learning.

Similarly, the strategic culture and leisure transformation initiative repositions cultural and leisure services as central to community wellbeing, economic growth, and public value. A multi-level engagement approach – including workshops, newsletters and drop-in sessions – were delivered to encouraged openness and accountability. Collaborative tools such as Menti and behavioural mapping were deployed to co-create a shared vision, improve staff understanding and connection to the council’s purpose. Furthermore, staff and resident involvement in the Waste transformation process through weekly drop-ins, briefings, surveys, and roadshows has helped shape operational improvements and support behavioural change.

Recommendation 2: Identify and agree the gateway criteria and governance applied to projects which qualify them to be part of the transformation programme and streamline the current list to remove those programmes that could be managed as business as usual.

The transformation programme has been refined and is now focused on five key areas. Other initiatives are managed as either business as usual or continuous improvement. 

Whilst there is still work to do to clearly distinguish between transformation and continuous improvement through good communications, the council has avoided “trying to do everything everywhere all at once” and is instead delivering a realistic and disciplined programme. This has given staff and Members greater clarity about priorities and what counts as genuine transformation.

A Project Management Office (PMO) is now in operation, equipped with tools and processes to support governance, delivery, and oversight. A threshold document acts as a screening tool, ensuring only projects aligned with strategic goals, impact and transformation potential are included in the programme.

The PMO has streamlined the programme through better prioritisation, carrying out a comprehensive review of transformation projects that led to reclassifying initiatives. Projects suitable for business-as-usual were removed from the transformation list thereby simplifying the portfolio. Monthly highlight reports are presented to the Transformation Steering Group and Board to ensure ongoing monitoring and strategic oversight. This group is chaired by the director of transformation and outcomes and plays a pivotal role in guiding and overseeing transformation initiatives.

The adoption of Outcome Based Budgeting (OBB) aligns financial resources with strategic priorities, shifting the focus from traditional budgeting to the impact of spending. Key developments include a unified strategic framework, performance indicators to measure effectiveness and efficiency, training to embed OBB principles, and outcome-focused dashboards to improve data visibility. The Outcomes Performance Management Framework aims to provide real-time monitoring of inputs, outputs and outcomes to support transparency and evidence-based decision-making.

Recommendation 3: Consider the capacity required to deliver your transformation ambitions. There may be benefits in identifying expertise which helps build an effective model for managing transformation at pace. Use skills and expertise from colleagues in other local authorities.

The council has carefully assessed its internal capacity and invested in permanent resources within the PMO with the appointment of project managers. It has also identified where external expertise is needed. External specialists have been brought in selectively to provide specific skills for staff to learn from, rather than outsourcing entire tasks. This approach has enabled the council to successfully increase capacity without creating dependency, thereby ensuring new skills stay within the council for future transformation. Staff have welcomed this approach, seeing it as both sustainable and empowering.

The council has actively collaborated with peer networks and external experts to build an effective transformation model. These engagements have enabled benchmarking against best practices, adoption of proven methodologies, and accelerated delivery through shared knowledge.

The transformation journey is guided by the One Council, One Family, One Place model, which promotes adaptability, accountability and agility across the workforce. Key initiatives include redesigning roles and skills to support new ways of working, embedding behavioural expectations and values, and encouraging a culture of continuous improvement through updated performance management frameworks.

The Inspirational Leadership Programme, which is part of the Organisational Development Programme, is in place and promotes an inclusive and empowering leadership culture aligned with strategic priorities. It aims to strengthens leadership pipelines, clarifies career pathways, and encourages inclusivity - leading to higher staff engagement, better retention and greater accountability. The peer team heard that senior officers and Members demonstrate the behaviours expected, creating a positive culture where staff feel valued and empowered.

Recommendation 4: The council needs to consider what its universal offer for ongoing member development will be.   

The council has made notable progress in focusing on developing a strong and consistent member development framework to support effective governance, leadership and transformation.

A strategy and programme for member development is now in place. The approach is recognised as a “work in progress,” shaped in collaboration with Members to keep it meaningful and relevant. The council recognises that the member development programme must remain a living document that is responsive to changing roles and expectations. Members now have access to a structured development programme, with flexibility to evolve as their needs and the wider policy environment change. It is built on key principles of:

• Accessibility and consistency: Ensuring all Members, regardless of role or tenure, have access to a core programme of development opportunities.
• Relevance and responsiveness: Tailoring the offer to reflect council priorities, regulatory expectations, and Member feedback.
• Blended learning: Combining in-person sessions, digital resources, peer learning and external expertise to enhance engagement and impact.

The council is building this offer into its wider organisational development framework so that Member development supports its leadership strategy. It has worked with other local authorities and sector-led initiatives to benchmark progress and adopt best practice. The peer team that lessons from earlier peer reviews and transformation programmes are being applied and joint training and shared resources with neighbouring councils and networks are also being considered.

Cross-party meetings, led by the leader of the council, have covered governance, ethical leadership and member responsibilities, underlining the Nolan Principles as the standard of behaviour. Senior leadership is overseeing the universal offer, with input from Members, officers and external advisers. The peer team was assured that the framework will be formalised and aligned with governance and performance systems to ensure consistency and accountability.

Recommendation 5: Ensure the voice of the S151 officer and monitoring officer are sufficiently represented and heard at senior decision-making boards and meetings.  

The council has made significant progress in embedding the statutory voices of the section 151 officer and monitoring officer into senior decision-making structures to ensure robust governance, financial oversight and legal compliance. It has updated the terms of reference for the senior leadership executive (SLE) meetings to explicitly include the section 151 officer and monitoring officer, ensuring their visibility and influence in strategic discussions. 

Key actions include circulating SLE agendas and minutes to both officers, adding monthly governance items (including monitoring officer reports and finance updates) to the SLE agenda, and aligning forward planning with monthly monitoring cycles. These measures allow statutory officers to review and challenge decision-making reports before escalation to SLE or Cabinet thereby enhancing transparency and accountability.

In addition, a dedicated statutory officer meeting, known as the “Golden Triangle” (based on best practice from Solace, CIPFA, and LLG) has been established to include the chief executive, monitoring officer, and section 151 officer. This forum has a structured agenda and formal minutes for accountability, and is held prior to SLE meetings to addresses governance, legal, and financial concerns early. The meetings provide a strategic space for collaborative review of compliance, risk, and assurance matters.

The adoption of the monitoring officer protocol and chief finance officer protocol further embeds these roles into the governance framework, ensuring clarity and consistency. Mechanisms for ad hoc participation by statutory officers in SLE discussions have been embedded, allowing their expertise to be applied to agenda items with significant financial or legal implications. This flexible approach ensures effective oversight without overburdening routine operations.

Both statutory officers confirmed that their voices are now heard more effectively and appropriately than a year ago. 

The LGA would like to thank North Lincolnshire Council for undertaking an 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. 

 (Further information, support, and resources on LGR/Devolution should you need it, can be found on the LGA’s devolution and LGR Hub website.)

Mark Edgell (Principal Adviser) is the main point of contact between the authority and the Local Government Association (LGA), and his e-mail address is: [email protected]