The Local Government Association (LGA) has revealed that its sector support programmes have delivered significant benefits to councils across England at a low cost.
The annual review highlighted the positive impact of initiatives such as the Sector Support programme (covering governance, leadership, finance, workforce and transformation) and programmes such as Children’s Service Improvement, Partners in Care and Health, One Public Estate (OPE), Planning Advisory Service, Procurement, Sustainability, Communications, specialist graduate programmes, and Cyber, Digital and Technology. In 2023/24 these offers reached 100 per cent of councils from across England.
A key focus has been improving council performance and accountability through rigorous peer challenges and a new improvement and assurance framework. The LGA has also invested in developing the next generation of local government leaders through graduate programmes and executive training. 100 per cent of Member and officer peers say that their involvement in a peer challenge has had a positive impact on their learning and development.
Building on these foundations, the focus of the programme is on:
- improving the rigour, robustness and consistency of CPC;
- ensuring all English councils have a CPC every five years;
- improving the preparedness for delivering CPCs to high-risk councils;
- continuing to improve the training and development of both LGA Member peers and officer peers; and
- improving the robustness, impact and consistency of CPC reports.
To address the challenges faced by councils, the LGA offers support including post-election assistance, workforce development, and recruitment campaigns. The organisation is committed to working closely with councils to ensure its programmes meet evolving needs.
Cllr Abi Brown OBE, Chairman of the LGA’s Improvement and Innovation Board, said:
“Sector support has played and continues to play a vital role in supporting councils to respond to the toughest challenges facing local government, delivering highly-impactful programmes at low cost.
“Our offer is informed by councils, for councils and directly addresses their needs – whether it be providing greater assurance, achieving transformation priorities, dealing with workforce challenges, changes of leadership or political transitions.
“This report demonstrates what a council-led approach can achieve by drawing on skills from within local government. LGA peers provide local authorities with unmatched experience and a trusted source of support, and bring learning back to their councils, which strengthens the knowledge base within the sector.
“Learning from 2023/24 has enriched our 2024/25 sector support offer. By continually enhancing our offer, we continue to help councils respond to new challenges and harness opportunities, now and in the years ahead.”
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