Agenda item

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive.

Decision made

1.    That the final report be accepted;

2.    That the action plan is approved for delivery;

3.    That the recommendations of the Scrutiny Committee be approved as follows:

The Scrutiny Committee:

1.    welcomes the report and the outcome of the Peer Review and looks forward to working together on delivering the action plan;

2.    is grateful for the commitment to develop clear measures and that progress monitoring reports would be presented to Cabinet and the Scrutiny Committee;

3.    asks that recommendation 3 be strengthened to reflect that capacity requirements will be assessed and put in place to ensure delivery of the corporate projects;

4.    is grateful for the offer of the employee survey results being made available to the Scrutiny Committee once completed; and

5.    suggests that examples of best practice adopted across both South Ribble and Chorley Councils as a result of shared services be presented to a future Shared Services Joint Committee meeting.

The Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member (Strategy and Reform) presented a report of the Deputy Chief Executive to share the final report of the Local Government Association (LGA) Peer Challenge 2021.

The Cabinet Member (Communities, Social Justice and Wealth Building) referred the action plan which outlined the Council’s response  to the matters raised by the Peer Review.  She further indicated that the she had met with the Panel three times and with Chairs of Community Hubs. She also announced that she had been invited to give a presentation to Strasbourg next year.

One member referred to pages 38 and 39 regarding the growth of capital programme from £3m in 2019 -20 to £24.4m and the Treasury Management Strategy, (which highlighted that the Council had a risk averse strategy following the collapse of Icelandic Banks), suggesting that the Council discuss alternative investments. It was highlighted that the growth of the capital programme indicated a substantial increase in borrowing, and that given a forecasted rise in inflation (under which circumstances interest rates tend to go up), cash balances will effectively give a negative return.

The Cabinet Member (Finance, Property and Assets) agreed that the Council needed to review its investments. He indicated, however, that in the case of projects such as the Extra Care Scheme, an income stream will be linked to the capacity of flats which ensures that the loan can be repaid. In addition, the Council has now completed its Asset Review which in appropriate cases may lead to sales to generate capital receipts.

Concern was expressed regarding affordability in that if the cost of borrowing increases, income streams may not cover the cost. The Leader of the Council agreed that every project must be viable and that hopefully by bringing a number of planned projects to Cabinet in near future, they would not be adversely affected by rising interest rates.

Decision made

1.     That the final report be accepted;

2.     That the action plan is approved for delivery;

3.     That the recommendations of the Scrutiny Committee be approved as follows:

The Scrutiny Committee:

1.     welcomes the report and the outcome of the Peer Review and looks forward to working together on delivering the action plan;

2.     is grateful for the commitment to develop clear measures and that progress monitoring reports would be presented to Cabinet and the Scrutiny Committee;

3.     asks that recommendation 3 be strengthened to reflect that capacity requirements will be assessed and put in place to ensure delivery of the corporate projects;

4.     is grateful for the offer of the employee survey results being made available to the Scrutiny Committee once completed; and

5.     suggests that examples of best practice adopted across both South Ribble and Chorley Councils as a result of shared services be presented to a future Shared Services Joint Committee meeting.

Reasons for decision

To ensure the ongoing improvement of the Council in response to the findings of the Peer Team.

Alternative options considered and rejected

None, as the Council is expected to review, acknowledge and respond to the recommendations made by the Peer Team.