Issue - meetings

Members considered a report which presented an update on progress against the recommendations made in the Council’s Corporate Peer Challenge report. 

The Local Government Association (LGA) required all councils to undertake a full Corporate Peer Challenge (CPC) once every five years. West Lindsey District Council’s latest CPC took place in January 2025 and the report before Members highlighted the findings and recommendations of the Peer Team. 

In responding to the findings of the Peer Team, the Council was required to produce an Action Plan setting out how the recommendations would be implemented.  The report provided, for information, an update on work to-date against the recommendations, with particular focus on progress in relation to three areas of work, these being:

1.      A refreshed Corporate Plan based on the priorities of the Council through the lens of Local Government Reorganisation (LGR);

2.      Designing a new organisational structure that was aligned to the core themes of the refreshed Corporate Plan; ensuring the Council had the right capacity in the right places to deliver key priorities and prepare for the implementation of LGR; and

3.      Implementing a new internal governance and monitoring framework that aligned with the new Corporate Plan, streamlined decision-making touch points and empowered both staff and Members to focus on delivering the priorities of the Council over the next three years.

Finally, Councils were required to take part in a progress review to assess progress against the recommendations, the report sought approval from Council to arrange a follow-up review in the first half of 2026.

The amount of work undertaken by Officers over the summer was acknowledged by Members who were supportive of the next steps as outlined.

Having been proposed and seconded, on being put to the vote it was: -

RESOLVED that:

(a)    the findings and recommendations from the Council’s LGA Corporate Peer Challenge 2025 (Appendix 1) be received and noted;

(b)    the progress that had been made to-date against the recommendations be noted; and

(c)    the proposal for a Peer Challenge Progress Review to take place in the first half of 2026, subject to agreement with the Local Government Association, be approved.