Issue - meetings

Report for decision.

ORDERED that Executive approves the updated Continuous Improvement Plan.

AGREED that Executive notes the progress made in delivering the commitments within the Continuous Improvement Plan.

The Mayor submitted a report for Executive consideration, the purpose of which was to set out progress in delivering the Continuous Improvement Plan.

in March 2025, full council considered the final reports of both the Local Government Association (LGA) Corporate Peer Challenge team and the Middlesbrough independent Improvement Advisory Board (MIIAB).

Both of those reports were hugely positive, recognising the improvements the Council had made over the previous two years on its improvement journey. They also contained a series of recommendations, designed to ensure the Council maintained an outcome focussed commitment to the principles of its continuous improvement journey as it transitioned from a period of intervention. In November 2025, the LGA team returned to Middlesbrough and conducted a follow up visit. A copy of their report was attached at Appendix two of the report. The Continuous Improvement Plan of the Council had been updated to reflect this and their findings.

The Plan also continued to track delivery of actions arising from the external assurance review undertaken by Grant Thornton as part of the Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) application. It also included an action arising from the Care Quality Commission inspection of adult social care services.

Appended to the report, was a copy of the Continuous Improvement Plan and its status as of January 2026. The Plan continued to evolve as actions were delivered and follow up actions were identified, where necessary.

A conversation took place about the inclusion of lessons and actions from the Improvement Plan into business-as-usual approaches. It was commented that any remaining actions from the Improvement Plan would likely be incorporated into documents such as the annual Governance Statement.

OPTIONS

The Council could have chosen to maintain multiple documents capturing continuous improvement activity; however, this would have been an inefficient approach and would have reduced Members’ ability to see a comprehensive overview of the Council’s ongoing activity in relation to continuous improvement.

ORDERED that Executive approves the updated Continuous Improvement Plan.

AGREED that Executive notes the progress made in delivering the commitments within the Continuous Improvement Plan.

REASONS

Having a Continuous Improvement Plan that captured all strategic continuous improvement activity provided Members and officers with a comprehensive overview of improvement activity within the organisation as part of a framework of assurance reports. The plan ensured the Council was tracking this type of activity within one document. Successful delivery of continual improvement activity would improve the Council’s ability to deliver against its council plan ambitions.