Agenda item

A joint report of the Chief Executive, Director of Finance and Director of Legal and Governance Services was presented, the purpose of which was set out the content of the ‘Best Value Notice’ issued on 30 January 2024, following the expiry of the existing Notice which had been issued for a period of 12 months in January 2023.

Since September 2022, the Council has had both a Corporate Governance Improvement Plan and a Section 24 action plan in place to address the range of governance issues identified in both plans. In January 2023, government issued a ‘Best Value Notice’ on a non-statutory footing, which set out government’s concerns in relation to the Council’s governance. That notice was in place for 12 months, with clear expectations that should the Council fail to respond positively to it, intervention would be moved to a statutory footing.

Following the local and Mayoral Elections held in May 2023, the Council’s approach to improvement was refreshed and in September 2023 that revised improvement plan was presented to Council, alongside the establishment of an Independent Improvement Advisory Board which had been put in place to provide guidance and support to the Council on its improvement journey, as well as provision of an independent view on progress made to date to Government. Alongside this, there had been regular engagement with government.

The above had resulted in the Council being able to work effectively with the

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities for the last 12 months to provide it with assurance around the range of improvement measures it had put in place. This progress had been acknowledged by government and reflected in the wording of the refreshed ‘Best Value Notice’ which would continue to operate on a non-statutory footing for the next 6 months. The notice set out that government expected the Council to:

•           “Continue to work with the Independent Improvement Board established in Middlesbrough to support the council to deliver the council’s locally lead improvement strategies, organisational transformation and to monitor progress of the application of the improvement board recommendations and delivery of improvements against the serious concerns highlighted by the external auditor, published in July 2022, around governance arrangements, and cultural and governance issues further investigated in the CIPFA review published in September 2022.

•           Continue in your efforts to deliver against your agreed action plan, accepted at full Council on 30 November 2022, at pace and to meet the set milestones and success measures established.

•           Continue in your efforts to implement cultural change, particularly in relation to the relationships between officers and members, and that this will be an important continuing focus of the Independent Improvement Board.

•           Work with the Department as you deliver on your Best Value requirement to secure the financial recovery and return to financial sustainability through setting a balanced 3-year MTFP over the period to 2026/27.”

In relation to transformation, the Chief Executive explained that he would be writing to Members within the next few weeks and a series of briefings would be held over the next month.  The language used was often complex and it was vital to ensure a full understanding of the programme and what it was trying to achieve. Transformation was a big issue and defining services that could be delivered in a different way.  Sometimes using better process and technology would give a better outcome for residents at a better cost. The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) had indicated that the Council needed to work on areas and initiatives cross-party, and aim to get a more unanimous approach to budget setting next year.  

AGREED as follows that the:

1.         information provided was received and noted.

2.         revised ‘Best Value Notice’ that had been issued by government, following the expiration of the previous notice that was issued in January 2023 was noted.