Council makes progress – but ‘mistrust’ lingers
COUNCILLORS in Northumberland still have trust issues with one another, despite the local authority making “progress it can be proud of” since a damning independent review.
A report by the Local Government Association assessing how well Northumberland County Council is performing in certain key areas has been published ahead of a full council meeting. The report follows a visit from senior local government councillors and officers from around the country, and looks at issues around finance, partnership working as well as how well the council listens to residents and staff.
The review has been welcomed by the Conservative leader of the council, Glen Sanderson. However, the leader of the Labour opposition group said more work needed to be done.
The report states that the council can be “proud” of the progress made since the independent review of governance conducted by Max Caller. The report was commissioned after a long period of poor relations between the council’s Conservative political leadership and its thenchief executive Daljit Lally.
However, the latest report adds that there remains “residual mistrust” across some elected members and warns that these issues “continue to impact” on the council.
A “desire for more engagement” with backbench councillors and cross party involvement is described, along with a “real commitment to openness”. There is also a call for clarity on the council’s BEST programme, calling for it to be “data driven, embedded, and collectively owned across the council”.
The BEST programme is key to delivering future savings at the council. The deputy leader, Coun Richard Wearmouth, has previously said the programme is about modernising council services to make sure they are as efficient as possible.
The report recommends that the progress made on the council’s improvement journey be ‘celebrated’ while members should also to continue to grow the “environment of openness and trust” to “find a way to draw a line under the past”.
Coun Sanderson said: “I’m delighted with this report and thank colleagues from the peer review team for their excellent work with us. Over two years ago I asked for an independent review of the council’s governance because I knew things were not right.
“This Peer Review Report underlines the rapid improvement the council has made in those two years in their words, our pace of change has been impressive. We’ve come a long way and I’ve always been clear our improvement does not mean ‘job done’. So, I welcome the report’s recommendations for how we can continue to improve.
“The progress in this report is testament to the excellent work of our chief executive, her senior team and all staff working fantastically well with councillors and partners. Moving forward I will work with all councillors to continue the very positive progress we have made.”
Responding to Coun Sanderson’s comments and the report itself, Labour group leader Coun Scott Dickinson said: “We want to champion improvement where it’s genuine but we cannot fail to uncover more of the deep rooted issues that unless highlighted and tackled will never be resolved. Superficial, well presented spin of improvement will only cause issues down the line.
“We champion the effort of our staff and recognise they have been through a difficult political time, and continue to be in some areas. We continue to support our staff in that respect and I know that is valued.
“Openness, trust and relationships are referenced time and time again, which is something I am pleased about as this is something that actually is a problem.
“Given ongoing issues, how can trust about what we are told be achieved? Work needs to be done on this.”