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LGA Peer Challenge 2022

What is a Peer Challenge?

Peer challenges are an established tool that supports councils to drive improvements and efficiency in specific areas, including finance, communications, health and wellbeing, equalities, housing, planning and more. They are organised by the Local Government Association, you can read more about them here.

When is it happening?

The challenge will take place from Tuesday 21 June to Thursday 23 June. A team of external council officers and members will be coming to visit the council offices to speak to officers and councillors about how we are doing. They will then write a report and send it to us with recommendations on how we can improve. 

Who is carrying out the challenge?

The Gedling Borough Council Peer Team is:

  • Lead Peer: Alan Goodrum, former Chief Executive Chiltern and South Buckinghamshire District Councils
  • Member Peer: Cllr Philip Bialyk, Leader Exeter City Council
  • Officer Peer: Helen Kemp, Tees Valley Combined Authority
  • Officer Peer: Damilola Bastos, East Suffolk District Council
  • LGA Peer Challenge Manager: Becca Singh
  • LGA Project Support Officer: Suraiya Khatun

The peer team will require a room at the council to use as a base for the time they are on site, which should be in the main headquarters of the council.

Who is taking part in the challenge from Gedling Borough Council?

The Peer team will begin by talking to the Chief Executive, Leader and Deputy Leader and will then look to speak to other officers and councillors in the organisation. You may have received an invite to a meeting to speak to them, please can you do what you can to be available for these meetings as they will help shape the review. 

The team may also seek to speak to citizens, staff groups and/or stakeholders, such as web-based surveys.

What do the review team want to know?

The peer challenge has five core components that they base the challenge on. They are:

  1. Local priorities and outcomes: Are the council’s priorities clear and informed by the local context? Is the council delivering effectively on its priorities and achieving improved outcomes for all its communities?
  2. Organisational and place leadership: Does the council provide effective local leadership? Are there good relationships with partner organisations and local communities?
  3. Governance and culture: Are there clear and robust governance arrangements? Is there a culture of respect, challenge and scrutiny?
  4. Financial planning and management: Does the council have a clear understanding of its current financial position? Does the council have a strategy and a clear plan to address its financial challenges?
  5. Capacity for improvement: Is the organisation able to support delivery of local priorities? Does the council have the capacity to improve?

The aim of the challenge team will be to find out how the council carries out these things and how staff are involved in the process. You can read more about where we are, in terms of these five components, in our Position Statement.

What do we need to do?

Quite simply – be available to speak to the challenge team. They may want to speak to you individually, in your teams or in your working groups. The Chief Executive’s team will be contacting people who the team want to speak to shortly. Please ensure you make the time to speak to them and give them the information they need. Everything you say will be treated confidentially.

What will they ask me about?

That can depend. They may ask you about what you know about the council’s priorities and ambitions. These are set out in our Gedling Plan. They may ask you about one of the five components listed, they may ask you some general questions about your work and where you fit in the organisational structure. Other things they may ask you about is how aware you are of what the council is doing and what it is achieving.

If you have any questions about the challenge, please speak to your line manager or Head of Service.

The Position Statement 

One of the key components to the Peer Challenge is the Council's Position Statement. This is used to set out where we are in terms of the key components of the Peer Challenge. Here is where you can read the Gedling Borough Council Position Statement