A Cumbrian council has been told it was critical that it helped deliver the ambitious Team Barrow project at pace.
Westmorland & Furness Council has been reviewed by the Local Government Association in a corporate peer challenge.
The authority invited a team from the association in July to assess how it was performing across areas including its leadership, finance and governance.
They spent four days with the authority, spoke to over 150 people and gathered evidence and views from over 45 meetings.
Of Team Barrow, a £200 million 20-year scheme to revitalise the town, it said: “This truly is a ‘once in several generations’ opportunity for this new unitary council, which has the potential to make a major long term difference for Barrow and the wider area.
“It is critical that the council delivers on this. The national support behind the impressive public/private partnership that is in place, is a great asset in this
endeavour.
“There is specific feedback within this report that can help the council to ensure progress and delivery against Team Barrow.
“Of particular note is feedback from partners as to how the council ensures that the agility and capabilities required, to fully realise and capitalise on the opportunities available now, are in place.”
It has recommended that the council move at pace to make the council has in place the right leadership, processes and capability to deliver on Team Barrow and the agility this required.
The team has published its 29-page report and made 17 recommendations in total.
It praised the openness, humility and honesty shown by the council leadership throughout the review process and said the Westmorland & Furness, formed in 2023, had had an impressive start.
However, the team said that it needed to ‘declutter’ the number of priorities, missions and ‘we will’ statements.
The report said: “There is a sense from those that the team spoke with, that there is however some confusion over the various missions, priority programmes, values, and ‘we wills’ across several strategic documents in place, including the Council Plan, Council Plan Delivery Framework, and annual reports.
“Only 38% of the workforce reported that they felt connected to the council’s vision and priorities at the last staff survey.”
The team recognised improvements in its key services including children’s social care, adult social care, health and climate leadership and said the council benefited from the leadership approach of chief executive Sam Plum and leader Jonathan Brook.
The report added: “The leadership styles of the chief executive and leader are consistently seen as collaborative, dependable, and well-received by staff and partners.
“The council benefits from an experienced cabinet, who are well engaged with their portfolios and utilise a highly collective approach to leadership alongside a high level of ambition for Westmorland and Furness.”
However, it said the authority should become more outcome focused than process focused and added: “Essentially, based around making it easy to do the right
things and hard to do the wrong things.”
It recommended streamlining internal processes to to make sure the council’s approach to decision making is proportionate and appropriate.
The report added: “Officers also recognise a position internally whereby ‘our service performance is generally very good – a swan on the pond. But under the water, our legs are often working to complete exertion’.”
The report added: “Resident engagement is recognised as a priority locally. There is a need for clearer articulation of the next steps and measurable outcomes relating to this.
“The council has in place plans to administer a resident survey imminently, which is an important step forward which can be analysed at locality level, and with the insights of existing forums, to support this developing resident focus.”
Cllr Brook said: “This is a very positive report that reflects the hard work and commitment of staff, members and partners since the new council was created.
“We invited this challenge because we are committed to a journey of continuous improvement and the report’s feedback gives us the confidence that we’re on the right path and it provides real clarity on what we need to focus on next.”
Mrs Plum said: “The peer team recognised a council that is ambitious, collaborative and grounded in strong values.
“They also recognised that we are in a really good place and this is testament to the hard work of staff and members and to our close collaboration with our communities and partners.
“Their recommendations will help us build on that foundation and deliver with even greater focus and pace for our communities.”
The council said it would publish an action plan in December in response to the report’s recommendations, once this has been agreed at December’s cabinet meeting.
