Local Government Association (LGA) Corporate Peer Challenge (CPC) for High Peak Borough Council and Staffordshire Moorlands District Council.
The LGA's corporate peer challenge offer is a cornerstone of the wider sector support programme for councils in England. The peer challenge approach involves a team of experienced officers and members spending time with another council as "peers" to provide challenge and share learning. The peer teams spend significant time with councils to identify and address issues and challenge progress across five core themes covering local priorities and outcomes; organisational and place leadership; governance and culture; financial planning and management; and capacity for improvement. Participating councils receive a comprehensive report and recommendations from the peer team and then identify their own action plan to respond.
High Peak Borough Council and Staffordshire Moorlands District Council were pleased to welcome seven peers from other local authorities and the LGA during the last week of January 2022 for our joint Corporate Peer Challenge, which was conducted virtually. Over five days the peer team met with 117 people across 50 meetings, to gain insights into each Council, its workings, its relationships with Members, colleagues, partners, residents and businesses.
The critical overview concluded that both Councils had been well managed for many years with particular strengths in financial management, governance, and risk. They also concluded that the Alliance is at the 'forefront of creative thinking' in terms of the shape of the organisation with a clear focus on efficiency and resilience - and made some welcome recommendations for opportunities to develop further excellence.
The documents here include:
The Council's Position Statement provided to the Peer Team in advance of their arrival; The full feedback report from the Corporate Peer Challenge Team; Our summary overview of its findings; and Our Action Plan, which builds on the key recommendations from the Peer Team.
The LGA has also published the full Peer Challenge Report on its website.
A formal review of progress against our Action Plan will be made by the LGA Peer Team this autumn.
Corporate Peer Challenge Report [263KB]
