The Local Government Association has published a feedback report on its ’Corporate Peer Challenge’ for Newham – essentially a peer review. Members of the review team included the chief executive of Haringey Council, the directly elected Mayor of Salford and the monitoring officer for Hounslow Council.
The review team spoke to scores of people including council staff, councillors and ‘external stakeholders’.
The findings are extraordinary, and can be read in full here. However Newham 65 highlights the interesting extracts below:
A “lack of functional prioritisation was a theme throughout the Corporate Peer Challenge”
“The best councils have strong working relationships, with clarity on roles and responsibilities, between the political and managerial leadership. The peer team did not find this in Newham.”
“the breadth of the Mayor’s portfolio responsibilities is not sustainable and nor is it desirable.”
“A common frustration the peer team heard was that bottlenecks appear due to the expectation that the Mayor needed sight of decisions, or was required to make a decision, even when there was delegated authority. This can be rectified by senior members exercising their authority to make these decisions which technically they have the responsibility for, and for this authority to be acknowledged and respected.”
“Following the current Mayor’s first election in May 2018, the Mayor made the decision to delegate executive decision-making powers to Cabinet members. However, the peer team heard examples that sometimes practice does not match the delegations to Cabinet members set out in the Constitution. There remains a common perception that project and policy detail and decisions require the Mayor’s involvement and sign off before they can progress. Not only does this reflect poor governance, but it is also not a practical, effective or a sustainable approach to running the council.”
“Relationships and behaviours at the senior levels between politicians and senior officers, between the Mayor and Cabinet and other members, and within CMT require resetting.”
“Clarity is also required on the form and function of the Mayor’s Office. At present it is perceived as a bottleneck in the organisation which results in delays in decision-making. This is connected to the size of the portfolio the Mayor has and the perception that the Mayor wants “oversight over everything”. Several officers the peer team spoke to mentioned a frustration about the lack of clear rules or processes for engagement with the Mayor’s Office and there are no clear standards in terms of response times for items that are referred ‘up to the Mayor’s Office’. This is leading to unnecessary delays, with an example of one service area waiting for three months to receive a decision. To alleviate this issue the council should review the size and function of the Mayor’s Office to ensure streamlined decision making, remove barriers and duplication elsewhere in the council.”
“Whilst the rhetoric the council speaks consistently of is co-production and a dedication to community engagement, the peer team heard frustration from some partners that the council often defaults to doing things to rather than doing things with communities. There are pockets of good practice of co-development, with children’s services and public health highlighted, but the peer team did not get the sense there is an organisational framework for co-production and co-development.”
“More could be done to empower non-executive councillors to maximise their connections and expertise to support the delivery of the council’s agenda. The peer team felt there is latent potential amongst this cohort which can be further realised through greater involvement and engagement”
“a culture of mistrust was described to the peer team on several occasions. Some staff, at all levels, were not confident to come forward with ideas and suggestions, “in case they are shot down”. The council needs to give thought to how this can be remedied, and safe spaces are created, so staff can contribute candidly and say things without fear of repercussion.”
https://www.newham.gov.uk/downloads/file/7072/corporate-peer-challenge-report
Unfortunately a referendum in 2021 was unsuccesful in empowering councillors and utilising latent potential through an alternative governance model.
Newham 65 