To receive any announcements from the Chief Executive.
Minutes:
The Chief Executive made the following announcements:
“Three weeks ago, at our invitation, this authority was the focus of a comprehensive Local Government Association Corporate Peer Challenge Review.
A senior team of experienced officers and members spent three days here at Knowle Green, reviewing a range of information, documentation, and conducting more than 40 meetings involving over 125 people, including a range of council staff and members as well as external stakeholders and partners.
The team also visited a range of locations across the Borough, including a walking tour of Staines-upon-Thames, Fordbridge Community Centre, the White House and the West Wing as well as a variety of Borough housing development sites.
The scope of the peer challenge primarily focused on six themes:
At the conclusion of the Corporate Peer Challenge Review, the Council received formal feedback from the team who declared how impressed they were with key strategic and local projects and achievements that we have collectively accomplished, included our outstanding partnership effort in supporting our community - particularly our brilliant covid pandemic response. The findings also acknowledged the friendly and caring staff culture and the strength of cross service working.
Moreover, the review team explicitly recognised the complex and challenging political arena within which Officers operate, eloquently stated by the Lead Member as “there needs to be the recognition that the intense political dance is affecting your reputation, is costing you money and could ultimately affect the delivery of Council services for your residents and businesses.”
The full presentational pack has been circulated to all members and participants in the peer review, and it certainly raises some hard-hitting points and identifies recommendations that we will all need to consider and collectively address.
In due course, a comprehensive report, including its 12 recommendations, will be available so that we can identify our own action plans to support the findings. This will be published both internally and externally following discussion by Full Council in the New Year.
Mr Chairman, I am incredibly proud of Team Spelthorne, its commitment, its professionalism, and its dedication to serving our communities and our businesses. I would therefore like to place on record my heartfelt appreciation as the Head of Paid Services for what we have achieved.
As testament to this incredible work, as witnessed by everyone in this chamber tonight – Spelthorne has also secured more national recognition, this time from the Federation of Small Businesses with three awards for our unstinting work in supporting Borough businesses throughout the pandemic and now in the post-pandemic world of a cost-of-living crisis.
I would like to extend my fullest congratulations to the Economic Development team as I know how incredibly hard, they have worked in support of our businesses and in securing the All-England Award for Local Government.
Mr Chairman, we can all take immense pride in the knowledge that this authority’s work is recognised alongside the best in the country.”