Torridge District Council welcomes peer review findings

Torridge District Council has announced the findings of its recent Corporate Peer Challenge (CPC) at its Full Council meeting which took place on Monday 15 July 2024.

The Local Government Authority's CPC is designed to support the council's performance, by identifying areas of strength and opportunities for improvement.  The process, which took place from 23-25 April 2024, is intended to provide a "critical friend" support and is not an inspection.

During their visit to Torridge the peer team, which included senior officers and elected members from similar sized local authorities from elsewhere in the UK, met with 85 people, including councillors, staff and external partners and stakeholders and conducted 30 workshops. The findings have been compiled into to a report which includes a series of recommendations, which are aimed at assisting the Council along its improvement journey.

The review concluded that Torridge District Council is clearly ambitious for the district and its people, as evidenced by the successful bid for Levelling Up Fund monies for regeneration at Appledore.  It recognised that the council's Economic Development team is highly regarded and making a positive impact and that overall, the council has a committed workforce who demonstrate a passion for the district and describe a positive working culture.

The report acknowledged that the council understands the challenges that arise from the rurality of the area and this understanding has informed a review of the Council's Strategic Plan - which the council consulted on with residents.  It also recognised that the council appreciates it cannot deliver on priorities without the support of partners, and as an organisation is itself well respected by partners it works with.

The report also identifies areas for future development and improvement, particularly around capacity to deliver everything that the council is seeking to do through the Strategic Plan as well as the resources needed to support delivery of major project programmes. Member Behaviour was also cited as an issue with recommendations to include training using the resources available to promote Civility in Public Life to address instances of poor councillor behaviour.

Councillor Ken James, Leader of Torridge District Council, said:

"We welcomed the Peer Team to Torridge as critical friends and we equally welcome the findings, which will enable us to provide service and other improvements across the Council.

There were many areas of good performance and ambition highlighted throughout the report, which provides us the assurance that what we do is good, our direction of travel is clear, and our staff and partners are working well and collaboratively to achieve the best outcomes. We are a forward-looking Council with big ambitions and strong ideas for delivering improvements for our residents, communities, businesses and visitors.  The recommendations highlighted by the Peer Team will assist us along this journey."

A proposed action plan will be reported to Full Council on 9 September 2024.  This will consider the recommendations in the report, how they should be implemented and the arrangements for monitoring progress against the actions in advance of the LGA Corporate Peer Review progress scheduled for February 2025.

For more information about the Corporate Peer Challenge and to read the full report visit; www.torridge.gov.uk/peerreview.

July 2024