Our Leader and Chief Executive have welcomed the findings of a ‘Corporate Peer Challenge’ (CPC) as a key driver to our ambitions to continuously improve.
The ‘palpable’ level of commitment from staff to the borough’s communities and council services were reflected on by the challenge team, as well as the ‘high calibre…elected membership who are passionate about…making a difference’.
The CPC report, undertaken as part of an established Local Government Association improvement and assurance framework, will be reviewed at our Cabinet meeting on 15 January and the Full Council meeting on 22 January, along with an action plan which will help the authority to build on the challenge team’s recommendations.
It is the first time that we have undertaken a CPC, which is an opportunity to receive robust, strategic and credible challenge and support from experts in the local government sector.
We invited the team of seven experts to conduct the challenge in early October 2024, asking them to undertake a comprehensive review of key finance, performance and governance information. Over the course of 25 interviews and focus groups, the team spoke to more than 130 staff, elected members and council partners, before reporting on their findings.
Leader of the Council, Cllr Jeremy Newmark, commented: “This was an incredibly positive process, and reflective of our commitment to highlight our successes and to learn from peer experts as to how we can continuously improve.
“I was particularly delighted that the team highlighted the strength and diversity of our elected membership as well as the energy provided by our Partnership Administration here.
Also of note were the team’s findings about how we are now demonstrating a greater focus on our place in the county, with our partners who were interviewed reflecting that Hertsmere is being seen to be ‘on the map’ now. We’ve been increasing our influence by engaging more strategically, as seen by me becoming Chair of the Hertfordshire Growth Board and having key involvement with Hertfordshire Futures.
“The findings of the peer team will be reviewed at two key council meetings this month, along with an action plan that we’ve produced to address the recommendations in the challenge. I look forward to further discussing the findings with our elected membership and our senior leadership team, and honing in on some strategic priorities that we can address further as an organisation.”
Chief Executive, Sajida Bijle, added: “I want to thank everyone who participated so constructively in this process and the challenge team for their considered and comprehensive report.
The team has rightly highlighted our staff’s commitment to our communities and our desire to make a difference, something I see demonstrated on a daily basis from the teams across our authority as they strive to deliver excellent services.
"I was also really pleased to see the strength of our local partnerships recognised. Participants really recognised the wide range of initiatives and activities undertaken working with voluntary groups to address health and wellbeing inequalities.
“Over the coming months, we will be continuing to consider further improvements we can make to address the recommendations and I look forward to actively engaging with staff, elected members, our partners and stakeholders in our communities to achieve just that.”
To view the CPC report, our action plan and Cabinet papers visit agenda item 8.1 of Agenda for Cabinet on Wednesday, 15 January 2025, 6.00 pm
