The Local Government Association (LGA) offers all councils a Corporate Peer Challenge at no cost every 4 to 5 years.
Peer Challenge is a proven tool for local government improvement. It is a process commissioned by a council which involves a team of local government peers spending time at the council to provide challenge and shared learning.
It is based on the key principles that -
- councils are responsible for their own performance
- stronger local accountability leads to further and quicker improvement
- councils have a sense of collective responsibility for performance in the sector as a whole
During the process, the Peer Challenge Team explore the underpinning features of good performance that all corporate peer challenges cover -
- understanding of the local place and priority setting
- organisational and place leadership
- governance and culture
- financial planning and viability
- capacity to deliver
Exploring these key areas helps provide reassurance and an indication about the council’s ability and capacity to deliver on its plans, proposals and ambitions.
The LGA also offer Progress Reviews as part of the CPC process, and they usually take place approximately ten months after the original Peer Challenge. It is designed to provide space for the council’s senior leadership to -
- receive feedback from peers on the early progress made by the council against the original recommendations
- consider peers’ reflections on any new opportunities or challenges that may have arisen since the peer team were ‘on-site’
- discuss any early impact or learning from the progress made to date