Calderdale Council has invited a group of local government experts to undertake a review of the authority to make sure it is adapting effectively to the rapid changes in local government whilst continuing to improve the lives of residents.
The Council worked with the Local Government Association (LGA), to set up the peer review. The LGA is a national association which works with councils to support, promote and improve local services.
The team includes five senior officers, or peers, from other local authorities: a chief executive; two leading Councillors and two senior experts, and will run from Monday 15June to Thursday 18 June 2015.
Leader of Calderdale Council, Cllr Tim Swift said:
“This review will tell us whether we have a sufficiently robust understanding of our challenges and whether our governance, planning and decision making arrangements are strong enough.
“Over the next five years we face a number of key challenges including reductions in expenditure by £86m up to 2016/17 and an estimated £9.6m of additional savings by 2017/18.
“There is also an unprecedented growth in our population which will place increasing demands on our children’s and adult social care services. Between 2012 and 2022 we shall see an 8% increase in school-age population and a 35% increase in people over 85 years old.
“If we are going to cope with these challenges whilst continuing to provide the services local people expect we must be a modern, responsive and agile organisation.”
Over the four days the review team will conduct a series of interviews and focus groups with Councillors, senior officers and partners, including the voluntary and community sector. There will also be focus groups with middle managers, front line staff and residents.
The findings from the peer review will be published in a final report in July.