IDeA Report 2000
Background
The visit to Somerset was part of a programme of peer review in local authorities undertaken by the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA). The purpose of a visit is to help a local authority assess its current achievements and its capacity to change. The basis for the assessment is a specially constructed benchmark of the ideal, fully effective local authority. This focuses on three key organisational themes: leadership, democratic and community engagement and performance management.
The context for the improvement programme is the modernising agenda for local government, to which most councils are considering how to respond. Peer review offers a supportive approach, undertaken by friends, albeit “critical friends”. It is not an inspection. The intention is to help a council identify its current strengths as much as its weaknesses.
A peer review visit is the beginning of a process for a local authority which it then takes forward through the preparation of an improvement plan to address the areas identified for action by the review team. The IDeA will monitor the implementation of the plan and follow-up visits are arranged to review progress.
The background to the programme and the methodology are described fully in “Improving From Within: Local Government Improvement Project Final Report and Recommendations”, published by the Local Government Association in February 1999.
The members of the peer review team were:
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Bill Ogley, Chief Executive, Hertfordshire County Council
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Cllr Tom Smith-Hughes, Essex County Council
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Cllr Greg Hands, London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
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Alan Clarke, Chief Executive, Northumberland County Council
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John Farrall, Head of Strategic Partnerships, Xerox
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Carol Caporn, Social Services Consultant, IDeA
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Jan Wickham, Improvement Review Manager, IDeA
The programme for the week was organised in advance by Geoff Harding. The review team appreciated the efficiency brought to this process and the help afforded to them throughout the visit. Thanks should also be given to all those who made time to meet with the team, and those who responded to the team’s whole-authority email. All contributions were extremely helpful.
The programme included a wide variety of activities designed to enable members of the team to meet and talk to a spectrum of internal and external stakeholders. Examples were:
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Discussions with the political leadership and senior management of the council
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Meetings with chief executives of some of the districts and a neighbouring authority
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Meetings with trade unions and the voluntary sector
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Workshops for members, frontline staff and middle managers
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A focus group with heads of service
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Meetings with external partners including the police and health authority
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Visits to local projects At the end of the week, the team reached conclusions about what they had seen and heard and fed these back at a presentation to leading politicians and officers.
This report constitutes a more detailed written account of the feedback and is structured around the three themes which comprise the benchmark: leadership, democratic and community engagement and performance management.
Context
Somerset is a large county in the south west of England with a broad range of attractive landscapes and areas designated as being of outstanding natural beauty.
Somerset has a population which stood at 460,000 at the 1991 census but which it is expected to rise to 493,000 in the year 2000. This increase has resulted from high inward migration due, in part, to the very attractive environment offered by the county. Whilst not in a majority, a significant number of migrants are from the pre-retirement and retirement age groups. This has contributed to the creation of a sizeable elderly population and it is anticipated by mid-2000 that 19% of Somerset’s population will be aged 65 or more.
Current estimates of the black and minority ethnic population vary but it is likely that it is in the region of 1-1.5 per cent. The communities represented within this figure are diverse and include Asian, Chinese, Afro-Caribbean, Turkish and travelling gypsies.
The county is predominantly rural in nature. Approximately 45 per cent of its population live in small, dispersed, rural settlements. The largest town is Taunton with 60,000 residents. There are two other main towns – Yeovil and Bridgwater – and 12 smaller towns with populations of between 4,000 and 25,000. The urban population is increasing, whilst the rural population is in decline.
Somerset has some manufacturing, particularly in the engineering and agro-food fields, and some larger industries such as defence and quarrying. However, the county has in the main a small business economy with only a tiny proportion of businesses employing over 100 people. Tourism and agriculture remain important elements within this.
Unemployment rates within the county are below the national average. There are, however, pockets of deprivation and problems associated with rural poverty and isolation.
The county council has five districts of various sizes within its boundaries – Mendip, Sedgemoor, South Somerset, Taunton Deane and West Somerset. The council has 57 members. The majority party is the Liberal Democrats with 36 members and there are 18 Conservatives and 3 Labour members.
The council has been reviewing and making changes to its political structures for some time. The week following the review visit, it moved to a system incorporating executive and scrutiny functions.
The council employs just over 15,000 staff. There are four main directorates which cover the largely traditional areas of education, finance, social services, and environment and property. However, each of the four corporate directors and the chief executive also have corporate areas within their sphere of responsibility.
The authority is managed by a corporate management team which comprises the chief executive and the four corporate directors.
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