About Local Government Corporate Peer Challenge

The Local Government Association Corporate Peer Challenge is a sector led improvement and assurance tool that provides independent external support and challenge to councils. It is undertaken by elected members and officer peers. The peer challenge offers an opportunity to check how the council is doing, see if it is going in the right direction, evaluating current performance and identifying areas for improvement against best practice in local government.

The Peer Challenge is one of the measures that the council committed to undertaking to provide confidence and demonstrate transparency in its ongoing improvement journey. The process is also designed to assist councils in meeting part of their Best Value Duty.

Our Corporate Peer Challenge Report

Somerset Council invited the Local Government Association to undertake a corporate peer challenge of the council in November 2024. Across 4 days, the team met with 120 individuals, including council members, officers, partners and community representatives, in more than 54 meetings or focus groups.

The peer challenge report for Somerset Council was published in February 2025.

Recommendations from the peer team

The report contains 24 recommendations across 7 subject areas:

  • Values and Behaviours
  • Finance
  • Governance
  • Independent Assurance
  • Member and Officer Leadership
  • Economic Development
  • Skills and Capacity

The peer team commended the proactive and decisive action taken to provide short term stability in the face of the extreme financial challenges facing councils. They also recognised the significant impact this has had on establishing a new council, the impact on our workforce and delivering on our plans and ambitions.

They underlined the importance for the Council to reset and refocus to make our priorities, timelines and deliverables clear to everyone. This will help to build a sustainable authority in the medium term, improving services and taking advantage of the economic growth opportunities in Somerset. Despite the challenges that the council has faced, peers recognised that performance in services valued by residents has been maintained.

Action Plan in response to the recommendations

The actions Somerset Council will be taking in response to our recent Corporate Peer Challenge have been agreed and published.

The Action Plan groups planned activities under the following four inter-related themes:

  • Theme1: Building a strong culture of assurance
  • Theme 2: Delivering financial stability
  • Theme 3: Supporting our people
  • Theme 4: Developing our communities, place and economy

It has been developed with Somerset Council’s Corporate Leadership Team (CLT) to support cohesive and effective ownership of improvement actions and activities.

These actions will help us identify opportunities for improvement, while deepening our engagement with residents, partners and stakeholders so that their voices are reflected in our improvement journey at what is a critical juncture for the Council.

A number of the recommendations proposed by peers also build on the foundations that the Council has already put in place and/or reinforced improvement actions that have also been identified in recent audits.

Peers will revisit Somerset later this year to review progress against the recommendations and discuss early impact and learning.

The LGA will then publish a progress review report no later than 12 months after their original visit.

Last updated: April 14, 2025

Next review due: October 14, 2025

Back to top