Council 'slow to respond' to issues, says panel

A body set up to advise and challenge a Cheshire council has said the authority "continues to be slow to respond" to some of its issues, although it has made progress in some areas.

An independent assurance panel was created following a report into Cheshire East Council last summer.

A report from the panel said the council had acknowledged and "responded openly and positively" to its issues but it appeared to be "overwhelmed by the challenge".

Cheshire East Council, which will discuss the report at a meeting on Monday, said the panel had "recognised the council's commitment to improvement".

The independent assurance panel was set up following a corporate peer challenge of the council, conducted by councillors and staff from other local authorities.

The panel has met six times, and has published its first progress update on the authority.

It said it recognised and welcomed the council's commitment to improvement.

But it said that while "recognising the good progress that has been made in some areas", it was accepted by the panel and the council that "improvement is not where the council would have wished it to be at this juncture".

The report said pace was a "significant issue" and also that the council did not have a "single, prioritised and resources improvement plan setting out how it will address the challenges it faces".

It also said that savings in the authority's transformation plan - which was passed last August - "remain unclear to the panel".

"The council have, as yet, been unable to articulate what these savings are or when they will be delivered," the report said.

The panel also said it was concerned that Cheshire East's involvement in the devolution for Cheshire could "remove capacity from the improvement journey".

Cheshire East Council has faced financial difficulties in recent years and was given a best value notice by the government in May, which is a formal notification of its concerns.

A spokesperson for Cheshire East Council said: "The panel has recognised the council's commitment to improvement and positive collaboration between political leadership and senior officers to drive change.

"The panel also recognised the challenges the council is facing and the work we still need to do to meet these challenges.

"They highlight the pace required, the need to coordinate our wide-ranging improvement work through a single outcome-focused plan, and to build on our relationships with the panel and government departments to provide clear assurance around our progress."

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