Corporate peer challenge
We agreed to receive a corporate peer challenge in March 2023, as part of the Local Government Association's sector improvement offer. The visit was hugely successful, both in its smooth running and array of partners and stakeholders involved, but also in the positive outcomes reported at the end of the week, which you can read about in the report below.
The review team highlighted areas of particular strength as:
- clear leadership from the Cabinet and senior officers
- strong pride of place and Newcastle-under-Lyme has a distinct identity
- partnership working is particularly strong and the role it has in bringing others together to collaborate is highly valued
- finances are healthy, and actively managed, which places it in a stable position
- officers are recognised as important assets for us and they are committed and keen to deliver for the communities
- we have set out our ambitions for the place and our communities and attracted enviable amounts of government funding to deliver physical regeneration
The peers also made some recommendations designed to help us make further improvements to our already strong position, as acknowledged in the report. These recommendations will make a welcome contribution to our commitment to continuous improvement and an action plan to deliver them has been developed in response.