LGA annual report on peer reviews highlights need for stronger leadership, governance and culture in councils
Improved political and managerial leadership, along with improved governance arrangements and organisational culture, are among the most frequent recommendations from council peer review teams, according to new analysis by the Local Government Association.
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The findings come in the LGA's annual report on its corporate, finance and governance peer challenge programme, which analysed the findings of all peer reviews conducted in 2024/25.
According to the report, 71 councils underwent either a Corporate Peer Challenge (CPC), Finance Peer Challenge (FPC) or Governance Peer Challenge (GPC), accounting for almost 37% of the sector last year.
The report detailed a list of key themes seen across the reports, which ranged in topic from service delivery, leadership, devolution, and finances.
On governance and culture, the LGA said peer review teams often recommended councils ensure "strong, visible and cohesive political and managerial leadership".
It added: "Building constructive councillor and officer relationships including greater clarity of understanding on their respective roles is captured.
"Some peer teams highlight the importance of resolving interim senior management arrangements to ensure continued stability and resilience to take councils forward."
The report also said that peer review teams have made recommendations which focus on supporting councils to strengthen a culture of assurance and good governance.
These recommendations covered risk management, internal control processes, councillor development, the role of internal and external audit and the production of annual governance statements. Some of the reports also made references to the governance of trading companies.
In addition, it said that cultivating a positive organisational culture through the development of agreed corporate values and open and honest staff engagement was "a consistent theme" across peer reviews.
Ensuring "clear and robust overview and scrutiny arrangements" are in place that help to drive improvement was another common theme, according to the report.
Other recurring themes in peer review reports concerned local priorities and outcomes, organisational and place leadership, financial planning and management and capacity for improvement.
On organisational capacity, the report noted that reviews often recommended ensuring the capacity of back-office services, "so that they can support effective delivery of front-line services".
Elsewhere, the report added that peer review teams often uncovered issues related to recruitment, retention, skills gaps, succession planning and reliance on agency staff.
To fix these, reviews often recommended expanding apprenticeship schemes and graduate programmes, investing in workforce development and offering staff recognition and career advancement opportunities.
On council finances, the report noted that peer teams found significant financial pressures in the sector caused by rising demand in social care, inflationary increases in pay and other costs, market pressures, cost of living challenges and, where applicable, Housing Revenue Account (HRA) pressures.
Recommendations for financial improvement often included calls to ensure the development of robust, actionable savings plans, accelerate transformation plans and enhance asset management approaches, the report added.
Cllr Abi Brown, Chairman of the LGA's Improvement and Innovation Board, said: "This report demonstrates what a council-led approach can achieve by making best use of knowledge and skills from within local government.
"LGA peers provide local authorities with unmatched experience and a trusted source of support, sharing learning, and strengthening the knowledge base across the sector.
"We continue to learn and improve, enhancing our offer based on council insight, to enable them to respond to new challenges and harness opportunities, now and in the years ahead."
Adam Carey
Police Misconduct & Vetting Solicitor
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