The Moray Council
Leadership and direction
Audit and inspection work undertaken jointly between Audit
Scotland and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education
2 February 2011
Contents
Page
Background
1
Joint audit and inspection approach
2
Key findings
2
Strategic leadership
2
Elected member commitment to equalities
3
Elected members commitment to personal development
4
Impact on learners
4
Conclusions
5
Background
1.
The first Best Value audit of The Moray Council was reported in February 2006. The
report was very critical about a lack of effective corporate and political leadership,
and lack of strategic direction. It also noted a lack of commitment to equalities
issues by some councillors.
2.
The Council has also been subject to the following audit and inspection work since
that time.
3.
4.
•
A Best Value follow-up report in 2007 highlighted some improvement but also
cited the need for more consistent strategic leadership by elected members. It
was noted that almost all of the changes implemented in the Council had been
driven by officers, with little clear evidence of members driving and leading
change.
•
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) published an Inspection of the
education functions of local authorities (INEA) report on The Moray Council in
2008 which noted many positive messages, but point for action three
highlighted that there was a need to ‘continue to improve the strategic direction
of the authority’s work to ensure greater impact on all learners’.
•
A second Best Value follow-up report in 2009 found that ‘officers continue to
provide good strategic direction and are instrumental in moving forward key
strategic issues such as community and financial planning. The strategic
leadership provided by elected members has improved.’ There were also
areas where further progress needed to be made, including an increased
commitment by elected members to their personal development.
The Assurance and Improvement Plan (AIP) sets out the planned scrutiny activity for
The Moray Council from April 2010 to March 2013. The purpose of the work in year
one was to evaluate the extent to which progress is being made to improve strategic
leadership, member commitment and support for the equalities agenda, and member
commitment to their personal training and development. Given the shared interest
between Audit Scotland and HMIE in strategic leadership, it was decided that some
of the work should be conducted jointly between the two organisations, and include
assessment of progress against action point three from HMIE’s 2008 report. The
objectives of this piece of scrutiny activity were to:
•
evaluate the quality and effectiveness of local political leadership in The Moray
Council;
•
evaluate member commitment to their own development;
•
assess the extent to which members lead the equalities agenda; and
•
in conjunction with HMIE, assess the Council’s progress in improving the
strategic direction of the authority’s work to ensure greater impact on all
learners.
Since undertaking the audit, two councillors have left the administration group, with
one having retired from his role as a councillor. A by-election was recently held
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which resulted in an Independent member being elected. It is currently unclear what
the impact of this will be. Currently the political balance is Independent/Conservative
Administration ten, Scottish National Party ten, Scottish Labour two, non-aligned
Independents three, and the one new member. In addition to this political instability,
the Council is operating under constrained finances and is required to find savings of
£20 million by 2013/14.
Joint audit and inspection approach
5.
The joint audit and inspection work commenced in May 2010, and the team, which
consisted of Audit Scotland and HMIE staff went on site in June 2010. The team
interviewed both members and officers. A member focus group was carried out and
a member’s survey issued. Council documentation was also reviewed.
Key findings
The Council has made some progress in improving strategic leadership. The
Council shows awareness of the need to strengthen working arrangements by
clarifying the respective roles and responsibilities of councillors and officers, to
support them in working together towards a shared vision, and to provide clear
strategic leadership. Councillors and officers need to address this issue as a
priority. Councillors still lack commitment to the equalities agenda and to their
own training and development. Despite sound advice from officers, councillors do
not show sufficient strategic leadership to improve the education for learners in
Moray. Improving education for learners, and the equalities agenda are examples
of where the Council’s shared vision still needs to be achieved.
Strategic leadership
6.
The Council has made some progress in strengthening political leadership. In the
past, members have sometimes struggled to make difficult decisions on strategic
and corporate issues, for example, the lack of direction around the strategic
approach to the schools estate, as highlighted in previous audits and inspections.
There is some evidence that this is starting to change, for example, in the
constructive discussions to reach agreement during the 2010/11 budget process,
and recent decisions on cuts to local services. The Council does not have a majority
administration, so consequently there is no guarantee issues can be addressed
unless there is a consensus on issues between political groups. Councillors show
awareness of the need to work together constructively and put political differences
aside.
7.
The Council could strengthen the way that councillors and officers work together
towards a shared vision. The Council showed awareness of weaknesses in the
working arrangements between them, and officers and members now need to move
forward in securing improvement in this area. The recent Audit Scotland publication
How councils work: an improvement series for councillors and officers, Roles and
working relationships: are you getting it right? recommends that councils ‘consider
introducing mechanisms to encourage greater communications between councillors
and officers, and strengthen working relationships.’ At present clear working
arrangements for officers and councillors of all groups are lacking, for example, there
is no forum for officers to meet with representatives of all political groups to discuss
policy options and promote shared understanding. Informal cross party meetings of
councillors with officers have been held in Moray, for example, to consider how to
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meet the forthcoming financial challenge, however by their informal nature, limited or
no minutes are produced. The deferral of the chief executive’s paper on the
management restructure, and the lack of progress in rationalisation of the schools
estate, are examples of where a common understanding and shared vision between
members and officers on the issues and how to address them is lacking. The recent
decision to establish a cross party working group to reconsider the management
restructuring proposals is a positive move. Progress will be monitored through the
annual audit process.
8.
Senior management engage with the administration group through the Service
Development Group (SDG). While the remit of the SDG has been approved by
council, it is not defined in the Council’s Administration Scheme or Scheme of
Delegation, and this has led to council business on occasion being distracted by
discussions on the role of the SDG. It is acknowledged that the SDG provides a
useful forum for officers and the administration to meet constructively, but its role
could be clarified in the Council’s schemes to bring it in line with the best value
principles of openness and transparency that the Council practices elsewhere in its
approach to conducting council business.
Elected member commitment to equalities
9.
In 2009, the Equality and Human Rights Commission Scotland commissioned
research on good practice in implementing equalities duties in the public sector in
Scotland. 1 This identified strong leadership and governance of equalities as factors
likely to lead to success in identifying and addressing equalities issues in public
authorities.
10. In Moray, councillors do not show strong leadership of equalities duties. There is no
elected member ‘champion’ or spokesperson on equalities. Since 2009, they have
chosen to discharge their duties under equalities legislation by delegating the remit
for managing equalities to the chief executive. Subsequently, he has ensured that
the necessary policies and documents are in place, for example, equalities schemes
and impact assessments. Other equalities activity includes an equalities forum with
representatives from local equalities groups and a corporate group. Councillors are
not involved on either of these, and their involvement with the equalities agenda
continues to be limited. There was little acknowledgement by councillors that they
should provide leadership of this area.
11. Members currently consider equalities issues in two separate committees: the
communities committee and the policy and resources committee. The Council found
this approach did not promote leadership of equalities, and plans to address this as
part of a realignment of the committee structure with the Community Planning
structure. This will mean that going forward equalities will fall under the remit of the
Communities committee only.
1
Capturing the gains of the public sector duties, Equality and Human Rights
Commission, 2009.
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Elected member commitment to personal development
12. Elected member training and development has been highlighted a number of times
in audits as in need of improvement in The Moray Council. Although the Council has
tried to implement processes to support member training, we found that member
engagement with development activity has made limited progress. Councillors
continue to lack ownership of their training and development. All of the activity to
improve their commitment to this has been officer led, councillors have not been
involved in the development of their training activities. As a result councillors may
not be getting the training and development they need, as they do not fully engage
with, or see the relevance of, training. This may impact on their ability to fully
understand and fulfil their complex roles.
13. The Council officers have tried to raise the profile and emphasise the importance of
training for councillors. It was included as a high risk in the 2009/10 Annual
Governance Statement and is now included in the remit of the policy and resources
committee. The Council has undertaken a range of activities to try to increase the
provision, take up and impact of elected member training. These include induction
training for new members, development of councillor job descriptions and
development of a member’s handbook.
14. This officer led activity has not had the desired impact on councillor commitment to
their training and development. For example, some councillors were unaware
induction training had been provided. Uptake of training events continues to be low.
Councillors often stated that the training provided is not a priority because they feel it
is not relevant to them. Involving councillors in designing training and reference
materials would strengthen their commitment to and ownership of continuous
professional development, as well as increase their understanding and awareness of
training opportunities available.
15. Councillors’ lack of commitment to their own training and development limits their
ability to increase their understanding of the full range of councillor roles and
responsibilities. As highlighted in How councils work: an improvement series for
councillors and officers, Roles and working relationships: are you getting it right?,
‘discussions with councillors help to tailor individual plans that meet their needs and
secure better outcomes from training and development activities.’
16. The Council is not following good practice in analysing councillor training needs and
providing training to address them. The Scottish Local Authority Remuneration
Committee recommends the implementation of Personal Development Plans (PDPs)
for councillors. PDPs were introduced, but the Council advises that these are no
longer in use and have been replaced by councillor training records. We requested
sight of these during our work, but these were not made available to us so we cannot
assess their impact.
Impact on learners
17. HMIE followed up on the inspection report of 2008 by visiting The Moray Council in
April and June 2010. As a result of this inspection, HMIE reported that the
Educational Service of The Moray Council has made good progress in action points
one and two from its 2008 report. It has continued to develop its strengths and is
now a more forward and outward looking service.
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18. Point for action three from the 2008 report was the subject of this joint work between
Audit Scotland and HMIE. It highlighted that there was a need to ‘continue to
improve the strategic direction of the authority’s work to ensure greater impact on
learners’.
19. Councillors do not have a sufficiently well-planned long-term strategic vision for the
improvement of Educational Services. Despite sound professional advice from
officers, decisions are either avoided or taken based on ad-hoc information or local
pressures. Councillors now need to engage more consistently and effectively with
officers to improve the education for learners in Moray.
20. Over the last seven years, officers in Educational Services have brought forward
proposals aimed at rationalising the school estate. A declining pupil roll has led to
overcapacity in many Moray schools. While Education Services have taken
consultations on possible closures to committee, there has been minimal action.
21. Recent changes to community learning and development include the adult learning
team being moved into the chief executive’s department to support further
community engagement. This change was not sufficiently well planned and has not
yet been evaluated. There is now a lack of targeted adult learning in the Moray area
and a possible detrimental impact on vulnerable adults in the community. Officers
were unclear as to how the Council will continue to develop lifelong learning and
meet its targets in the Single Outcome Agreement.
22. Educational Services is developing better self-evaluation using Quality Management
in Education 2. This has begun to have a positive impact on learners in Moray.
Conclusions
23. The Council has made some progress in improving strategic leadership, however:
•
the Council needs to strengthen its working arrangements by reviewing the
roles and responsibilities of councillors and officers, to support them in working
together towards a shared vision and to provide clear strategic leadership;
•
councillors need to improve how they work with officers to achieve the
Council’s priorities, including improving education for all learners, by giving
strong and consistent direction;and
•
councillors still lack ownership of and commitment to their personal
development and do not provide leadership of the equalities agenda.
24. These issues are exacerbated by the challenging economic climate and the pressing
need for members to work together constructively to make difficult decisions to
ensure that there is consistency for members and officers in the key priorities for the
council and for the financial viability of continued service provision.
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The issues arising from the recent audit work in The Moray Council have been
consistently identified in the first Best Value audit and subsequent follow-up reports.
Although progress has been made, it is important that this continues, and the pace of
change increases, to avoid the risk of deterioration under the pressure of the tough
financial climate. The council should ensure that arrangements are in place to support
councillors and officers in working together to achieve the best outcomes for the
residents of Moray. Progress will monitored by the local audit team and the Local Area
Network through the Shared Risk Assessment process.
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