Independent Group Improvement Board
All of the political groups at the LGA have their own Improvement Boards, working closely with the LGA Improvement Board.
The Independent Group Improvement Board is chaired by Councillor Natalie Warriner MBE
Improvement Board aims and objectives
- Assist Independent Group Members to reinvigorate local democracy through effective, targetted support from the group office
- Enable group members to acquire the skills and confident to represent their constituents and meet their ambitions
- Provide support to individual authorities to help improve performance
- Raise the profile of Independent and smaller party councillors within the LGA, within local authorities and more widely
Summary of Improvement Board Work to date
Councillor Natalie Warriner MBE
I have had the privilege of leading the Board from the beginning and I have to say it has been quite a learning curve, but having had the benefit of member's expertise and guidance it has enabled some excellent work. Unfortunately as I will no longer be the Vice Chairman of the Independent Group it may not appropriate for me to continue on that role. However, I unreservedly thank my colleagues for their committment.
Role of the Political Group Improvement Boards
Political Group Improvement Boards were established in the Spring 2008 to help develop a common approach, and activities, which enables political groups to work more closely with the LGA's strategic approach to improvement . Each of the groups were assigned an IDeA Regional Associate - for our group this is Stephen Fletcher and Joe Simpson from the Local Government Leadership Centre (LGLC), is also available to provide extra support. Our lead and regional lead peers are of course a key to the success of the Improvement Board's work. The Improvement Boards work closely with LGA Improvement Board and Performances Support Panel.
Councillors on the Improvement Board are:
- Jon Huish - National Lead Peer Mentor
- Frank Rosamond - Regional Lead Peer Mentor
- Geoff Knight - Group representative on the LGA Improvement Board
- Jeremy Webb - group representative on the board of the Improvement & Development Agency
A generic set of terms of refernce were agreed, which groups could tailor to their own circumstances. The generic terms of refernce were as follows (summarised):
- Providing specific performance improvement support to councils
- promoting support to councils and groups, including encouraging prospective candidates
- for election to local government
Our group improvemnt Board have fleshed out the generic terms of refernce to achieve the following:
- Supporting Councils to improve performance
- Support for the regions
- Support for enhanced representation
Supporting Councils to improve performance
We have built a list of which Independent Group members lead authorities, and where we have members in significant enough numbers, or politically well placed to either take the lead of the council in the future, or achieve a place in cabinet arrangements. We are working closely to build rlationships with the colleagues concerned, and have already provided substantial reports in one or two cases, for example, Boston, Stoke and Cornwall. We want to ensure we can repond to calls for support and build early intelligence of where performance may be slipping with the councils concerned, so we can assist.
Supporting the Regions
We will try to ensure that regional arrangements are in place on a regular basis, for group members to meet, discuss and share views and receive regular presentations and updates on service planning and delivery. The group already had a committment to support regional meetings. In the last 18 months we have been trying to ensure that a good selection of presentations and workshops are provided at these meetings and this will continue. We are also encouraging members to find ways of building their own capacity and networks in the regions. A recent survey of South West (Wessex) members has been analysed which we will use to find out more about what our members want from regional activity. We also provide additional support to members through our events at the LGA Assembly and Conference and at the Group's annual Conference in October. This area of activity ties in with he general aims of the Independent Group Constitution. As the LGA seeks to operate most efficiently, it becomes more important that where members in the regions are able to work together, perhaps more formally, towards greater support for one another then this can only be for the good of the group.
Support for enhanced representation
- Retaining existing members
- Develop the skills and competencies of candidates and councillors
- Improve individual councillor performance
- Promote the role of the councillor
The Improvement Board, also in line with established aims for the Independent Group, seeks to raise the profile of the LGA and the Independent Group where opportunities and resources are low.
Outcomes to date
We now have good relationships with all the Independent led counils in England and have provided specific support on occassion, often in sensitive circumstances. In Wales we have begun building our relationship with one or two authorities, Swansea in partiular and with Councillor John Davies, the current leader of the Wales Local Government Association through the Group Chair and Group Office.
In addition, our national lead peer, Jon Huish, and our regional lead peers have been working closely with a number of Independent Groups on specific issues and ensuring that group members succeesing to new unitary authorities have support. This support will continue and should further new unitary authorities come into being.
The Improvemnt Board are building close links to the Peer Clearing House to ensure that it has a greater say in the appointment and work of peers in the future. For example, Natalie and Maggie will be taking part in peer interviews during the summer. We are building a list of names of councillors who may suceed to being peers in the future.
The Group have worked with the Local Government Leadership Centre to produce a guide for prospective Independent Group candidates called Choices in becoming a Local Councillor. This is proving popular.
Issues
The Improvement Board is ambitious: however, the ongoing issue of needing to remain prudent concerning resources: councillors, staff and finance to take forward the programme of activity, is always prevalent in discussions.
We continue to take steer from Executive Group members on the extent of activity members think it is feasible for the Improvement Board to undertake.