Corporate Peer Challenge

In September 2024, the council invited the LGA Corporate Peer Challenge Team to visit our borough as part of our commitment to continued performance development and improvement.

The Local Government Association’s Corporate Peer Challenge (CPC) is a tried and trusted method of improvement. It is designed to support the council’s performance by identifying its areas of strength and areas for development.

The challenge generally follows a five-year cycle, with our last review taking place in 2016. The Challenge aims to look at the council’s vision, ambition and aspirations for Burnley and its residents, businesses and other stakeholders.

Staff and key stakeholders from across our networks and partners participated in a series of individual interviews and small group discussions with members of the review panel.

The CPC was conducted by a team of people from outside Lancashire with a wide range of experience and knowledge about local government. It included two senior councillors, a local authority chief executive and two other senior officers.

The team was facilitated by a member of the LGA’s staff with experience of the CPC process.

The Review Panel

Members of the review panel are:

  • Paul Medd, Chief Executive, Fenland District Council
  • Cllr Tony Saffell, Leader of the Independent Group, North West Leicestershire District Council
  • Cllr Alan Rhodes, Leader of the Labour Group, Bassetlaw District Council
  • Gemma Bell, Director of Finance and Assets and Deputy 151 Officer, Cheltenham Borough Council
  • Julian Jackson, Director of Place, Tameside Council
  • LGA Corporate Peer Challenge Manager – Rachel Robinson

We also produced Burnley’s Position Statement, a document that ‘set the scene’ and provided a comprehensive introduction to the council for the Peers ahead of the challenge.

The Peer Team followed five themes which form the core components of all Corporate Peer Challenges. These areas are critical to local authority performance and improvement.

  1. Local priorities and outcomes – Are the council’s priorities clear and informed by the local context? Is the council delivering effectively on its priorities?
  2. Organisational and place leadership – Does the council provide effective local leadership? Are there good relationships with partner organisations and local communities?
  3. Governance and culture – Are there clear and robust governance arrangements? Is there a culture of challenge and scrutiny?
  4. Financial planning and management – Does the council have a grip on its current financial position? Does the council have a strategy and a plan to address its financial challenges?
  5. Capacity for improvement – Is the organisation able to support delivery of local priorities? Does the council have the capacity to improve?

Initial Feedback

The CPC concluded on the 12th September 2024. The feedback from the Review Team was exceptional, highlighting numerous strengths and areas of excellence within the council. The Review Team highlighted that the council have:

  • A strong and clear sense of Civic Pride.
  • A strong sense of teamwork as “One Team Burnley.”
  • A highly motivated workforce and passionate community leaders all striving for the best for Burnley.
  • Staff that are proud of working for Burnley and have a willingness to go the extra mile.
  • Innovative and empowered staff with a strong focus on health and wellbeing.
  • Ambition and financial preparation for the future.
  • A clear and embedded vision.
  • Exceptional collaboration with partners to deliver on their shared vision and priorities, earning them a reputation for delivery.
  • Formidable Bondholder partners promoting business growth and the Burnley brand.
  • A strong culture of performance, with prompt action and investigation of any potential underperformances.
  • Strong effective leadership set by the Leader and CEO.
  • Effective governance and robust financial strategies/monitoring.

Comments from partners were touching, such as everyone wants the “Best for Burnley” and “Burnley has a policy of improvement where other boroughs have a policy of managing decline,” showing how highly regarded Burnley council and the borough is.

The Peer Team also provided recommendations to further strengthen the organisation but acknowledged that most of them were already under consideration.  These included:

  • Refreshing the overarching communication strategy, including promoting the council and its successes.
  • Continued focus on tackling the root causes of deprivation and inequalities, working with system partners to agree on shared outcomes.
  • Enhancing the role of Scrutiny in holding partners to account.
  • Reviewing the Asset Management Strategy.
  • Continuing to embed jointly owned monthly budget monitoring.
  • Considering future service delivery models to ensure organisational resilience and the ability to address future community needs.
  • Championing effective succession planning to embed future workforce resilience.

The full report from the LGA was received in November 2024, the council then prepared a Peer Response Action Plan for implementation.

Progress Review Feedback

In June 2025, the LGA peer team returned to Burnley to carry out a Progress Review. This follow-up looked at how the council has responded to the recommendations from the Corporate Peer Challenge held in September 2024.

The report states: “the council has made excellent progress in addressing the CPC recommendations. It is clear, as noted by the council themselves, that the outcomes and findings of the CPC have been used to inform and shape future direction and to make changes to the operating environment of the council.”

Key points from the review include:

  • “Examples since the CPC include the opening of Newtown Mill (transforming a heritage asset into a modern educational facility for the University of Central Lancashire) and the completion of Dovestone Gardens (the first extra care facility in Lancashire).”
  • “The council has also launched a new council strategic plan, outlining the borough’s priorities and initiatives over the next five years, refreshed the interconnected communications strategy and launched a toolkit for workforce planning to aid future resilience.”
  • “Developments include the insourcing of property services and facilities management, along with environmental health and licencing from 1 April 2025, which will provide opportunities to consolidate service delivery and ensure more effective alignment with the strategic direction of the council.”
  • “A new digital platform is being launched, with planning, environmental health and housing services scheduled to migrate during the summer and licencing and customer services later this year. The approach will increase the number of end-to-end digital processes in the short-term and in the longer-term will form the basis for AI enabled delivery.”
  • “The CPC highlighted that the council has a comparatively sound and sustainable financial position. For example, the council has increased useable reserves from £13.1m to £34.2m during the period 2015–2024…”
  • “Recent developments include the identification of shared priorities for the health and wellbeing partnership, covering themes such as childhood nutrition and respiratory diseases linked to poor housing conditions.”
  • “…culminated in the council being shortlisted for both the Municipal Journal (MJ) and Local Government Chronicle (LGC) Awards for ‘2025 Council of the Year’, being ‘highly commended’ in the latter and winning the MJ ‘Rising Star’ category.”
  • “Peers were impressed with the council’s strong community and political leadership along with its collegiate and pragmatic approach to devolution and local government reorganisation.”

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