The Cabinet received the key messages from the LGA Wirral Improvement Board meeting held on 27 September 2013.  The meeting had focused on:

·  the Effective Planning and Delivery of the Efficiencies;

·  demonstrating Corporate Health; and

·  the Effective Assurance Framework.

Councillor Ann McLachlan informed that the Improvement Board had been meeting for 18 months to offer guidance and support to improve the Council’s corporate governance, following a number of external reports which had highlighted its failings.  She also informed that the Board had commissioned its Chair, Joyce Redfearn to carry out a review to ascertain what 18 months of sector-led improvement approach had achieved when allied with an organisation that had been determined to improve and had acted on that determination and to consider the Board’s role in providing future support to the Council.

The Draft Review Report was now subject to a short period of consultation running from 6 – 15 November 2013.  This report would be considered by the Policy and Performance Co-ordinating Committee at a Special meeting on 13 November 2013, the Audit and Risk Management Committee at a Special meeting on 14 November 2013 and at a public meeting of the Improvement Board on 15 November 2013.  The feedback would then be considered and the final report would be debated by the Board at its meeting on 29 November 2013.

Councillor Ann McLachlan set out the Draft Report’s highlights and informed that the Final Report would be considered by the Cabinet at a meeting in December 2013.

Councillor Phil Davies encouraged all Members to read the Draft Report.  He informed that Wirral Council was the first Council in the country to champion this approach to improvement.  There was still work to do but external experts agreed that the Council had improved and was moving forward in an appropriate way.  Councillor Phil Davies also thanked Councillor Ann McLachlan for leading the improvement work and informed that he looked forward to reviewing the comments received on the Draft Report.

RESOLVED:

That the Key Messages from the LGA Wirral Improvement Board be noted.