Agenda item

This report provides an overview of the governance arrangements established to deliver the council’s transformation and improvement. It follows the publication in March 2024 of the council’s Future Croydon transformation plan with 10 new programmes and a revised corporate improvement plan of 35 programmes and projects.

The Mayor’s Business Plan commits the council to becoming financially sustainable by delivering a wholesale transformation of our way of working, so that we balance the budget and change how services are run. Critically, the delivery of the transformation plan, Future Croydon, is integral to the Improvement and Assurance Panel (IAP) exit strategy. 

The transformation plan, Future Croydon 2024 – 2029 sets our priorities which are seen through three lenses of our residents, our council, and our place. It marks a shift, that recognises the past but sets a clear intention focussed on the future. The transformation plan is underpinned by our revised corporate improvement plan 2022 – 2027 which was also agreed at Cabinet in March 24.

Jonathan Ross, Interim Transformation Financial Analyst provided an overview of the governance arrangements in place around the council’s transformation strategy as detailed within the report.

The committee had requested the report to seek assurance on the governance structures underpinning the council’s transformation strategy.

In response to questions from the committee, it was noted the Croydon renewal plan had been replaced by the Mayor’s Business Plan and any remaining items were captured within the Annual Governance Statement (AGS). Cabinet received reporting on the Mayor’s Business Plan quarterly and the IAP Exit Strategy was monitored closely by the Improvement and Assurance Panel, with the intervention anticipated to end within the next year.

The Corporate Management Team (CMT) closely monitored all improvement and strategic plans with dedicated meetings on each area. This ensured overall alignment and an awareness of any interdependencies or duplication between the different action plans.

The committee queried the governance of the 35 programmes within the Croydon Improvement Plan. Officers advised this was included within CMT’s broader transformation oversight and saw dedicated time allocated for monitoring of each program.

Members noted some of the proposals made by Boston Consulting Group regarding cost savings were similar to historical proposals and emphasised the importance of culture change, to achieve the intended improvements to ways of working. It was requested for future programme reporting to include information regarding the pace and progress of culture change.

The committee raised concerns regarding the complexity and accessibility of reporting for councillors and residents across the improvement and transformation projects and queried whether new technology would be utilised to present progress in a clearer way.

Officers recognised the cultural challenges within the council. The improvement and transformation programmes had been collated under the Future Croydon banner and the council had sought support from three external consultancy firms to assist in achieving its transformation aims in recognition that there had been challenges previously. The consultancy firms worked closely together and a coordination board would be set up. There were areas of good progress regarding culture, such as engagement by managers in recent conferences.

The Oracle Improvement programme was a key area of improvement work and new areas of functionality were being introduced every three months. Focused training and guided learning was being provided.

The distinctions were noted between this report to provide assurance regarding the transformation programme’s governance arrangements, the People and Cultural Transformation reporting received previously and reporting due on programme implementation, which would include an update on culture change.

The committee queried the approach to monitoring progress from a baseline and requested benchmarking against other local authorities across the improvement programmes. Officers advised the consultants were developing a baseline position to ensure common definitions, effective tracking of benefits and implementation. The committee requested baseline and benchmarking data to be included in future transformation programme reporting. 

The committee queried the expected benefits of the transformation programme and whether there was an overall dashboard to monitor progress. Officers noted the work to define the expected benefits was at the early stages and agreed to feedback to the consultants. Delivery would be agreed in September 2024 and the expectations on benchmarking data would be included.

The committee noted the expectation for benchmarking data and a dashboard style report to enable the committee to interact with the data easily in future reporting.

In response to questions from the committee, officers clarified the improvement and transformation project definitions. The improvement projects were typically focussed improvements to a process or service, whereas the transformation programmes were larger and could potentially require complete reconfiguration of delivery.

The committee, RESOLVED to:

Note the updated governance arrangements to delivery of the programmes and projects found in the corporate improvement plan 2022 - 2027 and transformation plan, Future Croydon 2024 – 2029.