In October 2024, we invited the Local Government Association to conduct a Corporate Peer Challenge (CPC) to provide external feedback on how we operate and highlight areas for improvement.
The CPC took place over four days and over the course of 25 interviews and focus groups, the Peer Team, made up of Councillors and Officers from Local Authorities across the country, met with more than 130 partners, elected members and council staff before reporting on their findings.
A copy of the feedback report and the action plan we have pulled together in response can be found in the document section below.
Part of the process involves the Peer Team returning to the council about a year after the CPC, to see the actions taken to implement the recommendations and assess our delivery against the agreed action plan. Our Progress Review visit took place in February 2026 and the associated report will be published here once received.
FAQs
CPCs are carried out by the Local Government Association free of charge and are offered to all local authorities as part of its sector led improvement programme. Each CPC covers the five core elements detailed below as well as any additional local areas of focus or specific challenges requested by the council:
local priorities and outcomes
organisational and place leadership
governance and culture
financial planning and management
capacity for improvement.
Following the CPC, a report outlining the key findings and recommendations from the peer team is shared with the council. In the spirit of openness and transparency, councils are required to publish this report, alongside an action plan, within three months of the Corporate Peer Challenge. A further progress review visit is arranged for approximately a year after the original visit, to determine progress against the recommendations and action plan.
Stuart Bobby, chief executive, Gravesham Borough Council
Councillor Eamonn O’Brien, leader, Bury Council (Labour)
Councillor Brian Milnes, deputy leader, South Cambridgeshire District Council (Liberal Democrat)
Jackie Smith, corporate director and chief operating officer, South Staffordshire Council
Helen Gretton, head of transformation, strategy and performance, Charnwood Borough Council
