Peer challenges of the council

Read about the findings and recommendations following peer challenges of the council.

Peer challenge follow-up visit - September, 2019

A peer challenge team from the Local Government Association (LGA) returned to the council on  24 and 25 September, 2019 to carry out a follow-up visit and review the progress made towards the recommendations of its previous visit in December, 2017. In particular the team looked at the areas of strategic planning and partnerships, scrutiny, financial strategy and transformation and change management.

Overall, the team was very positive about the progress the council has made, highlighting:

• New senior appointments making a real difference to taking the organisation forward
• The development of a 2030 vision and council business plan, which give us a clear idea on the council's priorities
• A clearer idea of the budget position and the savings and investments needed to sustain this in the future
• The ICE programme, which is helping to modernise council services
• Greater investment in staff and their development

There were also a number of areas for further consideration that we will be looking at in more detail.

You can read the team's findings and recommendations in the LGA's  2019 Corporate peer challenge follow-up report [166kb].

Corporate peer challenge - December 2017

We asked the Local Government Association (LGA) to carry our a peer challenge of the council.

A review team of senior councillors and officers from other authorities carried out the review challenge in December 2017.

After reviewing key documents about the council, the team spent three days on-site, speaking with more than 70 people, including staff, councillors and partners and gathering information and views from 25 meetings and additional research and reading.

They then put together their findings and made a number of recommendations, aimed at helping the council to meet its challenges, modernise its services and the organisation as a whole, and to deliver its main priorities, such as the regeneration of Aldershot and Farnborough town centres.

You can read the team's findings and recommendations in the LGA's  2017 Corporate peer challenge feedback report [191kb].

Corporate peer challenge - February 2015

The Local Government Association (LGA) carried out the corporate peer challenge in February 2015.

The review team, also made up of councillors and senior officers from other councils, visited us between 3 and 5 February.

The review focused on:

• Understanding the local context and priority setting
• Financial planning
• Political and managerial leadership
• Governance and decision making
• Organisational capacity

The LGA published the findings and recommendations in a  2015 Corporate peer challenge report [333kb].