Council peers conclude progress has been made following independent review last year

A corporate peer challenge progress review has now been produced by the Local Government Association (LGA), concluding its independent review of the Royal Borough of Greenwich which began last summer and found that the council was ‘ambitious’ and ‘delivering solid services for residents’. 

The LGA’s progress report complements the Council on the collaborative work it is doing across departments to tackle the rising costs of adult and children’s social care, as well as temporary accommodation pressures – the most common budget issues facing councils across London.

The report has also acknowledges the significant and positive changes in recent months in some of the key relationships in the organisation – especially between senior officers and the political cabinet.

Cllr Anthony Okereke, Leader of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, said: “I would like to thank the LGA and the peer team for undertaking the progress review. It has been a hugely valuable experience and although the peer challenge review has now officially finished, this is just the start. We have heard the team loud and clear and we will now take some time to reflect on the final findings to decide how we take things forward.” 

Debbie Warren, Chief Executive of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, added: “Hearing honest and objective feedback from our peers is a crucial part of being an adaptive organisation. A lot has happened since the team first visited us last summer. We are currently delivering £40million worth of savings that we identified last year would need to be made to keep us financially stable.

 

“Now we are looking ahead to next year as we will need to continue to do more with less while delivering the services our residents deserve and the scrutiny of the review has helped us to do this.”

Peer challenges are an established tool that supports councils to drive improvements across the Council. They are not mandatory, but it is a chance for councils to get feedback from local government colleagues.

The review, undertaken at the Royal Borough of Greenwich's invitation was led by Andy Donald, Chief Executive, London Borough of Haringey, Councillor Grace Williams, Leader of the London Borough of Waltham Forest, and five other local government officers in June and August 2023 and its report was published in December 2023. Since then, the Council developed an action plan in response to the recommendations. 

A progress review followed in March 2024 and the findings of that review have now been published.