Accounts Commission praises South Ayrshire Council for improved leadership

Image credit: La rivière Ayr au soir tombé by Bernard Blanc via Flickr

Local government spending watchdog the Accounts Commission reports that South Ayrshire Council has made “considerable progress” since a highly critical audit report in February 2014.

In a new ‘best value’ audit published this week, the commission notes that changes include steps to improve the corporate management team’s leadership of staff, with monthly meetings and a “good level of discussion” across the organisation, as well as improvements to IT systems and consultation with users on service design.

The council has appointed a digital transformation manager to make necessary improvements in the digital and IT services provided by the council identified by SOCITM last year.

Changes in attitude from managers and the recruitment of staff from outside the council have created “a more dynamic and vibrant council”, the report says.

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However, it also states that improvements must continue in order to manage future financial pressures.

It says: “A strong culture of improvement is in place, built upon shared leadership by members and officers and improved relationships between elected members, demonstrated by the effectiveness of the Best Value working group and better scrutiny arrangements. 

“The development of the senior management team has also been a significant contributory factor, and there have been encouraging efforts by the council to learn from other organisations in finding new ideas and fresh thinking.

“It is imperative for the council to sustain its momentum, so that it can meet its duty of Best Value and in particular, address difficult decisions that lie ahead in reshaping council services in response to reducing resources.”

The report notes that the council had agreed to £4.154m of savings in the 2015-16 revenue budget and a further £4.553m in the 2016-17 budget, but then had to make further expenditure reductions of £3.239m due to cuts in Scottish Government funding.

Service redesign and the creation of some online services have helped push this change, the Accounts Commission notes, but it added that there may be “scope for more radical approaches to service redesign”.

It identifies savings of £250,000 over two years by shifting employees onto a self-service online HR system.

Another positive example was work being done to create a smartphone app for employees to use in property maintenance, which will allow employees to pick up job details and prioritise work based on urgency and location.

The council was also praised for its work to engage the community better, including asking users about their views in the review process, a consultation on budget options and the creation of locality planning groups for health and social care partnerships.

Accounts Commission chair Douglas Sinclair said: "There is good evidence now that South Ayrshire Council has put its house in order. It now has a clear direction and knows what needs to be done to improve services.”

South Ayrshire Council leader Councillor Bill McIntosh responded to the report, saying: “The council has been on an incredible journey over the last couple of years and it’s testament to the efforts of our employees and elected members that this has been recognised in such a positive way by the Accounts Commission.

“It’s important to remember the criticisms that were levelled at the council in 2014 were not at all about service delivery and both Audit Scotland and the Accounts Commission have continued to recognise the quality of the services we provide throughout this time.

“However, we were no less concerned about making the necessary improvements and I am confident that has largely been achieved and we will, as the Commission states, sustain the momentum.”