Middlesbrough Council has been issued with a revised Best Value Notice as the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) said more work needed to be done to ensure financial sustainability and other organisational change.
A Best Value Notice was first set in place at the authority in January 2023.
15th LATIF North | York | 19 March
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority has also been issued with a new Best Value Notice, having first been issued one in January 2023. DLUHC said more work was needed to ensure effective partnership working between all levels of the combined authority and its constituent authorities.
A Best Value Notice is a non-statutory but formal notification that DLUHC has concerns about an authority, and is also a request that the authorities engage with the department to provide assurance of improvement.
Seeking financial sustainability
At Middlesbrough, DLUHC noted that the council had so far “worked effectively” with the department in setting out and implementing a range of improvement measures to effectively address identified concerns.
However, “more work is still to be embedded to ensure sustained and material improvements particularly in relation to financial sustainability, delivery of transformation and effectively implementing new strategies to embed positive cultures”, DLUHC said.
As a result, Middlesbrough will need to work with DLUHC to secure “financial recovery and return to financial sustainability” through setting a balanced three-year MTFP over the period to 2026/27.
Earlier this month, the authority’s Executive was asked to apply for exceptional financial support from government in a bid to balance its budget in 2024/25 and avoid issuing a section 114 notice.
The authority is struggling under the weight of a £6.279m funding deficit this financial year, despite proposed savings and other measures. Further gaps of £1.596m for 2025/26 and £0.305m for 2026/27 are expected, equivalent to a cumulative budget gap of £8.180m.
The Best Value Notice also requires Middlesbrough to continue to work with the Independent Improvement Board already set up, with organisational transformation, improvements to governance arrangements, and cultural change – “particularly in relation to the relationships between officers and members” – needed.
DLUHC warned that if Independent Improvement Board and external auditor recommendations are not met “in full, with necessary improvements delivered at sufficient pace” then the need for statutory intervention will be considered.
The Best Value Notice will remain in place for six months, but can be reissued at that point. The notice may be withdrawn or escalated at any point based on available evidence.
Setting strategic priorities
At Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA), the same timeframe and conditions have been imposed in the Best Value Notice.
DLUHC acknowledged the steps taken by CPCA so far, but said it expected the authority to continue with the Independent Improvement Board, “making full use of its support and engaging with its recommendations over the next six months”.
It must also continue to implement and embed the changes agreed by the Combined Authority Board as part of an improvement plan, and continue to “implement and monitor cultural change across the organisation, for both officers and members, with a focus on measurable outcomes”.
The authority has also been tasked with developing the “strategic priorities and aspirations for the area that will benefit local residents”, and a “credible delivery strategy for progressing these”.
On that point, DLUHC added: “We hope that this can be achieved through consensus but, if not all stakeholders are ready to fully engage, the opportunity should be left open for them to do so when they feel ready to. This work is also important in informing CPCA’s approach to further devolution.”
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