Dumfries and Galloway Council BVAR 18 Podcast transcript

I’m here with Ronnie Hinds, deputy chair of the Accounts Commission, to talk about a new report on Dumfries and Galloway Council.

Ronnie, can you tell me what this is about?

This is the latest of our new Best Value Assurance Reports. It’s an independent view giving a rounded assessment of how each council is performing.

We look at how effectively a council is managing its services, involving the public in decisions, delivering on its priorities and providing clear information so that people can see how well it is doing.

When we last reported on Dumfries and Galloway Council in 2009 we found serious weaknesses in leadership, management and services.

So, what’s changed since then?

Well, the council has made significant improvements over the last nine years. It now has a clear strategic direction, effective leadership and better systems for planning, monitoring and for continuous improvement.

Its priorities reflect the needs of the local area and it has maintained these over five separate administrations. The council continues to have strong engagement with its communities.

And what is needed now?

Since 2010/11, the council has made £86 million of savings and generally maintained or improved services to the public. It will have to make a further £79 million of savings by 2022/23. And it needs to quickly agree and implement its savings and improvement plans. It does not have a council-wide workforce plan and should develop this as a matter of urgency.

In a nutshell, it needs to increase the pace of change to meet these considerable financial challenges. 

If you look more closely, the improvements at the council have variable across services. Its response to underperformance has been uneven. Its performance indicators needs further enhancement so that councillors and the public have a clear understanding of trends in the council’s service delivery. Clear corporate management will be required to ensure consistent improvement in all council services.

You say the council continues to have strong engagement with its communities.

Yes, that’s true. This give Dumfries and Galloway an opportunity to engage fully with citizens and communities on how to shape services in the future. That’s not going to be easy and clear leadership will be needed required by councillors and officers to take difficult decisions.

What does the report say about the two issues which have been much in the news this year – the DG One Leisure Centre and the North West Community Campus?

We’re aware of the concerns people have and we cover them both. This report is about the council and all its services. We will continue our interest in how the council has learned lessons from the independent inquiry into DG One. The North West Community Campus is an ongoing issue and we expect to be updated by our auditors on developments over the coming months.

Ronnie, thank you very much.