Action plan to build on strong foundations for council approved

Article date: July 18th 2025

The action plan has been created following the Local Government Association's Corporate Peer Challenge, which took place in February, that found the council had 'transformed' for the better over the past five years after it's last full Corporate Peer Challenge.

The independent panel of peers, including officers and councillors who work across different areas, praised the transformation of the council, saying 'The improvement across the organisation has resulted in the core components of a well-functioning council being in place and working well, including robust governance, performance management, financial stewardship and effective partnerships.'

As part of the review process the report set out 10 recommendations and the council had formed an action plan that will address these areas going forward which will go to Cabinet and then Council for approval.

Council leader Councillor Anthony Burns said: "We are so proud of the recognition that the hard work over the last five years has shown great success for us as an organisation, and the Corporate Peer Challenge is the latest acknowledgement of the transformation, even when facing unprecedented challenges such as the pandemic and cost of living situation.

"This, alongside our Good Ofsted inspection, Good CQC inspection, recognition from Grant Thornton on our good financial standards all show that we are a council delivering quality services for our residents and that is validated by a number of independent bodies.

"Now we have the strong foundations this action plan will help us continue to drive our ambitious plans for the borough through work focused on further strengthening our financial position, delivering our transformational regeneration programme, and connecting our communities to our services where they live.

"We're also clear about telling our story as a council that we #LoveStHelens, we're proud of our quality services making a difference to residents' lives and that we are here with you, for you, every step of the way through life. Our Annual Report, published last month, also highlighted a range of areas where the council has delivered on projects like family hubs, tech-enabled care, delivering new homes, the regeneration of St Helens town centre and Earlestown moving forward, opening of improved 5g sports fields and much more."

The 10 recommendations have been broken down into the following themes:

·       Investing in the future, delivering for today

·       Optimisation and efficiency

·       Addressing inequalities

·       Regeneration

·       Localities

·       Target operating model

The recommendations will be tracked for delivery through a broader transformation framework and councillors will review them regularly.