West Dunbartonshire BV1 update report – March 2010  

Podcast Q&A  - Interview with John Baillie, Chair of the Accounts Commission

1.	What are your main findings?
Looking at progress since July 2009, the Commission welcomes some positive steps taken by the council. However it also says the council has made insufficient progress on many of the areas identified in 2006 as priorities for immediate improvement and its financial situation is also concerning. 

We welcome the fact that the council now has an agreed improvement plan and the benefit of formal external peer support for both councillors and senior officers.

However there has been insufficient progress against many of the areas identified in the original Best Value audit as priorities for immediate improvement, such as strategic leadership and councillor and officer relations. A number of the issues raised in this report have been matters of concern for some time and councillors could be more engaged with the improvement agenda.

In addition to this, West Dunbartonshire Council’s financial position is a matter of concern in itself, but is even more troubling as the council has made limited progress on ensuring appropriate strategic leadership and effective relationships between councillors and senior officers. We cannot be confident of the council’s ability to make difficult decisions that address its financial difficulties.

2.	What should the council be focusing on now?

We’re recommending that the council focus on two areas in order to achieve a sustainable financial position, and ensure progress with the improvement plan. These are:

•	Establish systems to ensure the management, monitoring and reporting of progress against projected savings. Key milestones should be clear, and senior councillors must be in the position to deliver active, regular and robust scrutiny of their achievement.

•	Take urgent steps to make more effective use of the support available from others in the local government community, so faster progress can be made with the improvement plan. COSLA and the Improvement Service are helping the council with this.

3.	Who has a role to play here?

The council has made limited progress on ensuring appropriate strategic leadership and effective relationships between councillors and senior officers. All councillors have a key role to play here and it’s important that they fully engage with the improvement agenda, as do senior officers.

The local government community elsewhere – other councils and organisations set up for councils – can help support the council.

As auditors we are also aware of the need to closely monitor this council.

4.	What happens next with the audit?

The Commission will seek regular updates to provide it with assurance that the financial position of the council is being addressed effectively.

Audit Scotland and other scrutiny bodies are currently drawing up shared risk assessments and schedules of activity for audit and inspection work in each of Scotland’s councils. This will assess the use of resources and the performance of key services.