Best Value Assurance Report East Ayrshire Council Prepared by Audit Scotland XXXXXMay 20172018 The Accounts Commission The Accounts Commission is the public spending watchdog for local government. We hold councils in Scotland to account and help them improve. We operate impartially and independently of councils and of the Scottish Government, and we meet and report in public. We expect councils to achieve the highest standards of governance and financial stewardship, and value for money in how they use their resources and provide their services. Our work includes: • securing and acting upon the external audit of Scotland’s councils and various joint boards and committees • assessing the performance of councils in relation to Best Value and community planning • carrying out national performance audits to help councils improve their services • requiring councils to publish information to help the public assess their performance. You can find out more about the work of the Accounts Commission on our website: www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/about-us/accounts-commission Audit Scotland is a statutory body set up in April 2000 under the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000. We help the Auditor General for Scotland and the Accounts Commission check that organisations spending public money use it properly, efficiently and effectively. Best Value Assurance Report: East Ayrshire Council  | 3 Contents Key facts 4 Commission findings 5 Audit approach 6 Key messages 8 Part 1. Does the council have clear strategic direction? 10 Part 2. How well is the council performing? 14 Part 3. Is the council using its resources effectively? 25 Part 4. Is the council working well with its partners? 31 Part 5. Is the council demonstrating continuous improvement? 40 Recommendations 44 Endnotes 45 Appendix. Best Value audit timeline 46 Links PDF download Web link 4 | Key facts Area 490 Estimated budget gap sq miles 2018-22: £55 Best scenario – £24m 122,200 Population Worst scenario – £90m million Council workforce 2017/18 (number capital £89 5,270 of full-time budget million equivalent employees) 14 SNP 2017/18 revenue £332 Cross-party budget million breakdown 9 Labour 32 6 Conservative 2 Independent Councillors 1 Rubbish Party Commission findings | 5 Commission findings The Commission accepts the Controller of Audit’s report on Best Value in 1 East Ayrshire Council. We endorse the recommendations set out by the Controller of Audit in his report and expect the council to act upon them. We are pleased that East Ayrshire Council has maintained the strong 2 performance that we reported in previous Best Value reports in 2006 and 2010. Such performance has been achieved against substantial socio-economic challenges in East Ayrshire. It is based upon a record of effective community planning and partnership working, underlined by a genuine commitment by partners to work with and empower local communities. The council faces a substantial budget gap which will test this record. 3 We note that the council’s new Transformation Strategy is still in its early stages with more development to be done. The council will need to ensure that the strategy is supported by robust planning and resourcing. A corporate workforce plan also needs to be integral to the strategy. The council and its partners are committed to supporting and 4 developing a sustainable local economy. Effective engagement with the local business community, with a view to enabling more employment opportunities, is an important aspect of this priority. We are pleased to note that the performance of services is 5 improving. There is evidence of good practice in the council and its partners in managing demand for services through preventative approaches to service delivery, notably in homecare. There is potential to apply this approach in other services. We encourage councillors and officers to continue to work well 6 together in delivering the significant changes which will be needed in how the council delivers its services. The council’s good record of self-assessment will also be helpful in moving forward. We will maintain our interest in the progress of the council. In line 7 with our new approach to auditing Best Value, the Controller of Audit will monitor progress through the annual audit and update the Commission accordingly. 6 | Audit approach 1. The statutory duty of Best Value was introduced in the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003. The audit of Best Value is a continuous process that forms part of the annual audit of every council. Findings are reported each year through the Annual Audit Report . The Controller of Audit will also present a Best Value Assurance Report to the Accounts Commission at least once during the five-year audit appointment for each council. This is the first assurance report on East Ayrshire Council. The findings from previous Best Value reports on the council are summarised in the Appendix. 2. This report seeks to provide the Accounts Commission with assurance on the council’s statutory duty to deliver Best Value, with a particular focus on the Commission’s Strategic Audit Priorities covering: • the clarity of council priorities and quality of long-term planning to achieve these • how effectively councils are evaluating and implementing options • how effectively councils are ensuring that members and officers have the right knowledge, skills and time to lead and manage delivery of council priorities • how effectively councils are involving citizens in decisions about services • the quality of council performance reporting to help citizens gauge improvement. 3. We are looking for councils to demonstrate Best Value by showing continuous improvement in how they deliver their priorities. The pace, depth and continuity of this improvement is key to how well councils meet their priorities in the future. In this report, we show how we assessed East Ayrshire Council’s improvement over time and our conclusions are reflected in the Key messages (page 8). 4. Our audit approach is proportionate and risk-based, that is, it reflects the context, risks and performance of the individual council. It also draws on information from previous years’ audit and scrutiny work. In keeping with this approach we conducted some initial work to identify risks and council initiatives to build into our audit’s scope. We examined previous audit and inspection reports and intelligence, reviewed key council documents, met with senior officers and drew from our wider public-sector knowledge and experience. Exhibit 1 (page 7) shows the key areas of focus for our audit: Audit approach | 7 Exhibit 1 Key areas of focus for our audit The council's vision and priorities, as developed with community planning partners Managing performance, self-evaluation and measuring outcomes Financial sustainability, including the difficult decisions the council faces on the funding gap and related policy choices Community engagement, including the council’s ‘Vibrant Communities’ approach, community-led action plans and asset transfers to the community Partnership working, including interacting with the Integration Joint Board, a body that plans and coordinates local health and social care services Financial governance and resource management Transformation and improvement activity including the arrangements established to effectively deliver the new transformation strategy Source: Audit Scotland 5. We did the detailed audit work for this report in December 2017 and January 2018. Our audit work included: • interviewing elected members and senior officers • holding focus groups with members of staff • observing a range of council and committee meetings • reviewing documents. 6. We will continue to audit Best Value at the council over the course of our audit appointment. This will include following up on the findings from this report and more detailed audit work on other Best Value characteristics as appropriate. 7. We gratefully acknowledge the cooperation and assistance provided to the audit team by all councillors and officers during the audit. 8 | Key messages 1 The council and its partners have delivered strategic planning jointly for 15 years. Their community plan sets out a clear, shared vision for East Ayrshire through to 2030. Councillors support this vision. The Community Planning Partnership (CPP) understands the challenges facing East Ayrshire and is focusing on three strategic themes: economy and skills, safer communities and wellbeing. The council has strong executive leadership. Officers and councillors from all parties work well together for the people of East Ayrshire. There is evidence of effective challenge from councillors. 2 The council and its partners report improvement in more than two- thirds of the indicators they use to monitor performance against their priorities. Compared to other councils, the council’s overall performance has improved in recent years, and the 2017 residents’ survey reported high levels of satisfaction with most council services. The council and its partners can show where their actions have improved performance. The council is addressing the challenges that remain in some areas, including employment and planning. 3 The council has effective financial planning and management arrangements in place. It prepares medium- and long-term financial plans. The council anticipates a funding gap of between £24 million and £90 million over the next five years. It has identified key areas for change when developing its latest Transformation Strategy. The council recognises that