As Head of Paid Service, there are many obligations CEOs must fulfil statutorily, as well as adhering to best practice and exemplar governance.
A number of councils have run into difficulties arising from their commercial activity with some councils exposing themselves to significant risk. While these do not reflect the sector at large, they do impact reputation at individual local authority and sector-wide levels.
At Local Partnerships, we are fortunate to be at the frontline of trouble-shooting and providing remedial action and support to councils facing challenges.
We have reflected on lessons learned about systemic commercial failures or malfunction in local government and from conversations with SROs leading change and improvement from the front line. In response, we have launched a CEO blueprint – a document intended to take council Chief Executives through a need-to-know, structured, risk-aware and financially sustainable approach to developing commercial initiatives.
Our Blueprint is designed to enable Chiefs to feel confident they have all the bases covered when it comes to council commerciality. It supports CEOs of all council types when overseeing commercial activity, irrespective of the end outcomes they are seeking to deliver. The key purpose is to maximise chances of success.
We have a section covering key considerations when embarking on commercial activity, focusing on definition, strategy, leadership, culture, governance, capability and risk.
We also cover the ‘need to know' elements for a CEO/SRO when their council is considering an alternative delivery model such as the establishment of a council-owned trading company or a shared service.
Then there's a chapter on CEO oversight of ongoing commercial activity – focusing on leadership, governance, performance management, capability, risk, oversight of council companies, preventing failure and developing exit strategies.
There are also appendices which explain trading and charging, the benefits and risks of different delivery models, financing and funding of commercial activity.
We hope Council Chiefs, SROs and other senior commercial leads alike will find value in our Blueprint. It's available to download from our website: https://localpartnerships.gov.uk/resources/ceo-blueprint/. Do please touch base with us on its value and utility within your organisation!
Adele Gritten is chief executive of Local Partnerships
@LP_AdeleG
This article is sponsored content for The MJ
