Accounts Commission Section 102 Follow-up Report (S.102) – School Accommodation for Dargavel Village
Renfrewshire Council · 26 September 2024
Back to Council — 26 September 2024 and its agenda
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___________________________________________________________________ To: Council On: 26th September 2024 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: Chief Executive ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Accounts Commission Section 102 Follow-up Report (S.102) – School Accommodation for Dargavel Village ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 At a meeting on 8th August 2024, the Accounts Commission was presented with a statutory S.102 follow up report, as circulated to Councillors on 5th August 2024 by the Controller of Audit on School Accommodation for Dargavel. The Accounts Commission subsequently issued findings following their meeting. Their findings and the original Controller of Audit S.102 follow up report are attached in Appendix 1. It is a statutory requirement for a S.102 report to be reported to the full Council to allow consideration of the findings and recommendations from the Accounts Commission and to agree any subsequent action by the Council. 1.2 As outlined in their follow up report, the Accounts Commission agreed to make findings in response to the Controller of Audit’s statutory follow up report. 2. Recommendations 2.1 It is recommended that members: - • note and accept the Accounts Commission’s findings and recommendations; • note the proposed responses outlined within the body of this report.
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3. Background 3.1 Following presentation of the Council’s 2022/23 Annual Audit Report for from Azets(the Council’s appointed external auditor), considered by the Council’s Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Board (ARSB) on 6 November 2023 and by the full Council on 16 November 2023, the auditor issued an unmodified opinion on the council’s 2022/23 annual accounts. Within that report, the auditor provided significant coverage of the Dargavel situation, including: - • findings from the independent report commissioned by the Council and which reported in June 2023 (“The Bowles Report”); • the subsequent actions the Council has been progressing since that time; • that the Council has appropriate governance arrangements in place with improvements over the years in Member and officer relationships and effective leadership overall and were satisfied through their detailed audit work that the Council had demonstrated that the governance failings identified by the Bowles report were limited to the historic handling of Dargavel; • that they had no highlighted concerns over the wider organisational culture in the Council or in its approach to managing major capital programmes, but did identify that the role of the Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Board in ensuring effective scrutiny was not sufficiently clear and the Council has recognised this and is already significantly progressed with a review of the Audit Risk and Scrutiny Board; • the overall progress being achieved to resolve the educational capacity challenges because of the historic errors made by the Council, highlighting that the Council continues to have significant challenges to rebuild the trust of communities affected by the failings and that the Council and communities will be feeling the impact of this for some time to come. 3.2 The Controller of Audit decided to use the reporting powers available to her under s102 (1) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 to bring this issue, and the action the Council was taking in response to the independent Bowles report, to the attention of the Accounts Commission. Following presentation of that S.102 report in January 2024 the Commission set out their findings in their report, alongside several issues on which they required further investigation. The Commission also confirmed in January that they intend to bring forward Renfrewshire Council’s Best Value report from 2027 to later this year, or at the latest in early 2025.
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3.3 The Commission required the Controller to report back to them on any issues raised in the report that she thinks appropriate, but specifically asked the Controller seek specific further information and updates from the Council regarding: • the Council’s review of its approach to community engagement, • the Council’s approach to consultation on the additional primary school at Dargavel, and other decisions on the school estate, • the Council’s work on understanding the wider service impacts on the failings regarding school capacity, • the Council’s reviews of scrutiny and risk management, and its leadership development programme, and • the process followed and factors taken into account by the Council in considering disciplinary action against senior staff, and its approach and policy on performance management and accountability. 3.4 The key conclusions outlined by the Controller to the Commission in her recent follow-up report in August were as follows: • The Council continues to demonstrate that it is taking action to respond to the issues highlighted in the Bowles report and she was satisfied that the actions being taken by the Council in response to the five key issues identified by the Commission are timely and appropriate. • The Council carried out its consultation on the proposed new primary school in line with statutory requirements and the independent consultant appointed to review and assess the Council’s approach found that the process was robust. • The Council has recognised that there is still work to do and reports it has developed plans for ongoing community engagement on the design and planning of the new school. The auditor will continue to monitor progress and developments in this area. • The Council has concluded its review of risk management and has largely completed the actions arising from its review of governance arrangements. It has also completed its review of its Dargavel consultation and community engagement activity. The Council has made progress in its response to the issues raised in the Bowles report, but the Controller noted that in her view it is too early to conclude on the impact and effectiveness of some of the actions taken by the Council. The auditor will continue to monitor the impact of changes to governance and scrutiny arrangements, the leadership
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programme, and the Council’s response to the review of its community engagement activity. • There continues to be significant public interest in the Council’s response to the Bowles report. It is critical that the Council is as transparent as possible about how it reaches key decisions and that appropriate records are kept. The auditor will provide further updates through the annual audit and Best Value reports. 3.5 Following consideration of the Controller’s report at their meeting on the 8 August, the key elements of the findings set out by the Commission are summarised below. 3.6 Community engagement 3.6.1 The Commission welcomed the increase in community engagement undertaken by the Council and its ongoing commitment to improve its engagement with affected communities. 3.6.2 They also recognised that rebuilding trust takes time and noted the breadth and strength of views expressed by the community in the recent statutory consultation. 3.6.3 They highlighted that the Council must continue to demonstrate and evidence that engagement with communities is robust, inclusive, and meaningful, and that feedback received is reflected in decision-making processes. 3.6.4 Response - Council officers will share the detail of engagement that is progressed with the Dargavel and Park Mains High School communities with the Council’s auditors as well as wider work being progressed to develop the Council’s corporate approach to consultation, communication, and engagement. 3.7 Wider impacts on service provision and issues of transparency 3.7.1 The Commission noted that the auditors found no evidence of negative impacts on wider Council services from the miscalculation in school roll data in the Council’s performance information reported in June. 3.7.2 The Commission set out in their findings an acknowledgement that they did not ask the Controller to do any follow up work on financial management issues and in terms of the report provided by the Controller there was no coverage of financial matters presented to the Commission. Despite this, the Commission chose to explore the issue of financial implications with the Controller during the Commission meeting and set out in their findings that: • They feel uncertainty remains around the financial implications of previous planning failures relating to Dargavel and their impact on Council services.
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• They believe the Council must set out clearly and transparently the financial implications associated with the new primary school and secondary school extension in its budget monitoring and financial planning and should continue to work with community planning partners to mitigate any potential impact on relevant services. 3.7.3 It was surprising and disappointing that the Commission have chosen to set out findings on an area that they did not ask the Controller to carry out additional work or report on. This is particularly the case given reporting on the financial implications of the school roll error was covered by the Controller in her initial S.102 report in January 2024 and by Azets in their annual audit report in November 2023 as highlighted from the following extract from that report: “The cost to address this error for the Council will be significant and is currently estimated at up to £75 million in gross capital costs for building a second primary school in Dargavel and building a larger than planned secondary school extension to accommodate the increased need for pupil places. These costs are expected to be met from new borrowing and will add c£4million per annum in additional revenue costs to meet interest payments. The net running costs associated with operating the new schools will be at least £0.5million per year. The additional revenue costs of c£4million for borrowing interest cost have been factored into the Council’s medium term financial plans as they will mainly take effect from when the new school is built which is currently projected to be by August 2027. We note in context that the Council’s existing medium term financial plan highlights the need to make savings of as much as £50million for the period to the 2026-2027 financial year. The revenue costs associated with the Dargavel issues identified above added to that already challenging savings target and will need to be incorporated into the Council’s medium term financial plans in due course. We summarise the independent examiners review work below, together with our assessment of the Council’s response and actions to date. Our work has been informed by a range of meetings with Council officers and examination of a wide range of available documentation. We have noted throughout our work the openness and transparency with which the Council have approached this difficult and challenging issue and we would like to thank the Council for their support during our audit.” Extract : Azets Annual Audit Report presented to Council 16th November 2023 3.7.4 The financial consequence of addressing Dargavel have been reported by the Director of Finance and Resources in several Education and Children’s Services Policy board reports and Council reports since November 2022. It has been set out clearly and transparently that the estimated net financial impact (circa £4.5 million annually) will require to be addressed as part of the Council’s medium term financial planning arrangements, which has identified a requirement to address much wider savings of approximately £50 million (note that this is inclusive of the unplanned costs associated with addressing Dargavel requirements). It
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is not anticipated that in taking the wide range of decisions that will be required over the medium term to ensure the financial challenge is addressed, that a subset of specific decisions will be identified by Council as those notionally attributed to the financial implications arising from Dargavel. 3.7.5 In addition, in respect to budget monitoring, the Council’s annual budget is set with due regard to planning for any known budget changes that will emerge in the forthcoming year, and this set out as part of the budget papers presented to Council each year. For example, any additional costs and additional government grant arising from higher number of pupils feeding through the from the Dargavel development have been accounted for in setting the 2024/25 budget and therefore there would be no expectation of any variance to be reported through budget monitoring throughout the year. This process of required annual budget adjustments will continue to be the case each year over the next 9-10 years as Dargavel village continues to move towards completion. 3.7.6 Equally, the additional capital costs of approximately £2 million required to deliver additional modular accommodation capacity to Dargavel Primary school was fully reported through the Education and Children’s Services Board and Council, fully funded in the Council capital programme approved by Council, and appropriately reported through the Council’s capital programme monitoring at each board cycle prior to the completion of the units ahead of the August 2023 academic year. 3.7.7 An overview in relation to the financial impact and how it was being dealt with by the Council was summarised verbally for the Commission by the Council’s lead Auditor from Azets during the public part of the Commission’s meeting, to provide reassurance. 3.7.8 Nevertheless, the Commission have indicated that they will maintain a close interest in how the Council moves forward with the development and publication of its Medium-Term Financial Plan, the actions it puts in place to mitigate the additional costs arising, and the wider impacts on service provision and has asked the Controller of Audit to monitor this through the annual audit and keep the Commission informed accordingly. 3.7.9 Response - officers will continue to support the local audit team to understand the Council’s progress in managing delivery of its wider medium term financial plan, the latest update of which is provided by the Director of Finance and Resources earlier on this agenda. 3.7.10 The Commission also supported the Controller’s conclusion that, although the decision-making was appropriate, a contemporaneous record of decision-making in relation to a supplementary report provided by David Bowles should have been kept by officers and reiterated the importance of transparency and good governance.
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3.7.11 Response – Council officers accept the Commission’s view and while the internal review into the handling of specific planning applications related to Dargavel was thorough and detailed, the review should have been appropriately recorded. 3.8 Leadership 3.8.1 The Commission welcomed the Council’s development of a leadership programme for officers. Additionally, they have encouraged the Council to consider making full use of the external improvement resources available to them to similarly support training of elected members. 3.8.2 Response - An annual development week is provided to support Elected Member’s development in addition to specific sessions provided over the course of the year. The Head of Corporate Governance will continue to liaise with Elected Members to identify additional areas of development to inform the proposed programme. Training may be delivered internally or by external providers as appropriate. 3.9 Organisational Culture 3.9.1 The Commission noted the auditor’s conclusion that the Council continues to demonstrate that it is taking action to respond to the issues highlighted in the Bowles report, and that behaviours have continued to improve since January 2024. They also recognise the challenges the Council faces in balancing competing priorities and making difficult decisions and expect it to keep up the work it has done to actively and openly learn lessons from previous challenges and amend behaviours accordingly. Although no issues were the Council’s culture were noted in the original Auditor’s report, an interest in the current culture of the Council is ongoing. The expectation is that organisational culture will be an area of focus in the forthcoming Best Value report, due for consideration by the Commission in December 2024. 3.9.2 Response - officers will continue to support the local audit team and Controller of Audit throughout the Best Value Audit process to better understand the culture and values of the Council, and the commitment to effective corporate working across the council and how this is evidenced. 3.10 Subject to consideration and approval by Elected Members, it would be proposed that given the nature of the Commission’s follow-up findings these actions are incorporated into the preparation to support the Council’s response to the auditors Annual Audit and Best Value arrangements that will in due course be reported through the Audit Risk and Scrutiny Board and full Council. In line with statutory requirements under the 2003 Act, this proposed response if approved by Council will be formally shared and communicated to the Account Commission. _________________________________________________________
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Implications of the Report 1. Financial - there are no direct financial implications arising from this report. Any costs associated with delivering the proposed actions will be contained within existing resources. 2. HR & Organisational Development - none 3. Community/Council Planning – none 4. Legal – the statutory report issued by the Controller of Audit and subsequent findings issued by the Accounts Commission have been issued under S.102 and S.3 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and 2003 respectively. 5. Property/Assets – none 6. Information Technology – none 7. Equality & Human Rights - The Recommendations contained within this report have been assessed in relation to their impact on equalities and human rights. No negative impacts on equality groups or potential for infringement of individuals’ human rights have been identified arising from the recommendations contained in the report as sets out the detail of an external investigation. If required following implementation, the actual impact of the recommendations and the mitigating actions will be reviewed and monitored, and the results of the assessment will be published on the Council’s website. 8. Health & Safety - none 9. Procurement – none 10. Risk - none 11. Privacy Impact - none 12. Cosla Policy Position – none. 13. Children’s Rights – none. 14. Climate Risk – none _________________________________________________________ List of Background Papers Dargavel Primary – Independent Review – Council June 2023 Azets Report to those charged with governance - Renfrewshire Council Group Annual Accounts 2022/23 – Audit Risk and Scrutiny Board November 2023
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Annual Audit Report 2022/23 Renfrewshire Council Group – November 2023 Author: Alan Russell Chief Executive alan.russell@renfrewshire.gov.uk
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Renfrewshire Council Update report on school accommodation for Dargavel Village Prepared by the Controller of Audit August 2024
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Renfrewshire Council | 2 Contents Commission findings 3 Introduction 5 Update on progress 7 Conclusion 14 Accessibility You can find out more and read this report using assistive technology on our website www.audit.scot/accessibility.
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Commission findings | 3 Commission findings 1 The Accounts Commission accepts the Controller of Audit’s update report on school accommodation for Dargavel Village. We note the further information and updates that we requested in response to her section 102 report in January 2024. Community engagement 2 The Commission welcomes the increase in community engagement undertaken by the council since January 2024 and its ongoing commitment to improve its engagement with affected communities. However, we recognise that rebuilding trust takes time, and note the breadth and strength of views expressed by the community in the recent statutory consultation. The council must continue to demonstrate and evidence that engagement with communities is robust, inclusive, and meaningful, and that feedback received is reflected in decision-making processes. Wider impacts on service provision and issues of transparency 3 We note that auditors found no evidence of negative impacts on wider council services from the miscalculation in school roll data in the council’s performance information reported in June. While we note the Controller was not asked to follow up on financial management issues, we are concerned that uncertainty remains around the financial implications of previous planning failures relating to Dargavel and their impact on council services. The council must set out clearly and transparently the financial implications associated with the new primary school and secondary school extension in its budget monitoring and financial planning and should continue to work with community planning partners to mitigate any potential impact on relevant services. 4 The Commission will therefore maintain a close interest in how the council moves forward with the development and publication of its Medium-Term Financial Plan, the actions it puts in place to mitigate the additional costs arising, and the wider impacts on service provision. We ask the Controller of
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Commission findings | 4 Audit to monitor this through the annual audit and keep the Commission informed accordingly. 5 We support the Controller’s conclusion that a contemporaneous record of decision-making in relation to a supplementary report provided by David Bowles should have been kept by officers and reiterate again the importance of transparency and good governance. Leadership 6 The Commission welcomes the council’s development of a leadership programme for officers. However, it is vital that this programme is extended to include the political leadership of the council. Elected members have a key leadership role and must be supported to fulfil their scrutiny and decision- making responsibilities effectively. It is crucial that historic failures of leadership and governance referred to in the Bowles report are not repeated. We encourage the council to consider making full use of the external improvement resources available to them. Culture and behaviour change 7 We note the auditor’s conclusion that the council continues to demonstrate that it is taking action to respond to the issues highlighted in the Bowles report, and that behaviours have continued to improve since January 2024. We recognise the challenges the council faces in balancing competing priorities and making difficult decisions and expect it to keep up the work it has done to actively and openly learn lessons from previous challenges and amend behaviours accordingly. As part of this, we expect the council to demonstrate effective cross-council working and decision-making. Overall, we maintain a strong interest in the culture of the council and whether it can demonstrate sustained change and improvement in the longer term. As such, we expect that organisational culture will be an area of focus in the accelerated Best Value report due for consideration by the Commission in December 2024.
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Introduction | 5 Introduction Background 1. In June 2023, Renfrewshire Council received the findings of an independent report (the Bowles report) that highlighted significant historic failings of leadership, oversight and risk management in relation to the provision of school accommodation for Dargavel Village. The council accepted the findings in full and apologised to the local community for the errors made. In January 2024, I reported to the Accounts Commission on the actions taken by the council to respond to the issues identified in the Bowles report. 2. The Commission asked me to report back by June 2024 on progress with the issues raised in the Commission’s findings. Following the announcement of the UK general election on 4 July 2024, reporting was delayed to August 2024 due to restrictions on the publication of reports during the pre-election period. Specifically, the Commission asked that I seek further information and updates from the council on the following: • the council’s review of its approach to community engagement • its approach to consultation on the additional primary school at Dargavel, and other decisions on the school estate • the council’s work on understanding the wider service impacts on the failings regarding school capacity • the council’s reviews of scrutiny and risk management, and its leadership development programme • the process followed and factors taken into account by the council in considering disciplinary action against senior staff, and its approach and policy on performance management and accountability. 3. The council’s appointed auditor has carried out additional work to gather information and assess progress to date in relation to the five areas of interest identified by the Commission. 4. I submit this follow-up report under section 102(1) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 as a matter that the Controller of Audit considers should be brought to the attention of the Accounts Commission for Scotland.
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Introduction | 6 5. The auditor will provide a further update on progress with some of these issues in the annual audit report, due to be published in September 2024, and the Best Value report, which has been brought forward from 2027 to December 2024.
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Update on progress | 7 Update on progress Community engagement 6. In my previous report I reported that the council recognises the significant challenges it faces to rebuild the trust and confidence of local communities. In its findings, the Commission asked me to undertake further audit work to enable me to update the Commission on recent actions taken by the council to improve its consultation and engagement with communities over its planned new primary school at Dargavel and planned extension at Park Mains High School. I was also asked to update the Commission on the council’s progress in reviewing the effectiveness of its strategy and approach to community engagement. I cover each of these areas separately. School-based community engagement and consultation 7. The auditor has carried out a high-level review of community engagement activity undertaken by the council with Dargavel and Park Mains High School communities since publication of the Bowles report. The auditor has concluded that the council has taken steps to increase its engagement activity with local communities. 8. From the end of January to the end of March 2024, the council carried out a statutory consultation on the proposal to build a new primary school in Dargavel Village and a review of the catchment areas for both the new and existing primary schools. Activity as part of this consultation included two public meetings, four information sessions, drop-in sessions and opportunities to provide online and written feedback. The council wrote to statutory consultees and others in the local community to publicise the consultation. Information on the consultation and how people could get involved was also available on a dedicated page on the council website. The auditor has confirmed that the council’s consultation on the new Dargavel primary school meets the requirements of the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010. 9. There is no statutory requirement for the council to consult on any proposal to extend an existing school. There has therefore been no statutory consultation on the proposal to extend Park Mains High School. The council has, however, been carrying out a programme of community engagement on the extension. This is principally through the Park Mains Liaison Group and community newsletters. The council reports that it has developed a plan for the next phase of engagement on the extension to Park Mains High School and the new Dargavel primary, from July to September 2024.
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Update on progress | 8 10. The final report from the statutory consultation was discussed at the Education and Children’s Services Policy Board in May 2024. The consultation was about delivery of a new non-denominational primary school within Dargavel Village for 800 pupils and revised catchment arrangements between Dargavel primary school and the new school. The majority of responses to the consultation agreed with the need for a new school but views were split on the proposed site (40 per cent agreed and 41 per cent disagreed). There was also no consensus on the proposed catchment area (44 per cent agreed, 12 per cent disagreed and 44 percent did not express a preference). The main concern raised by respondents to the consultation was about the increase in traffic and the availability of safe active travel routes to school. Although it was outwith the scope of the consultation, a third of respondents also raised the option of a new high school or a joint primary and secondary campus. This option was not presented in the consultation because the council had agreed in May 2023 to extend Park Mains High School, which is the existing non- denominational secondary school for the Dargavel and Bishopton catchment, to provide additional capacity. 11. The board also considered an Education Scotland report prepared as part of the consultation process. This report concludes that the council’s proposal has the potential to provide educational benefits. It also highlights the significant concerns raised by stakeholders, both through consultation responses and conversations with HM inspectors. It recommends that the council should: • develop robust plans to manage the expected increase in traffic and ensure that there are improved and safe active travel routes to school • develop contingency plans to address any potential slippage in timescales for construction of the new school • continue to work with stakeholders to mitigate their concerns and involve them, as appropriate, in the development of the new school. 12. In response to concerns raised during pre-engagement activity about traffic at the new school site, the council commissioned an independent transport and travel study in January 2024. This concluded that the planned road infrastructure will accommodate the additional traffic. It also made some recommendations to maximise active travel. The council is currently engaging with BAE Systems about planning access and travel routes as part of the design of the school site. 13. The council recognises that there is still work to do to repair its relationship with the Dargavel community and reports that it has developed plans for ongoing community engagement during the design and planning of the new school.
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Update on progress | 9 14. The auditor will continue to monitor how the council acts on the findings from the consultation and the Education Scotland report. The council’s review of its approach to consultation and engagement 15. The council commissioned an external consultant to: • provide support and guidance on best practice to support its statutory consultation activity in relation to the new primary school. This was to include support for staff delivering the consultation, advice on the effective running of public events, support for the senior team and a review mid-way through the consultation to advise on any improvements that could be made • carry out a review of the effectiveness of the wider engagement strategy, including the statutory consultation and engagement on plans to expand Park Mains High School. This included a community opinion survey, carrying out meetings with stakeholders to discuss their engagement with the council and a review of exit surveys and transcriptions from the statutory consultation. This review was completed in June and a report will be taken to the council’s Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Board in August 2024. 16. The consultant’s report considered how the council carried out the Dargavel consultation, but did not look at the issues raised or how the council has responded. It identified considerable good practice in the consultation process, concluding that it effectively allowed citizens to voice their preferences. It also concluded that the council’s engagement and communication plan was comprehensive. The consultant made a series of recommendations, some of which are specific to the Dargavel consultation and some which are broader and apply to the council’s future consultation activity. 17. The scope and methodology of the work the council commissioned from the external consultant was appropriate and the findings provide assurance that the council’s approach to the Dargavel consultation was robust. It is too early, however, to comment on how the council has responded to the consultant’s recommendations. 18. The council reports that it has now also secured external support to help deliver a new corporate engagement policy and toolkit and establish an engagement oversight group. It is important that the council continues to work to rebuild trust among the Dargavel and Bishopton communities, by acting quickly to implement any recommendations arising from the conclusion of its review. It should also consider how the lessons learned can be applied to its corporate approach to consultation and engagement. The auditor will continue to monitor progress and developments in this area. 19. I am satisfied that the council’s approach to its recent consultation and community engagement activity has been appropriate and comprehensive.
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Update on progress | 10 The council is responding appropriately to the issues raised through the consultation process in its decision-making. Wider impacts on service provision 20. As I noted in my previous report, the council has implemented interim arrangements to address primary school capacity issues and monitors the quality of educational delivery and measures of pupil attainment through its existing quality monitoring arrangements. The Commission emphasised in January the importance of openness and transparency in the council’s consideration of options and decision-making in relation to the school estate. The council continues to report issues and decision-making on the school estate and education provision through the Education and Children’s Services Policy Board. 21. The Commission also raised concerns about the potential impacts on other services as a result of the errors in the estimation of pupil numbers in Dargavel. The council has established a Dargavel working group, made up of council senior management, to manage operational issues related to the new primary school and extension of Park Mains High School. Any wider service impacts identified through the work of this group would be considered as part of the council’s regular business planning, financial planning and annual budget processes. 22. The council has not identified any significant impact on local service provision as many other local services are not impacted by the size of the school roll. Of the 4,300 new houses planned in the Dargavel area, 2,400 have been built and the rest will be built in batches over the next ten years, so the council is confident that it will be able to adapt to any service impacts as they arise through its wider corporate planning processes. 23. The auditor is satisfied that the council has appropriate arrangements in place for considering the potential wider impact of its planning failure linked to school accommodation for Dargavel Village on non-education services. The auditor has also found no evidence of any negative impacts on wider council services being demonstrated through the council’s routine performance management processes. Governance and scrutiny 24. The Bowles report, while restricted to the historical handling of the Dargavel development, raised a concern in relation to the council’s governance arrangements. In my earlier report I highlighted that, while auditors concluded that overall, the council has appropriate governance arrangements in place, the role of the Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Board (ARSB) in ensuring effective scrutiny is not sufficiently clear. The council committed to review its governance and scrutiny arrangements as part of a wider review of corporate governance.
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Update on progress | 11 25. The council has taken steps to review its governance and scrutiny arrangements, including: • a self-assessment against CIPFA guidance for local authority audit committees • an exercise benchmarking the council’s governance arrangements against other councils • a cross-party working group review of governance arrangements • a review of the council’s risk management arrangements. 26. At its meeting in May 2024, the council considered the results of the ARSB’s self-assessment against CIPFA good practice on audit committees. The self-assessment identified a number of areas of good practice and 11 action points, including proposed changes to the governance of the ARSB. The council approved the results of this review, the action plan and a number of changes to the way the ARSB operates in relation to its terms of reference, guidance and role descriptions. All the action points were implemented by the end of June. The cross-party review of governance also identified a number of actions, including a review of the council’s Scheme of Delegation. An action plan was developed compiling actions from the reviews, with progress against actions monitored by the ARSB. All but one of the actions have now been delivered, with the final action to be completed by December 2024. 27. All actions in response to the Bowles report in relation to risk management have been completed, as reported to the ARSB in March 2024. The auditor will continue to monitor progress in improving governance and scrutiny arrangements and report further as part of their annual audit and Best Value work. 28. The council has developed a leadership programme in conjunction with SOLACE. The programme covers areas including risk management, good governance and engaging with the public. The council initially plans to run the programme in three cohorts. The first cohort, consisting of the extended Corporate Management Team, has completed the programme and the second cohort began in April 2024. The programme is ongoing, so it is too early to reach a conclusion on its effectiveness. SOLACE has collated feedback from the first cohort and the council has used this to update the programme for subsequent cohorts. The auditor has concluded that the scope and timing of the programme is appropriate and will provide a further update in the Best Value report. Performance and accountability 29. The Bowles report concluded that there had been historic failures of leadership and corporate oversight of decisions relating to the Dargavel development. This meant that decision-making was not sufficiently scrutinised or challenged by senior management. Bowles also concluded
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Update on progress | 12 that junior staff in the Education and Children’s Services department were asked to make assessments on pupil demand that were beyond their expertise and experience, with no appropriate support or supervision. This led to the errors in school capacity planning going unidentified. As part of the independent investigation, David Bowles provided the chief executive with a supplementary report considering his views on the accountability of the individuals involved in decision-making in relation to Dargavel. He found that the key individuals had either left the council or were too junior to merit formal disciplinary action. 30. In my previous report I noted that the auditor concluded that the council obtained appropriate external legal advice and determined there is no potential for any form of action against former senior employees involved in the Dargavel School decision-making. The auditor has carried out further work to look at the processes followed by the council in deciding not to take disciplinary action against any of the staff involved. The auditor has also reviewed the council’s policies and procedures on performance management. 31. The council considered whether disciplinary or other action could be taken against individual council officers. The auditor has concluded that the council took the appropriate action, based on the powers available to it, but that action was limited due to officers involved having left the council. 32. In his supplementary report, David Bowles suggested that the council carry out an independent review into the handling of specific planning applications related to Dargavel. The council reports that it had been undertaking its own review of Dargavel planning alongside the work of David Bowles and information from this work had led the council to conclude that the planning process had been followed appropriately. On receipt of the supplementary report, the chief executive asked the head of corporate governance to confirm that the concerns identified by Bowles were not supported by evidence. The council has shared details of this work with auditors but has not been able to provide a contemporaneous written record of the scope or findings of its additional work. In the interests of transparency and good governance, I would have expected officers to have kept a written record of decision-making on such a serious matter. 33. The auditor has concluded that, overall, the council has appropriate and comprehensive performance management policies and disciplinary procedures in place. Greater clarity is needed, however, on how the council’s disciplinary procedure applies if an officer goes on sick leave during a disciplinary investigation and occupational health determines the individual is not fit to be investigated. The council is currently in discussions with trade unions regarding a revised disciplinary policy, including changes to address this issue. The council will need to secure agreement from all the trade unions to revise the policy.
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Update on progress | 13 34. In light of the Bowles report’s findings about historic failures of management oversight and organisational culture, the council has carried out town hall events and other activity across all council departments to promote understanding of, and compliance with, performance management policies.
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Conclusion | 14 Conclusion 35. The council continues to demonstrate that it is taking action to respond to the issues highlighted in the Bowles report. The auditor has carried out further work to look at council actions and progress in the five particular areas of concern identified by the Commission and I am satisfied that the actions being taken by the council are timely and appropriate. 36. The council carried out its consultation on the proposed new primary school in line with statutory requirements and the independent consultant found that the process was robust. The consultation found significant support for a new school, however, there is no clear consensus on the proposed site and some respondents continued to highlight high school provision as a pressing issue although that was outwith the consultation scope. The council has recognised that there is still work to do and reports it has developed plans for ongoing community engagement on the design and planning of the new school. The auditor will continue to monitor progress and developments in this area. 37. The council has now concluded its review of risk management and has largely completed the actions arising from its review of governance arrangements. It has also completed its review of its Dargavel consultation and community engagement activity. The council has made progress in its response to the issues raised in the Bowles report, but it is too early to conclude on the impact and effectiveness of some of the actions taken by the council. The auditor will continue to monitor the impact of changes to governance and scrutiny arrangements, the leadership programme, and the council’s response to the review of its community engagement activity. There continues to be significant public interest in the council’s response to the Bowles report. It is critical that the council is as transparent as possible about how it reaches key decisions and that appropriate records are kept. The auditor will provide further updates through the annual audit and Best Value reports.
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Renfrewshire Council Update report on school accommodation for Dargavel Village Audit Scotland, 4th Floor, 102 West Port, Edinburgh EH3 9DN Phone: 0131 625 1500 Email: info@audit.scot www.audit.scot ISBN 978 1 915839 47 3 AS.5.0