260817 ARS Board Accounts Commission - Transformation -How councils are redesigning and delivering more efficient services
Renfrewshire Council · 17 August 2026
Back to Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Board — 17 August 2026 and its agenda
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PUBLIC ___________________________________________________________________ To: Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Board On: 17 August 2026 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: Director of Finance and Resources ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Accounts Commission: Transformation: How councils are redesigning and delivering more efficient services ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 This paper provides an overview of the Accounts Commission publication, “Transformation: How councils are redesigning and delivering more efficient services”, published in May 2026. The publication sets out a high-level view of Scottish councils’ transformation progress, with analysis of different transformation arrangements in councils. This paper also notes the current position of Renfrewshire Council’s transformation activity. 1.2 The publication sets out the Accounts Commission’s assessment, as well as its expectations of councils, with a Supplement detailing case study examples of positive practice. This includes Renfrewshire Council being highlighted in the “Transformation funding” section for its approach to supporting transformation activity through the Service Modernisation and Reform Fund, as well as in the “managing projects and programmes” section for its governance arrangements through the refreshed Transformation Board.
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PUBLIC 1.3 Key messages from the Accounts Commission analysis • Recognition of the significant challenges facing Scottish councils, and an expectation for councils to move beyond incremental savings towards whole-system transformation, in order to secure financial sustainability and meet increasing demand. • The importance of setting out how transformation activity will support future financial sustainability, and linking this with strategic priorities and wider plans through monitoring and reporting. In the Accounts Commission view there is variance across the sector, with some councils showing progress, while in others, they assess that oversight arrangements are not always clear or comprehensive enough to fully inform leadership and scrutiny responsibilities. • Recognition of challenges relating to workforce capacity and skills, highlighting that many councils need to improve workforce capacity to make better progress with transformation. • Positive examples of partnership working, highlighting challenges relating to funding, capacity and resources, as well as governance and data sharing issues. • Examples of consultation with communities, however the Accounts Commission analysis highlights that it is often not clear how engagement has been reflected in service redesign proposals, as well as variance in the articulation of financial impacts and wider benefits of transformation activity. • The publication highlights inconsistencies in councils’ approaches to identifying, assessing, and monitoring the impact of transformation activities on vulnerable and protected groups, noting the risks of not fully embedding Equality Impact Assessments in planning and monitoring processes. ___________________________________________________________________ 2. Recommendations 2.1 It is recommended that members of the Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Board: • Note the contents of this paper. _________________________________________________________ 3. Background 3.1 Since 2022, auditors have undertaken thematic Best Value audit work alongside annual audit work for Scottish councils. This includes reports
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PUBLIC focused on leadership, responding to workforce challenges, and transformation in councils. Local transformation was the theme audited in 2024/25, with management reports provided to each council. This latest publication draws on the management reports of 22 councils available at the time of drafting, including Renfrewshire Council. 3.2 The Accounts Commission publication references work being progressed at a national level, including the local government transformation programme launched in 2023 by Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE) and the Improvement Service (Delivering a future for Scottish Local Authorities). The report provides an update on the three workstreams, including that a draft report on public service reform from a local government perspective will be published in summer 2026, and a national self-evaluation framework will be piloted with four councils over 2026/27. 4. Summary of Key Findings from the Accounts Commission Report Transformation Planning 4.1 The Accounts Commission assessed the extent to which councils have clear transformation plans, linked to their priorities, supporting long- term financial sustainability. Its analysis found that the quality and availability of detail on the financial and non-financial impact of projects was varied across councils, with over a third of their sample not sufficiently determining the financial impact of their transformation plans, and half of the sample not clearly setting out anticipated financial impacts. Its assessment is that most councils in the sample need to improve how they identify, monitor, and report on wider benefits. 4.2 In terms of transformation funding, the Accounts Commission report recognises the challenges councils face in planning for the long-term. Renfrewshire Council’s Service Modernisation and Reform Fund is used as a good-practice case study example in the publication, with the Accounts Commission noting that it supports services in implementing change, and funds development costs for projects that are expected to bring long-term benefits. 4.3 The Accounts Commission states its expectations that councils need to ensure their transformation plans: • are sufficiently ambitious; • are clearly linked to wider strategic plans and priorities;
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PUBLIC • clearly set out details around implementation, monitoring, and reporting; • clearly set out planned savings, linking these to financial plans. Programme Management 4.4 Section 3 of the publication assesses councils’ programme management arrangements, and the extent they facilitate effective oversight of transformation plans. They do not consider that all councils have clear strategic oversight of all transformation activity, and that more comprehensive reporting of planned benefits is required to support effective management and scrutiny. The Accounts Commission highlight the role elected members have in supporting and scrutinising transformation, and that open and effective collaboration is critical when making difficult decisions that transformation work involves. The Accounts Commission believe that many councils need to improve workforce capacity to make better progress with transformation, although they note there are strong examples of councils managing this effectively. 4.5 In relation to managing projects and programmes, Renfrewshire Council is included as a case study in the Supplement. The refreshed Transformation Board arrangements are highlighted as an example for providing strategic oversight of the Reshaping Renfrewshire transformation programme, as well as its wider governance and monitoring arrangements. 4.6 The Accounts Commission expectations relating to programme management are summarised below. These are that Councils need to ensure: • clear oversight at a strategic level of all transformation activity; • effective engagement with councillors, with comprehensive reporting on transformation initiatives; • regular review of workforce capacity (time, availability and skills) to plan, manage and deliver transformation plans; • strategic planning and allocation of workforce capacity to support transformation activity; • transformation plans set out appropriate success measures.
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PUBLIC Partnership Working, Community Engagement, and Impacts 4.7 The Accounts Commission reviewed the extent that partners and communities are involved in transformation plans, and the consideration of the impact on vulnerable or protected groups. Their findings note there are many positive examples of partnership working, but that most of these are on the margins in terms of transformation. In their view, there is limited evidence of how community engagement has influenced project design and delivery, and they highlight that a quarter of the councils in their sample need to develop more consistent processes for equality impact assessments. Their review of the audit reports concludes that councils are often failing to report progress on transformation activity clearly and transparently. 4.8 The Accounts Commission expectations relating to this theme are summarised below. Councils need to ensure: • opportunities to work in partnership or to share services continue to be sought; • they clearly document how community engagement, data, and equality impact assessments have influenced plans and implementation; • they have arrangements in place to effectively monitor and report the impacts of transformation activities. 5. Renfrewshire Council Transformation Activity 5.1 The findings of the Best Value thematic work on transformation in Renfrewshire, carried out by external auditor Azets, were reported to Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Board in September 2025. The report was positive, reflecting good practice across a range of areas. Azets concluded that effective and appropriate arrangements are in place for two of the four elements stated at 1.3 in the cover report, with some scope for minor improvements in relation to the other two. The two recommendations from the Azets report were added as actions to the Corporate Improvement Plan, and both are now complete and closed off, with detail provided in an update to Leadership Board in February 2026. Progress on the Corporate Improvement Plan continues to be reported to Leadership Board as part of ongoing reporting arrangements to Best Value, with the next update in September 2026. 5.2 An update on Reshaping Renfrewshire – Transformation and Change programme was presented to Leadership Board in February 2026, providing an overview of progress since the February 2025 update, primarily focusing on areas with relevant and substantive progress,
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PUBLIC including the Digital Strategy, Connected Communities, and Place Based programmes such as the Learning Estate Strategy. The Transformation Board (officer group), highlighted as good practice in the Accounts Commission publication, continues to provide strategic oversight of the Reshaping Renfrewshire programme, with senior officers across the Council reviewing progress of all major projects and programmes across the organisation. 5.3 The Council continues to involve our citizens and partners in our transformation plans through a wide range of ongoing consultation and engagement activities. For example, our Resident Research over the past 12 months has empowered citizens to identify their priority areas through a mix of online, face to face and telephone surveys, and then explore this further through focus groups including those targeted towards groups who may be under-represented. This phase had a particular grounding in the Council’s financial sustainability and difficult decisions to address the budget gap for local government. 5.4 Moving into a further phase of engagement, the Council recently launched the Your Voice Matters engagement programme, which seeks to have valued conversations with our citizens about the things that matter to them most and their vision for a future Renfrewshire. While this has only recently been launched, to date over 100 face to face conversations have already taken place with our citizens, and these have been constructive, rich and insightful. There will be further themed conversations with a wide range of stakeholders and partners, including the Council’s workforce. This engagement and the earlier Resident Research will shape our Council and Community Plans and will also be used by the HSCP to inform their Strategic Plan. 5.5 Regular updates on individual workstreams of the Reshaping Renfrewshire programme continue to be provided to relevant Policy Boards, and regular reports on the transformation programme as a whole continue to be brought to Leadership Board, alongside the financial reporting to Council and the Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board. ___________________________________________________________________ Implications of the Report 1. Financial – none 2. HR & Organisational Development - none 3. Community/Council Planning – none 4. Legal - none 5. Property/Assets – none 6. Information Technology – none
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PUBLIC 7. Equality & Human Rights - the recommendations within this report have not been assessed in relation to their impact on equalities and human rights as the report sets out a high-level view on local government progress on transformation, and is for noting only. 8. Health & Safety – none 9. Procurement – none 10. Risk – none 11. Privacy Impact – none 12. Climate Risk –not applicable 13. Children’s Rights –not applicable 14. COSLA Policy Position –not applicable _______________________________________________________ List of Background Papers ___________________________________________________________________