Corporate Improvement Plan 2025 - 2028
Argyll and Bute Council · 26 June 2025
Back to Argyll and Bute Council — 26 June 2025 and its agenda
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ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL COUNCIL CHIEF EXECUTIVE 26 JUNE 2025 CORPORATE IMPROVEMENT PLAN 2025 – 2028 1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.1 This report presents the Corporate Improvement Plan (CIP) for 2025 – 2028 to Council for consideration and endorsement, outlining how it aligns with the statutory duty of continuous improvement under Best Value and reflects key findings from audits, complaints, and organisational learning. The report also demonstrates the Council’s commitment to transformational change, better outcomes, and stronger public value. It is recommended that Council: • Endorses the Corporate Improvement Plan 2025 - 2028. • Notes the alignment with statutory Best Value duties and the Accounts Commission's expectations. • Acknowledges the Plan’s role in enabling transformational change across the Council. • Agrees to receive progress updates on an annual basis.
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ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL COUNCIL CHIEF EXECUTIVE 26 JUNE 2025 CORPORATE IMPROVEMENT PLAN 2025 – 2028 2.0 INTRODUCTION 2.1 This report presents the Corporate Improvement Plan (CIP) for 2025 – 2028 to Council for consideration and endorsement, outlining how it aligns with the statutory duty of continuous improvement under Best Value and reflects key findings from audits, complaints, and organisational learning. The report also demonstrates the Council’s commitment to transformational change, better outcomes, and stronger public value. 3.0 RECOMMENDATIONS 3.1 It is recommended that Council: • Endorses the Corporate Improvement Plan 2025 - 2028. • Notes the alignment with statutory Best Value duties and the Accounts Commission's expectations. • Acknowledges the Plan’s role in enabling transformational change across the Council. • Notes that progress updates will be reported to the Audit and Scrutiny Committee on an annual basis. 4.0 DETAIL 4.1 Under the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003, local authorities have a statutory duty to make arrangements to secure Best Value. This includes a continuous improvement duty in performance, efficiency, effectiveness, and the delivery of public services. The Accounts Commission, through the work of Audit Scotland and Best Value Reports (BVARs), regularly scrutinises councils to ensure that this duty is met. In April 2025, the Accounts Commission published the Argyll and Bute Best Value Review Best Value: Argyll and Bute Council which was reported to Policy and Resources Committee on 28 April 2025. This Audit Report concluded that there are currently no significant areas of concern for the Council and looks forward to seeing us bring forward critical pieces of work, including our recently approved Corporate Plan, harnessing our long-standing culture of innovation, particularly in digital, and taking a strategic approach to financial planning and
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transformation. All recommendations in the Best Value Report are included as improvement actions in the attached Corporate Improvement Plan. 4.2 This Corporate Improvement Plan sets out the council’s strategic response to areas for improvement identified through internal and external audit findings, including the Best Value Report, service user complaints, performance reviews, and other learning mechanisms. It aligns closely with Best Value principles, ensuring services are customer-focused, inclusive, sustainable, and deliver demonstrable value for money. It supports and promotes good governance and effective management of resources, with a focus on improvement, to deliver the best possible outcomes for the public. 4.3 The CIP is not a standalone document—it is derived from a wide array of strategic and operational intelligence, including: • External Audit Recommendations: Actions drawn from the most recent Audit Scotland reports, including annual audits and Best Value audit reviews. • Internal Audit Findings: Recommendations from the internal audit programme targeting governance, financial control, and risk management. • Customer Feedback and Complaints Analysis: Patterns identified through complaints and compliments, as well as surveys and community engagement. • Service Self-Assessments: Outcomes of directorate and service-level improvement planning. • National and Local Benchmarking: Performance gaps identified through the Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF) and sector comparisons. • Legislative and Policy Changes: Including public service reform, net zero obligations, and digital transformation mandates. 4.4 The CIP is a key lever for transformation across the Council. It supports bold organisational change in the following areas: • Digital Transformation: Enhancing online services, automation, and data-driven decision-making. • Workforce Planning: Developing a skilled, adaptable, and values- driven workforce. • Service Redesign: Moving from traditional models to integrated, user- centred approaches. • Agile Governance: Using iterative, transparent methods to trial, evaluate, and scale improvements. • Climate Action: Embedding sustainability and resilience into service delivery. Transformation is not an abstract concept but a necessary response to demographic, fiscal, technological, and social challenges. The CIP helps operationalise this ambition into deliverable, trackable improvements.
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4.5 The CIP is owned corporately and will be overseen by the Strategic Management Team, with annual updates provided for scrutiny to the Audit and Scrutiny Committee. Each action within the Plan is assigned a responsible person and includes timelines and success measures. 5.0 CONCLUSION 5.1 The Corporate Improvement Plan is a mechanism through which we can identify and implement improvement and consequently demonstrate our delivery of best value to our citizens. This CIP aligns with the Best Value themes and will help us better serve our citizens over the next 3 years. 6.0 IMPLICATIONS 6.1 Policy the CIP is aligned to our Council strategies and values. 6.2 Financial none arising directly from this report. 6.3 Legal meets our duty of continuous improvement. 6.4 HR none arising directly from this report. 6.5 Customer Service all our improvements are designed to ultimately provide an improved experience for our customers and citizens. 6.6 Risk the CIP helps us mitigate risk through delivery of improvements aligned to audits and complaints. 6.7 Climate Change none arising directly from this report. 6.8 Fairer Scotland Duty IIA completed and available on the website, no impact. 6.9 Equalities - protected characteristics IIA completed and available on the website, no impact. 6.10 Consumer Duty IIA completed and available on the website, no impact. 6.11 Island Communities IIA completed and available on the website, no impact.
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6.12 Children’s Rights and Wellbeing IIA completed and available on the website, positive impact. Pippa Milne, Chief Executive Councillor Jim Lynch, Leader of the Council 20 May 2025 For further information contact: Jane Fowler, Head of Customer Support Service, jane.fowler@argyll-bute.gov.uk Appendices Appendix 1: Corporate Improvement Plan 2025 – 2028 Appendix 2: Corporate Improvement Plan 2025 – 2028 Action Plan Appendix 3: Corporate Improvement Plan Integrated Impact Assessment