Independent review
Completed
Stoke-on-Trent City Council: External assurance review
External assurance review of Stoke-on-Trent City Council led by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) undertaken in September 2024.
Government Response
MHCLG decides to grant Stoke-on-Trent City Council Exceptional Financial Support, issuing a capitalisation direction under sections 16(2)(b) and 20 of the Local Government Act 2003 approving up to £21.371m for 2024-25. No statutory Best Value intervention is imposed; the council does not appear on MHCLG's intervention list.
Recommendations
Recommendation 1
All parts of the council need to be held accountable for their commitment to the transformation programme. The council will need to maintain visibility of transformation progress across board.
Recommendation 2
The role of the Audit and Standards Committee is enhanced through a combination of training and awareness events provided through external sources such as the council's external auditors or other recognised training bodies such as the Local Government Association (LGA) and CIPFA.
Recommendation 3
The capacity and capability of the finance team to support transformation is monitored.
Recommendation 4
The council should ensure its procurement exercises are properly resourced to drive out the significant savings that have been earmarked.
Recommendation 5a
The council should carefully and routinely model the impact of decision-making on the sustainability of reserves.
Recommendation 5b
The council should ensure it maintains its focus on addressing and modelling scenarios key demand led services whilst not ruling out other challenging savings opportunities as part of is budget proposals.
Recommendation 6a
The council needs to continue to assess its capacity and capability to apply the EFS it is receiving and deliver the necessary recovery actions.
Recommendation 6b
The council's recovery plan should include some clear scenarios, the likelihood of them occurring and their impact on the potential extent of EFS required.
Recommendation 7
The council models the different scenarios and funding considerations associated with different scales of capital programme to ensure it is both affordable and deliverable.
Recommendation 8
The council is encouraged to thoroughly explore the options for extracting itself from the non-performing aspects of its commercial ventures in a manner that preserves services.
Recommendation 9
The council needs to ensure it can realise its planned asset disposals in line with its recovery plan, accepting the limited opportunities available.
Recommendation 10
The council continues to monitor the changes and developments in capital flexibilities including MRP guidance.
Recommendation 11
The council should consider the value of continued formal financial support and advice as part of its recovery plan and what forum or mechanism could best support that.
Recommendation 12
The council should ensure it has the appropriate expertise and corporate commitment to deliver a successful ERP implementation.
Recommendation 13
The council should ensure a continued focus on behaviours and risk appetite through its continued review of social care practices.
No recommendations with this response.