‘Our Council’ Change Programme

• The ‘Our Council’ Change Programme has been developed to help enable the Council to move forward in a positive, coordinated, and structured approach in collaboration with key stakeholders. ‘Our Council’ will help strengthen the Council’s foundations so that it can fulfil its ambitions, build upon existing strengths, and address key areas for improvement. The programme aims to modernise and strengthen the organisation and support its employees and elected members to realise their full potential in terms of delivering the very best services for the residents of South Tyneside.  ‘Our Council’ responds to the most pressing internal issues facing the Council, as identified through the Council’s recent period of review and reflection led by the Leader and Chief Executive, and as identified by the recent independent LGA Corporate Peer Challenge.
• The Council has developed this action plan working with employees, elected members and partners, to drive forward positive, ambitious, and Council-wide transformation. This next phase will be significant and will involve a joint and determined effort from all employees and elected members.
• The programme is phased given the extent of change required and the current challenges with regards to capacity. The programme balances the need to make important progress on several fronts with also ensuring that change is paced in a way that does not negatively impact the Council’s very committed and hardworking teams, many of which are working at capacity and juggling competing demands. The programme therefore distinguishes between the things that can be implemented very quickly, the actions that will be delivered over summer and those things which may require some more time. Organisational change is an evolving process therefore the areas of emphasis and actions within this programme are subject to review on a regular basis. ‘Our Council’ is a live document, to be updated regularly and further expanded upon as the foundations and thinking develops and additional feedback and insight is received, which may include further external reviews.
• The LGA Peer Team recognised that the motivation and desire for change exists within the Council. The ‘Our Council’ Change Programme seeks to help the organisation ‘change gear’ and deliver in a timely, consistent, and transparent way, whilst ensuring its elected members and employees model the right values and behaviours. Harnessing everyone’s efforts and enthusiasm on this journey will unlock great potential across the Council, help make roles more fulfilling and purposeful, and help the Council achieve its ambitions for the residents of South Tyneside.
• There are many fantastic aspects of the Council, its people, and services, and all those involved should take pride in what has been achieved to date, which at times has been accomplished despite some incredibly challenging circumstances. There are many strengths which the Council will seek to build upon as it moves forward, as well as several areas for improvement which will be key to the Council modernising its ways of working.

The ‘Our Council’ Change Programme is currently structured under five core themes. These themes will provide the initial framework for the programme and will be under continuous review as the programme progresses.

1. VISION - Being clear on where we are, where we need to go and how we're going to get there - By the end of 2022 we will have set out a refreshed 20 Year Vision for South Tyneside, having listened to and engaged a wide range of residents, elected members, employees, businesses, and partners. We will also develop a Three-Year Council Strategy which will set out what the Council will do over the medium term to contribute to the 20 Year Vision. Our thinking will be underpinned by the latest data and insight, ensuring that our plans are evidence based and our resources are pointed at the right things. Through these processes we will join up political priorities with everything else we need to do: our statutory obligations; our plans to meet demand; health & safety and pre-existing commitments. We will also agree a set of ‘Council Values’ to define what we stand for as an organisation and how we will work.

2. ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT - A comprehensive Organisational Development programme aimed at future proofing the organisation and facilitating culture change through leadership development, learning, support, and wellbeing offers for all employees and elected members - We will ensure the refreshed ‘Council Values and behaviours’ underpin everything we do so that we are a transparent and open council. Our people are our most valuable asset, and we want to enable them to be committed to doing the very best for residents and communities.  We will ensure all employees and elected members are engaged and supported in their distinct but complementary roles and can be their authentic selves at South Tyneside Council. We will offer a strengthened package of learning, development, and wellbeing support which underpins the refreshed organisational culture and drives learning and modernisation.

3. RESOURCES - Clear alignment between what we want to achieve and our people, money, equipment, and facilities, while reviewing how well we are doing – we will demonstrate clear links between our refreshed Council Strategy and resource allocation through the Medium-Term Financial Plan. We will further increase understanding and inclusion in the process of budget setting for revenue, capital, and growth. We will modernise and invest in how we do things to improve service delivery. We will strengthen our performance management arrangements, providing greater clarity, transparency, challenge, and support – to ultimately result in better outcomes for residents.

4. GOVERNANCE - Making fair, informed and appropriate decisions – we will lead a further review of the Constitution in advance of the Council’s Annual Meeting in May 2022, and then a fundamental review of the Council’s Committee Structure and reporting and decision-making processes. We will also undertake a thorough review of our other internal decision-making processes, our Partnerships and Provider arrangements, in line with the refreshed Vision, Council Values and Strategy. We will ensure our structures and processes are designed to guarantee accountability, transparency, responsiveness, equity, inclusivity, and participation. Work under this theme will help ensure our structures and processes are designed to guarantee accountability, transparency, responsiveness, equity, inclusivity, and participation.

5. CAPACITY - More capacity to support how we need to work as a Council – implementing this programme will require additional capacity, skills, and some new ways of working. The programme will be supported by external or additional support where required, for example, additional project management capacity to deliver projects within services and corporate capacity through an appropriately designed and resourced corporate programme management office.

There is a significant amount of new work planned over the coming months as part of each of the five themes. The below table sets out the current planned actions under each theme.

These actions will be regularly reviewed and added to over the coming weeks and months as the programme and thinking develops:

Vision

Being clear on where we are, where we need to go and how we're going to get there:

Organisational Development

A comprehensive OD programme aimed at future proofing the organisation and facilitating culture change through leadership development, learning, support, and wellbeing offers for all employees and elected members

Resources

Clear alignment between what we want to achieve and our people, money, equipment, and facilities, while reviewing how well we are doing

Governance

Making fair, informed and appropriate decisions

Capacity

More capacity to support how we need to work as a Council