Corporate Peer Challenge

In December 2024, we participated in a Corporate Peer Challenge run by the Local Government Association.

Corporate Peer Challenge is a tried and trusted tool for improvement offered to councils. It involves a team of senior local government officers and councillors spending time at a council to provide challenge, offer feedback and share learning. 

All Corporate Peer Challenges focus on the five core components listed below:

• Local priorities and outcomes
• Organisational and place leadership
• Governance and culture
• Financial planning and management
• Capacity for improvement

In addition, we asked our peer team for some feedback about our Connected Communities Strategy and the council’s approach to asset-based community development, along with some other service-based areas we think we can improve on.

During their three-day visit to Malvern Hills, the team gathered information and views from more than 45 meetings, went on two tours of parts of the district and carried out further research and reading. They spoke to more than 100 people, including employees, councillors and a range of our partners, external organisations and residents.

The peer team’s report provides a summary of the team’s findings. It is generally very positive, including comments on the approach we have adopted through our Connected Communities work, which the peer team considered to be a nationally significant Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) Programme.  We welcome the positive feedback and the useful areas for improvement and recommendations.

document Read the Feedback Report. (2.76 MB)

We now have until mid-June 2025 to put in place an action plan to respond to the nine recommendations included in the feedback report, and this will be approved by our Executive Committee and then published on our website.

The peer team will revisit us towards the end of 2025 to assess our progress with implementing its recommendations.