Government issues combined authority with best value notice amid concerns over poor state of relationships between mayor and council representatives

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has issued the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) with a non-statutory Best Value Notice, and called on the organisation to reset its culture and review its constitution.

In a letter to Richard Ennis, WECA’s interim chief executive, Max Soule, Deputy Director - Local Government Stewardship at DLUHC, said it was recognised that the authority was already taking steps to address the issues it faces.

However, Soule said the notice was being issued to the combined authority following "inconsistent action" against concerns highlighted by a value for money report published by Grant Thornton in November 2022, a further independent review of the combined authority published by the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE) in February 2023, and subsequent engagement between the Department and the authority and relevant stakeholders.

The Grant Thornton report centred on why the monitoring and chief finance officers were excluded from decisions on a severance payment.

In his letter Soule said the concerns DLUHC had identified included:

• The poor state of professional relationships between the Mayor, Dan Norris, and the representatives of the constituent members of the authority “which is impacting partnership working and potentially limiting the authority’s ability to optimise strategic opportunities”.
• WECA’s constitution needs review and clarification “to work in a more effective and agile way”.
• The function and purpose of the authority has not been collectively understood and the roles, responsibilities and ‘powers’ of a combined authority are not fully grasped, resulting in confusion between strategic governance and day-to-day transactional activity.
• The authority lacks a clear, shared narrative regarding the West of England and how it will operate for the benefit of the wider region.

Soule acknowledged that WECA had engaged constructively and openly with the Department and had already taken some steps to address the concerns raised in both the external audit report and the independent review.

The letter also praised the good level of progress that has been made at officer level, with a comprehensive Transformation Plan developed, some of which is already being implemented, in response to these findings.

“However, we expect the authority to continue to improve and, specifically, to set out plans to address ongoing concerns and deliver all recommendations at pace with the support of strong political leadership and stability of statutory officers.”

In particular, WECA should:

• reset the culture and relationships between the Mayor and representatives of the constituent members of the authority.
• through strong partnership working, develop and agree strategic priorities for the West of England which will benefit local residents in the wider region.
• review and update the authority’s constitution to enable more effective decision-making and scrutiny processes, making representations to the Department on any proposed changes.
• engage with the Department on a range of ongoing issues with the aim to enhance the operation and structure of the combined authority.
• establish an independent improvement panel to support the authority in delivering the necessary improvements detailed in the vest value notice, engaging with the Department in determining its timing, scope, membership, and terms of reference.

The best value notice will remain in place for 12 months, after which time, should the Department deem it necessary to continue to seek assurance through such a notice, it will be reissued.

The notice was issued outside the statutory powers held by the Secretary of State under the Local Government Act 1999 to inspect or intervene in local authorities where there is evidence of best value failure and, separately, under section 230 of the Local Government Act 1972 to request information from local authorities.

“However, a failure to demonstrate continuous improvement may be judged to contribute to best value failure and the Secretary of State will consider using these powers as appropriate,” Soule said.

Responding to the best value notice, Richard Ennis, WECA's Interim Chief Executive, said: “The West of England Combined Authority has made significant progress through our Transformation Programme during the last 12 months. I’d like to thank all the officers at the Combined Authority, whose hard work has made this progress possible.

"There is still more work for us to do, and I look forward to working with our regional partners and the Independent Improvement Board to address the challenges specifically highlighted in the Best Value Notice. We are focused on resolving the issues as swiftly as possible and build on the positive steps already taken through the Transformation Programme to deliver for the residents and businesses of the West of England.”

In November 2023 the monitoring officer and the section 73 officer at the West of England Combined Authority issued a section 5 report alleging that the mayor's plan to place a 3m tall image of himself on a bus amounted to unlawful expenditure.

The BBC reported the mayor, Dan Norris, as saying: “When Labour first introduced directly elected mayors, the whole point was to have a face that the public could identify as being responsible and accountable for the policies that were being promoted and introduced.

"I remain steadfast in my view that mayors are meant to be visible and this was stated in my election manifesto on which I won."