A local authority has made “impressive progress” on building on the successes identified during an independent review, with councillors and officers continuing to work together to ensure communities receive the best possible services.
Durham County Council took part in a Corporate Peer Challenge (CPC) in October 2025 and was found to be “a financially stable organisation, delivering high performing services and outcomes, with trusted relationships being built between officers and members.”
Arranged by the Local Government Association (LGA), a panel of eight officers and members from other councils around the country also recognised the organisation’s dedication to continuous improvement and transformation, along with its commitment to engaging with stakeholders and the broader community.
In addition, the panel’s report included a series of high-level and supporting recommendations to help the council to further enhance how it operates.
The panel returned to County Durham in September to see how the local authority was performing and to check on progress on recommendations from the CPC report. And, on Wednesday 18 November, the council’s Cabinet will discuss the feedback received following that visit.
Cllr Andrew Husband, Leader of Durham County Council, said: “The feedback from the peer review team reflects the shared commitment and dedication of councillors and officers to provide high-quality services to the people and businesses of County Durham.
“We are always striving to improve and deliver even better value for money for council tax payers, despite the complex challenges faced by local authorities across the country. We therefore welcomed the recommendations we received last October and created a detailed action plan offering real solutions and robust ideas on how we could build on what had already been achieved.
“I’m proud the vast majority of these actions have been completed and that the panel recognised our progress when it returned in September.
“But it doesn’t stop there. These actions are now embedded within our priorities for the next three years and will be developed and refined to ensure we continue to drive meaningful change and improvement within the council.”
Cabinet will hear how the panel found that councillors and officers were putting significant effort into strengthening planning, governance and service delivery arrangements.
And, of the 74 actions the council identified in the CPC Action Plan created to address the panel’s recommendations, all but two are complete or underway. Any remaining actions have been incorporated into the Council Plan and individual service area programmes.
In the CPC Progress Review Feedback report, the panel commented: “This is impressive progress in the ten months since the original site visit.”
The report goes on to highlight the strengthened relationships between political and officer leadership across the organisation. It says: “Staff describe more constructive relationships, greater confidence and improved joint working across Cabinet and senior officers. The commitment of the Leader and Administration towards supporting senior officers was particularly important and to be welcomed.”
Relationships with key partner organisations, meanwhile, were described as “stronger and more purposeful” than they were a year ago.
The council’s “ambitious” Changing Together transformation programme was praised. The panel said it created a single programme that brings together financial planning, customer experience, demand management, digital technology and service delivery. Changing Together was also found to be closely aligned with the Council Plan and Medium Term Financial Plan.
And, when reflecting on the new council-wide digital strategy, the panel noted how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being used effectively to improve services, productivity and customer experience.
Cabinet is recommended to note the contents of the CPC Progress Review Report.
