Transformation of The Highland Council
Members have considered the findings of an internal report, ahead of the third Best Value (BV3) thematic review by Audit Scotland in early 2025.
The internal report assesses the transformation of The Highland Council in the light of a recent report issued by Audit Scotland on the subject of Transformation in Councils.
All Councils must transform how they deliver services in order to meet increased demands and ensure that their financial sustainability, with an increased scale and pace of change.
More effective collaboration and support is required to transform local services, together with public and political support through public engagement and timely consultation with communities.
The report sets out an assessment of the Council’s position against Audit Scotland’s principles which they expect Councils to follow.
A number of important strategies have been agreed this year including the Operational Delivery Plan 2024-27 which supports the Council Programme with the aim of improving the outcomes for people and communities across the Highland area. Critically it links to the Council’s Medium Term Financial Plan 2024/25 to 2026/27 and the delivery of £54m in recurring budget savings. Therefore, this should be recognised as the Council’s transformation programme with the prime aim of ensuring financial sustainability of the Council.
The £2.1bn Highland Investment Plan (HIP) was also approved by Council in May 2024. Which aims to enable significant transformational change, providing improved facilities for our communities and enabling changes to the future delivery of Council services through Community Points of Service Delivery.
The strategic plan for the Highland Community Planning Partnership, the Highland Outcome Improvement Plan was agreed by Council and partners.
The Community Wealth Building Strategy agreed by Council in September has been described as a people centred approach to economic development which aims to ensure every area and community participates and benefits from economic activity.
In addition to the above, the existing Digital Strategy approved by this Committee in September 2022 and the People Strategy will be key enablers to support transformation.
These plans align with the principles set out by Audit Scotland for Vision, Planning, Governance and Collaboration. They also demonstrate the principle of Innovation as well as ground-breaking projects such as Terra Tracker and The Storr Project.
Leader of the Council, Raymond Bremner said: “The Council can demonstrate considerable innovation and appetite for change with the plans which have been agreed just this year. It will be an exciting time ahead as we see these plans come to fruition with new models of service delivery and investment in communities across the Highlands.”
Convener Bill Lobban added: “This report clearly shows that the Council has ambitious plans in place including appropriate governance to support delivery.”
Chair of Corporate Resources Committee, Cllr Derek Louden said: “What the people of the Highlands need to see is continuous improvement in service delivery that is sustained and affordable in the long-run. That’s what we’re striving to deliver.”