‘Nothing short of a root and branch transformation’ of Slough Borough Council will help it to get better over the next two years, its leader has said.
Council leaders approved a two-year ‘improvement and recovery plan’ aimed at making Slough a ‘best value council’ on Monday, 17 March.
Dexter Smith, the council leader, said the term ‘best value council’ was ‘no buzzword’.
He said: “This is nothing short of a root and branch transformation of the council to deliver objectives which are very clearly set out by government in terms of what best value is and needs to deliver.
“It is a solid ambition for this administration to be working towards – it is a significant change for residents and it’s very transparent as well.
“It is saying this is what you will get if this works well.”
The improvement plan comes after Slough Borough Council went effectively bankrupt in 2021, leading the government to send commissioners to oversee how it is run.
The government then announced last October that this intervention would continue until 2026.
It said the council still had to show it could ‘live within its means’, that there was ‘too much volatility’ in its finances and leadership, and that it ‘does not have the confidence of its residents’.
Much of the new improvement plan focuses on changes within the council that will make it more efficient and effective, including with a new ‘targeting operating model’, or way of working.
The plan says the council will be ‘smaller and more flexible – operating out of fewer council buildings’.
It also says it will work more with ‘partners’ outside the council – ‘funding what it should be funding and ensuring partners play their part’.
Proposals also say that it wants to ‘manage and prevent resident demand for services’ by ‘addressing root causes’.
And it says it wants to ‘prioritise what it delivers– ensuring universal services such as waste are provided to a consistent standard whilst ensuring specialist support is targeted to help and protect the most vulnerable’.
Sonia Khan, the council director responsible for its transformation, said the council’s plan had prioritised areas ‘where there are the greatest needs for residents, demands but also the greatest costs’.
These included housing and adults’ and children’s social services, which have all seen increased demand and increased costs.
Slough Borough Council chief executive Will Tuckley said the council had already made some progress, but that much more work needs to be done.
He said: “This is just setting out the plan. We have made progress towards those goals but there is an awful long way to go.”
