DLUHC Best Value Notice issued 24th January 2023

DLUHC Best Value Notice issued 24th January 2023

The Combined Authority has today (24^th January 2023) been notified by DLUHC of a Best Value Notice

This notice clarifies more formally DLUHC concerns, already shared with the Combined Authority following the Ernst and Young Auditor’s letter issued to the Combined Authority on 1st June 2022 and historical matters. These highlighted significant concerns regarding the governance of the organisation and the need to engage with the Department to provide assurance of improvement.

The issues raised in the letter are those that have been highlighted in the Combined Authority’s Improvement Plan. The Combined Authority has been working at pace to address these issues and steps are already underway which have been identified by the interim CEO, Gordon Mitchell, to address the areas of concern.  A proposal for an initial Improvement Plan was agreed by the Combined Authority Board on the 30^th of October which address the governance issues and other areas identified for improvement.  Implementation of the Improvement Plan has been underway for several months.  An Independent Improvement Board (IIB) set up to oversee the Improvement work, met earlier this month for the first time to review progress and the Combined Authority are fully committed to implementing their recommendations.  Whilst there is still much to do, good progress is being made and the IIB are supportive with the direction the improvement is taking.

We welcome the acknowledgement of the initial steps taken by the Combined Authority in the notice.