Test Valley praised as “high-performing council” following peer review
“High-performing”, and “community-first” are how Test Valley Borough Council (TVBC) has been described following an external review.
A corporate peer challenge team made up of senior cross-party councillors and experienced officers visited TVBC in November 2024, spending a week undertaking a comprehensive review of key finance, performance and governance information across all its services, as well as speaking to over 100 people including staff, councillors and external partners.
Following this, the team labelled TVBC as a “high-performing council that delivers effectively for its residents, with a commendable community-first approach and a strong sense of pride throughout the organisation.”
The report, published in full today, noted the local authority’s commitment to community engagement and ensuring that residents play an active role in shaping the area’s towns and villages, highlighting the regeneration projects happening in Andover and Romsey as an example of this.
The level of cross-party working and collaboration between councillors from different political parties was also commended as something that has been hard to achieve in many other authorities.
There was further praise for TVBC’s effective and careful financial management over several years, ensuring the council is in a robust financial position.
The report also makes a number of recommendations for areas the council should continue to focus on, including building on the success of councillors working well in their communities, using performance and data to help improve and evaluate the impact and value for residents, and investing in its workforce.
Leader of the council, Cllr Phil North, said: “The feedback from the corporate peer challenge team has been brilliant to see and it’s great they recognise the importance and success of our work with communities. We are very proud of our community-led and place-based approach, and I’m delighted this has been noted and commended in the review. On a personal note, I was pleased that they recognised that both the leader and chief executive are visible and respected by staff, members, and many external stakeholders but our success, of course, comes from the hard work of council officers, who the review concludes are happy here, and go above and beyond to deliver services for residents. The team also recognised our good cross-party working, and my thanks go to the Leader of the Opposition, Cllr Neil Gwynne for playing an active role in the review process, including showcasing our joint engagement sessions with staff. The recommendations also give us vital feedback and areas to work on to ensure we provide the best possible service for our communities.”
Leader of the opposition, Cllr Neil Gwynne, said: “Our focus on place, and passion to do the very best we can for the communities we serve, is what sets us apart from so many other councils. It is this focus that enables us to work effectively and, where appropriate, collaboratively across the political parties, and I am delighted, though not surprised, that this has been highlighted as one of our greatest strengths.”
The full report can be found at www.testvalley.gov.uk/CorporatePeerChallenge