St Helens Council – Progress Review

The council undertook an LGA Corporate Peer Challenge (CPC) during February 2025 and promptly published the full report with an action plan.

The Progress Review is an integral part of the Corporate Peer Challenge process. Taking place approximately 10 months after the CPC, it is designed to provide space for the council’s senior leadership to:

• Receive feedback from peers on the early progress made by the council against the CPC recommendations and the council’s RAG rated CPC Action Plan.
• Consider peers’ reflections on any new opportunities or challenges that may have arisen since the peer team were ‘on-site’ including any further support needs
• Discuss any early impact or learning from the progress made to date

The LGA would like to thank St Helens Council for their commitment to sector led improvement. This Progress Review was the next step in an ongoing, open and close relationship that the council has with LGA sector support.

The Progress Review at St Helens Council took place (onsite) on 19 January 2026.

The Progress Review focussed on each of the recommendations from the Corporate Peer Challenge, under the following theme headings:

• Theme 1: Financial resilience
• Theme 2: Organisational Development and Transformation
• Theme 3: Place Leadership and Regeneration

For this Progress Review, the following members of the original CPC team were involved:

• Lead Peer - Rob Walsh (former Chief Executive of North East Lincolnshire Council)
• Lead Member - Cllr Steve Houghton (Leader of Barnsley Council – LGA Member Peer). Cllr Houghton participated in some elements of the Progress Review but did not join the peer team onsite.
• Officer Peer - Angela Glithero (Director of Strategy, Economy and Communications, City of Stoke on Trent Council)
• Peer challenge manager - Paul Clarke (LGA Associate)

Overall feedback

Out of the Corporate Peer Challenge’s ten recommendations, the council’s RAG (Red/Amber/Green) rated action plan reports that 100 per cent of the actions are completed or being progressed. Of these, 3 (30 per cent) are considered by the council as ‘complete’ and 7 (70 per cent) ‘in progress’ although that is more to do with the nature of the recommendations and actions in response to them, rather than a lack of activity and progress.

Overall, the council has made good progress against the recommendations made in the original Corporate Peer Challenge in February 2025. The council can point to numerous examples to demonstrate its progress, including a more coherent strategic framework that prioritises people, place, and performance and aligns more to its overall ambitions which continue to have regeneration and inclusive growth at their heart.

The council has completed the recruitment of two senior management appointments since the CPC, which has seen a smooth transition to a new chief executive and the appointment of a permanent director of children’s services. There is still a medium-term financial challenge to fully manage and mitigate, and the council needs to plan and deliver the savings required, ensuring these are progressed with pace and realism.

3.1 Financial resilience

This theme relates to the following three recommendations from the original peer review:

• Ensure a continued focus and rigour on financial planning and management.
• Reduce the reliance on an annual call on reserves to balance the budget and plan to rebuild reserves in the future.
• Children’s services remain a financially challenging area, and the Council needs to stay focused on continuous improvement to manage demand and reduce cost.

The council has strengthened financial governance arrangements following the CPC in February 2025 which recommended a continued focus and rigour on financial planning and management. ‘Check and challenge’ sessions have been added to the arrangements which include relevant senior officers and Member portfolio holders, ensuring additional oversight, grip and understanding. We were told that the sessions add an element of challenge and scrutiny, and opportunities to explain the context behind the numbers. The Budget and Performance Board is now fully operational with an established rhythm and clear focus and intent to provide robust monitoring of priorities and outcomes.

However, a financial challenge remains. The council overspent its approved budget for the 2024/25 financial year by £4.72m. The latest available financial monitoring report presents a worsening position from the first quarter into the second quarter of 2025/26 with a £3.119m net year-end overspend forecast. A range of mitigations have been identified, including in-year financial controls, such as a recruitment freeze, reducing agency workers, and stopping all non-essential spending.

There is a recognition that if mitigations are not successful then the current financial year will be the fourth successive year of overspending. Looking beyond the next couple of years, the forecast financial position from 2028/29 appears to worsen significantly so a plan to reduce expenditure or increase income must be developed and implemented in the meantime. The pressures contributing to the forecast overspend include rising adult social care demand and costs, and delayed property asset sales. High placement costs, unachieved savings, and agency staffing in children and young people services have been the main cause, and the council have made some notable steps to address that – through a demand management plan, and addressing placement costs through the commissioning of providers for in-house children’s homes, with further accommodation options actively being explored and developed to expand capacity and improve placement stability.

3.2 Organisational Development and Transformation

This theme relates to the following recommendations from the original peer review:

• Ensure a smooth transition to a new Chief Executive as well as a permanent Director of Children’s Services.
• Further formalise the workforce planning good practice through the planned Workforce Strategy.
• Develop and resource an insight-driven and politically owned programme of transformation that is widely understood and aligned to the overall vision and story.
• Ensure transformation delivers sufficient financial benefits.

The Transformation programme/portfolio has been refreshed since the CPC. It is now more aligned with strategic ambitions of the council – and its vision of“Investing in the Future, Delivering for Today”.There is a clearer focus on benefits realisation, including the delivery of financial savings It has a core component of service optimisation that focusses on achieving continuous improvement and efficiencies while potential transformational opportunities are identified and developed. It is acknowledged, that the council will need to significantly scale up its transformation ambitions to address the financial challenge from 2028/29 onwards.

This is reflected in the programme which is structured around three pillars underpinned by driving enabling transformation through community engagement, workforce strategy, data and insight, and cutting-edge technology. The One Neighbourhood approach is seen as part of the council’s operating model and at the heart of transforming how services are delivered across St Helens borough. The model fits well with the children’s services ‘Families First’ approach, positioning the council well to respond to those national reforms and the focus on prevention and early intervention. 

There was a consistent and coherent explanation of the ‘One Neighbourhood’ approach from the officers and members the peer team engaged with during the Progress Review. This was in stark comparison to the CPC where views and understanding were varied and inconsistent. This demonstrates significant progress against the recommendation made to the council to further design and clarify the scope and purpose of its localities model and ensure it is a key feature of how the organisation will operate in the future.

Another area of progress and action since the CPC is the development and approval of a Workforce Strategy. The CPC recommended the council further formalised the good workforce planning practice observed through the development of a Workforce Strategy, and the council has done just that. The ‘Thriving Together Workforce Strategy 2025-2028' approved by the Cabinet in December 2025 is in its early stages of implementation, but an action plan is in place to manage its roll out, and is underpinned by governance, quarterly reviews, workforce dashboards, and engagement mechanisms.

3.3 Place Leadership and Regeneration

This theme relates to the following three recommendations from the original peer review:

• Articulate and communicate a more coherent overall vision and story for St Helens.
• Maintain a laser focus on existing regeneration plans ensuring there is capacity, phasing and funding.
• Progress the work on designing the scope and purpose of the localities model to ensure it is a key feature of how the Council will operate in the future.

The CPC noted the ambitious regeneration programme, including a pipeline of significant developments across the borough. This programme continues to be delivered, with several projects having been completed, including Lea Green Station improvements, active travel routes, the Parkside Link Road, and major logistics developments at Omega. There is an awareness of risks and a sound approach to ensuring capacity to deliver, driven by more of a running order and increased confidence in the council’s ability to deliver the programme. The peer team felt that this clear prioritisation will need to remain as the council considers how future phases of the regeneration programme will be funded, ensuring any borrowing is considered in the context of the medium-term financial plan and position.

Inclusive growth clearly remains central to the regeneration ambitions to create vibrant, attractive, and accessible places for people to live, work, and invest. The council’s approach places people at the heart of initiatives, aiming to improve lives while fostering economic resilience and social value. It continues to work well in partnership with others to realise these ambitions, including maintaining a strong voice and influence in the Liverpool City Region.

The peer team heard that the council is working to develop a compelling story and define a clear vision and modern identity that reflects its transformation and future ambitions – and this can be seen through the narrative being developed about St Helens, such as the #LoveStHelens campaign and the continued work on ‘With you, For you’. Stakeholder engagement is part of this, and the goal is to create a unified brand that resonates with residents, employees, and partners, strengthening the borough’s image and sense of pride.

Conclusion

The CPC in February 2025 reported that the core components of a well-functioning council had been put in place, including robust governance, performance management, financial stewardship and effective partnerships. It was clear to the peer team that these strong foundations have served the council well, enabling it to respond to recommendations and move forward with a clear strategic framework that prioritises people, place, and performance.

There are still a number of plans that need to be fully implemented so the intended benefits are realised, but the regeneration programme and One Neighbourhood model provide a basis for a continued focus on inclusive growth across the borough, and the Thriving Together Workforce Strategy 2025-2028 seeks to support and empower staff and embrace digital innovation to deliver this ambition.

Financial pressures do remain, and the peer team encourages the council to remain focussed on addressing this through robust governance, demand management, an emphasis on efficiency, and further transformation.

The LGA would like to thank St Helens Council for undertaking an LGA CPC Progress Review.

We appreciate that senior managerial and political leadership will want to reflect on these findings and suggestions in order to determine how the organisation wishes to take things forward.

Under the umbrella of LGA sector-led improvement, there is an on-going offer of support to councils. The LGA is well placed to provide additional support, advice and guidance on a number of the areas identified for development and improvement and we would be happy to discuss this.

Dan Archer is the is the regional lead for the North West and is the main contact between St Helens Council and the LGA. Dan is available to discuss any further support required, his email address is [email protected]