An external review of how Falkirk Council manages its finances and services has confirmed that progress is being made across several areas however further work is needed ‘to meet the scale of the financial challenge’.

Auditors Ernst and Young presented their findings to a meeting of Falkirk Council this week (27 October). The report considered:

Financial Sustainability

Auditors were most concerned with the short timescale to deliver the level of savings required as well as the degree of risk and uncertainty outside the Council’s control which could impact its ability to deliver services.

Financial Management

Auditors praised the ‘good financial management arrangements and the ‘control of the in-year budget’. They also recognised the Council delivered on 96% of its planned savings (nearly £5m) for 2021/22.

Governance & Transparency

Auditors reported ‘key features of good governance remain in place’ at Falkirk Council but reported on some ‘underlying cultural issues’ had not been fully addressed in respect of ‘Whistleblowing’ as well as two investigations carried out by the Health and Safety Executive

 Value for Money

While performance had dipped against the previous year, Falkirk Council’s performance indicators remained higher than the national averages for 50% of these indicators.

Action Plan

Following the Best Value review by Audit Scotland, an action plan was devised where a number of concerns are being addressed through:

• A comprehensive induction programme for elected members, complemented by external support on equalities and on collaborative leadership;

• The development of the new Council Plan, based on elected member engagement and drawing on the views of communities. The Financial Strategy and Workforce Plan support this;

• Review of the Council of the Future Transformation programme; and

• A review of the affordability of the current capital programme.

A report on the progress against the action plan will be presented to a meeting of the Council’s Executive in December 2022.

You can read the full report on the Council’s website.