Impressive Progress at South Tyneside Council

South Tyneside Council has made 'clear,' 'rapid' and 'impressive' progress in 2022 according to a new report.

The LGA Corporate Peer Challenge - Progress Review report highlights a number of successes at the Council since its initial visit in January 2022.

The Council is described as being on a journey of improvement, making rapid progress, with partners having a growing confidence in the authority.

The LGA report states that both Elected Members and Officers are ambitious for South Tyneside's communities and the council, with cultural change and improvement paying dividends across the organisation.

Councillor Tracey Dixon, Leader of South Tyneside Council said: "I am delighted with the LGA feedback, but we cannot and will not be complacent. This is just the start of a very exciting journey for South Tyneside. A changed council, with new ambitions that puts people at the heart of everything we do.

"We brought in the peer team so that we could take stock of where we were, where we wanted to be and how we would get there. We have acted swiftly on recommendations and been working at pace to bring forward changes to the way we work to be more open, transparent, and better at listening and understanding our communities.

"It is this inclusive way of working that has shaped our new 20-year vision for the Borough which the report highlights as innovative. The process to establish the vision involved wide consultation and engagement which the LGA regarded as inclusive.

"I know that our Elected Members and Officers have the enthusiasm and commitment to deliver our ambitions and to make South Tyneside a place where people live healthy, happy, and fulfilled lives."

The report states that the change programme for the council continues to grow and is ambitious and long term. The pace of delivery since January 2022 has been impressive.

Jonathan Tew, Chief Executive at South Tyneside Council said: "Despite the challenges of the last 11 months, we have been relentless in our pursuit of change. The peer team were taken aback at the amount of work that has been done and how the whole council has committed to the process.

"So much achieved in such a short space of time, it is remarkable, and it isn't just us saying that.

"The Peer team had no new recommendations, which again, is incredible. They said we are doing 'all the right things' and that we need to keep going.

"We've shown that we get things done in South Tyneside and now it's up to us to live and breathe our vision and values in everything we do."  

The Council has undergone a significant period of change over the last year, changing how it works to deliver on the borough's ambitions. Its 'Values' set out the things that are most important in terms of how it works and acts. Council officers and members are Professional, Respectful, Open and honest, Understanding and engaging, and Deliver what they say they will. These PROUD values are embedded into the heart of the workplace's culture to guide what they do.

Cllr Dixon added: "Everyone across the organisation is to commit to the highest standards, in accordance with our PROUD values. We will hold ourselves to account, modelling the right values and behaviours, to be the best of the borough."

The full report is available at  https://www.southtyneside.gov.uk/article/15974/LGA-Corporate-Peer-Challenge-Progress-Review.