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At Full Council on 23 July, the following
recommendations were approved in relation to the Independent
Assurance Panel.
- Agreed, in line with the recommendations from SOLACE, to the
appointment of an Independent Assurance Panel to provide an
independent “critical friend” challenge to the
Council.
- Agreed to that panel being appointed by the Chief Executive,
noting that it will include two lead members of the SOLACE review
team (Andrew Flockhart and Chris Buss) and that having carried out
the review, these experts have a detailed understanding of the
issues facing GBC, and are well-placed to advise the Council on
whether the actions being taken address the concerns
identified.
- Note that the panel itself will also provide an independent view
to the Council, on a six-monthly basis, about the progress of
improvements, and that these reports will be made public.
These recommendations were part of the Corporate Improvement Plan
item.

Reasons for the decision

The main finding of the SOLACE reports is that
the Council is at serious risk of failing in its statutory duty to
deliver Best Value. The recommendations of both reports are
designed to assist the Council to avoid such a failure, and to
address the issues identified. One of the recommendations was the
appointment of an Independent Assurance Panel to provide an
independent “critical friend” challenge to the
Council.
These reports alongside the Improvement Plan were taking to Full
Council on 23 July 2024 for approval. These approvals included the
appointment of an Independent Assurance Panel.

Alternative options considered

None.