Background and Context
A full-scale constitutional review had not taken place at Dudley Council for over 20 years, and it was felt that the constitution requires work to ensure that it is fit for purpose. When an external review advised the Council that it had governance issues, Dudley Council teamed up with CfGS, for advice on a constitution review.
Challenges and Opportunities
There was a need for a comprehensive review of our Council’s Constitution due to the governance challenges we’ve faced recently. Over a period of two decades, only minor changes had been made to Dudley’s constitution (usually in response to legislative changes). No top to bottom review had been completed since 2002.
Dudley isn’t unique in this situation, but as part of our broader corporate improvement efforts, it was clear that the Constitution needed a thorough update. We needed to make it more consistent and user-friendly.
This meant that there was an opportunity to benefit from a fundamental restructure, to update Dudley’s arrangements and bring it in line with other local authorities.
This review also provided a chance to move away from the ‘sticking plaster’ approach and think more thoroughly about governance and constitutional arrangements.
From my role and perspective on governance, it’s been consistently highlighted that having a constitution is one thing but ensuring that every part of the organisation follows it is another. You can have the best constitution in the world, but without the right culture and understanding throughout the organisation, it won’t be effective. The biggest challenge is making sure that all directorates adhere to it, without any deviations in different departments.
Initiatives and Actions Taken
Reviewing the Constitution is always a challenge. It’s not a quick job and balancing it with the other duties of myself and other colleagues was certainly a stretch. We identified that a full review was necessary to reflect good practice, make it user-friendly, understandable, and accessible to officers. The aim was to ensure it wasn’t just a document sitting in isolation but one that the entire organisation could use effectively.
Top of the list was bringing the Constitution up to date, ensuring all legislative aspects were properly reflected. It wasn’t fundamentally flawed, but it needed some TLC to be fully fit for purpose. We talked to key stakeholders to make sure everything was current from their perspective. We conducted a range of consultations, holding meetings with the leader, senior officers, and various stakeholders to gather their views. This initial work was done around the tail end of 2023 and into 2024.
From this first step, we identified the need for a complete top-to-bottom review of the document’s structure and contents, removing duplication and hopefully making it shorter and easier to navigate. Initial scoping work took about two or three months.
The work culminated in the CfGS Constitution Review report. In response, Dudley Council has now agreed a council wide improvement plan.
The governance and constitutional review work at Dudley remains a work in progress and runs alongside a separate review of the Council’s financial situation. In that respect, with all the organisational changes we’ve had and the significant financial and budgetary pressures we’re facing, there’s been a more acute focus on the need to follow governance procedures to the letter.
Outcomes and Impact
I think it would be wrong to say we’ve achieved all our outcomes right now. Realising the need for a top-to-bottom review of the Constitution was the first step and getting the organisation to understand this was crucial. It sounds easy, but in an organisation of this size and complexity, resources are always a challenge.
However, there’s now a far greater realisation within the organisation of the importance of following governance documents. Through the work done on the improvement programme, there are far more eyes on the Constitution than ever before. This has led to a greater organisational awareness of the Constitution and the key importance of adhering to it.
Unfortunately, it often takes negative experiences to drive this point home. Not following the Constitution or governance procedures can lead to serious issues like financial overspends and reputational damage to the Council. This highlights the importance of the Constitution and the need for everyone in the organisation to follow it.
Impact of the new Constitution across the organisation
If there’s one impact we’ve had, it’s that organisational awareness of the Constitution and the responsibility for good governance has increased significantly through the improvement programme.
Anecdotally, I’ve noticed a significant rise in governance-related queries over the last 12 months. People are asking more about the level of approval needed for decisions and the processes involved. This increase in queries suggests an increased awareness of governance procedures. I could probably find some proper numbers on this, but my feeling is that our team receive several enquiries a day now, which is a strong indicator of the impact.
People frequently ask simple but important questions like, “Have we got the right level of approval for this?” or “Does this need a cabinet member decision, or is it an officer-delegated decision?” These are the frequently asked questions these days, and quite rightly so.
Now that the foundations for change are in place, Dudley Council can focus on culture change within that framework. Not all of Dudley’s challenges will be fixed simply by changing the Constitution, but the Council is more aware now that improvements to relationships, working culture, and the financial context are essential.
Top tips
Make sure you have the organisation’s commitment to the process. Understand that reviewing the Constitution requires significant time and resources. It’s not something that can be done in an afternoon.
Clearly scope out what you want to achieve. If it’s just updating legislative references, it might be a quick job. But for a comprehensive review, you’ll need substantial resources. Ensure you have the necessary budget and dedicated support.
Pay particular attention to parts of the Constitution that frequently become outdated, such as the scheme of delegation. These areas need ongoing updates to reflect changes in legislation and organisational structure.
Each director should maintain an up-to-date list of delegations to officers. This is crucial to avoid serious consequences if decisions are made without proper authority.
Recognise that reviewing the Constitution is important, even if it’s not urgent. Avoid continuously postponing the work. Set clear timescales and stick to them. Don’t just keep putting it off all the time.
Be prepared to balance this work with other responsibilities. Prioritisation is key, and sometimes you may need to react to urgent matters, but don’t let the review fall by the wayside.
Ensure that the importance of the Constitution is understood across the organisation. While central advice is helpful, day-to-day adherence to governance procedures is essential.
Lessons Learned
Dudley Council’s experience of reviewing its governance arrangements has generated some important lessons learned, including:
Engage Members – It’s important to reach out to members and fully engage them in consultation. This ensures everyone is on board and contributes to the process.
Living, breathing document – Do not just accept a constitution as something that is ‘there’. See it as a live document that needs constant member engagement. Consider the benefits of having a group of members (or a committee) working on this.
Culture underpins everything – Structural change alone does not fix problems. Effective relationships are needed to make changes happen and work.
The Constitution is for everyone – Understanding how widespread the awareness of the Constitution is across the organisation is crucial. At the corporate management team level and down through to the Heads of Service, the awareness is much greater than it once was. However, frontline workers might not feel it affects their day-to-day tasks. This highlights the need for continued efforts to ensure the importance of the Constitution is recognised at all levels.
Increased awareness creates impact – A new Constitution can have a big impact. A strong indicator is the significant rise in governance-related queries over the last 12 months.
Future Directions
Dudley now has a roadmap for future direction for the Constitution and change.
This includes:
- Commissioning external support to review the Constitution. Incorporate insights from the sector and external organisations.
- Training and workshops; seminars and workshops for senior managers and interested staff to social the Constitution
- Ongoing awareness programme, with a programme of constitutional and governance awareness sessions, say every quarter or six months.
- Encouraging staff to use the Constitution to find answers independently, reducing reliance on centralised advice.
- Making sure all staff, including new hires, are familiar with Dudley’s specific governance practices through regular training and awareness sessions.
The next step from here is to get some external eyes on what we’ve got. It’s important to see this not just as Dudley’s document but to learn from the sector and take into account external views of our Constitution.
We’ve done some training in the past, including seminars and workshops for senior managers and anyone interested in governance. Using Microsoft Teams has allowed us to reach a larger audience. Ideally, I’d invest more time in providing training and support across the Council, but it’s an organisational challenge to make people live and breathe this, especially with a high turnover of staff. An ongoing programme of constitutional and governance awareness would be very beneficial. Running sessions, say every quarter or six months, could help reduce the number of reactive queries we get.
For example, understanding what level of governance approval is needed for decisions can often be found with a simple search of the Constitution. Promoting this awareness on a sustained basis would help people help themselves, rather than defaulting to asking officers in the central team. It’s not my Constitution; it’s the Council’s Constitution.
In the future, I’d love to work on establishing regular governance awareness-raising sessions. This would benefit both those wanting to refresh their knowledge and new staff who may be familiar with different practices from other authorities.
At CfGS, we support local government improvement by working closely with councils to highlight the great work being done, including case studies of recent improvement activity funded by Government.
As part of this support, we produce case studies to share the lessons learned from these projects, helping other authorities benefit from the insights gained. These case studies are a collaborative effort between CfGS and the councils involved, and while they provide valuable perspectives, they are not formal evaluations of the work’s impact. Instead, they aim to inspire and inform other authorities with real examples of progress that can have a wider impact across the sector.
All case studies