Inverclyde Council is delivering highly-performing services and has a ‘strong’ track record on digital but needs to be more ambitious on addressing an £11 million funding gap, according to a new report.
The local authority, which serves a population of nearly 80,000 and has its headquarters in Greenock, was praised by financial scrutiny body the Accounts Commission for transforming services, especially in tackling child poverty.
According to the Commission, part of Audit Scotland, the council has already delivered ‘planned savings’ but has also involved communities in decisions about spending and service redesign.
Other councils can learn from its approach to understanding the impacts of decisions on vulnerable groups, understanding the benefits of change and its approach to governance.
The council works well with local, regional and national partners. Now these partnerships should continue as the council works to address the region’s economic challenges and deliver regeneration and growth, the Commission said.
Andrew Burns, deputy chair of the Accounts Commission, said: ‘Inverclyde Council is impressive in many ways: it is focused on improving its citizens’ outcomes and delivering high quality services, working hard to talk with and listen to its communities about the decisions it makes.
“It achieves this while dealing with some of the highest levels of deprivation in Scotland. Now the council needs to build on these strengths. With excellent partnership working and previous experience of shared services, the council should explore opportunities to collaborate with other local government and public sector partners – this will be vital for all councils as costs continue to rise faster than funding. The council should also be more ambitious in its plans for tackling the financial pressures it faces.”
Despite progress on the technology side, the Commission noted in its 19-page report that the council’s digital modernisation and transformation activities are embedded within wider plans and strategies, but rely on service staff with ‘day jobs’, creating capacity and delivery risks.
Continued strong governance and oversight of digital and transformation work will remain essential as the council
considers the projects now required to bridge identified budget gaps, reduce its reliance on reserves and support longer-term sustainability, it added.
The Digital Modernisation Project Board – chaired by the chief executive – was set up in 2023 to implement digital improvements. The council allocated £1 million reservesto the Digital Modernisation programme in its 2023/24 budget.
The report added: “The council does not have dedicated staff responsible for managing transformation activity, instead this is undertaken by existing staff at service level. The council recognises that availability of resources and
skills poses a risk to the delivery of its transformation ambitions.”
It said: “Projects vary in scale and in their 2024/25 report on transformation, auditors highlighted that identified savings are not sufficient to bridge the forecast funding gap. The council therefore needs to consider projects
to generate further savings and/or income. The council intends to do this through its digital modernisation and transformation initiatives. Progress will be reported in the 2025/26 annual audit report.”
In 2024/25, auditors reported that the council planned to conduct a digital maturity assessment to establish its current position, with the first steps being a staff survey.