Dudley Council has made “good sustained progress” in its improvement journey, its leader has said.
The council’s cabinet heard an update on progress made against objectives set out in the plan at a meeting last night. The Dudley Council Improvement Plan was formally approved in January, building on the work from the Fit for the Future programme.
The cabinet will hear the first two tiers of the senior management restructure has largely been completed, with work under way on the final tier of the senior management layer.
The authority has appointed a new permanent chief executive and made eight permanent appointments to the new senior management team. Just two posts are currently vacant now, the report says.
The changes to senior management arrangements are designed to strengthen senior capacity and strategic leadership and will save £1.2m per annum.
Furthermore, the improvement plan has overseen the creation of a budget for 2025/26 which identified more than £55 million of savings.
The report says good financial management has allowed the council to bolster its reserves to more than £30 million, easing the risk of financial problems suffered by other local authorities across the country.
Councillor Patrick Harley, leader of the council, said: “We have undertaken a great deal of work over the past few months and made good sustained progress across a broad range of areas on our improvement journey.
“We are well on the way to establishing a quality, stable senior management team and our new structure will save the council £1.2 million per year. Further to that, we have overseen a significant improvement in our financial position across the board.
“We recognise of course that there is still much more to do, and we will strive for further improvement as we continue that work in the coming months.
“We have put the building blocks in place in some areas - and are well on the way to establishing them in others - to ensure the positive progress we have made to date is maintained".
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