The need for s151 officer networking
Lisa Quinn
As Towns are progressing through Stage 2 of the Towns Fund Programme, the Towns Fund Delivery Partner has been building a network for s151 officers and deputy s151 officers. As part of this work we have reflected on the importance of the relationship between the Town Deal Board, the lead council (or accountable body), and the s151 officer, as set out in this blog. We then held three s151 officer focus group sessions in August, which enabled us to gather insights on the challenges and opportunities faced by s151 officers in fulfilling their role in the Towns Fund programme. We reflected on the valuable discussion from the focus groups in this blog, also exploring the key questions that s151 officers are expected to examine for each aspect of their role.
To continue this insightful discussion and shared experience, we held two more s151 officer focus group sessions in September. This time we had a mix of s151 officers and deputy s151 officers, some who attended the previous sessions and some who were attending for the first time. The open discussion enabled sharing of practical tips on how to navigate some of the challenges that Towns face at each milestone. Given the more advanced progress of some towns through Stage 2 milestones, the sessions also enabled a collective voice for their experiences with the programme, which were fed back to DLUHC to better inform next steps for support.
As part of the introduction to the focus group sessions, we shared our observations of the role of the s151 officer, which can be summarised as follows:
The spirit of the Towns Fund, and its intent to be private sector and community-led, should be reflected in the governance and assurance framework, with the s151 officer’s role clearly defined.
Partners need to be mindful that the s151 officer must ultimately safeguard their statutory role, while also considering how they can contribute to leadership, programme delivery and risk management responsibilities.
Partners should recognise that the s151 officer is not responsible or accountable for how local policies are applied to the Towns Fund programme or for the applicability of projects for addressing needs in the area.
The s151 officer is responsible for independently applying their statutory role as part of the assurance process on the sustainability, viability and value for money for each business case.
It is important to define what the s151 officer’s signature means (and does not mean) when signing submissions to DLUHC.
As we did for the August sessions, we present the themes from our September discussions below:
The s151 officers and deputy s151 officers emphasised the importance of direct communication with the Town Deal Board Chair to minimise potential conflict, particularly during the development of business cases.
They felt that full involvement in the Towns Fund programme can be a significant commitment for the s151 officer and their team, especially for smaller accountable bodies.
In addition, for smaller accountable bodies the Towns Fund programme can significantly outweigh the existing capital programme, bringing new challenges for those involved.
Some complex projects are made up of distinct sub-projects, which can be challenging to assess when combined into the single project business case
Inevitably, greater detail of projects is developed through the business case process, which can alter the approach to some projects significantly.
They were comfortable with not having to achieve Full Business Case stage by the time that business case summaries are being submitted, recognising the importance of local assurance.
Overall, they feel that there needs to be a better understanding of the s151 role, and the local Towns Fund programme needs to afford enough time for the s151 officer review of business cases.
We are keen to further enable the s151 officer network, to continue to engage and share experiences with each other, to identify ongoing support needs and to constructively feed back to DLUHC on the challenges that they are facing. To do this, we are holding further focus group sessions in October and November and we will also enable s151 officers and their teams to continue to network beyond the Towns Fund Delivery Partner involvement from December onwards.
If you would like further advice on understanding the role of s151 officer in the Towns Fund Programme, please speak to your Town Coordinator or CLGU Area Lead. In addition, watch out for updates on the focus group sessions in October and November in the About Towns newsletter.