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Our journey to improvement

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We have created an Improvement Plan which sets out the steps we are taking to improve our governance, culture and operations.

The Improvement Plan was created in July 2024 in response to two governance reviews we commissioned and carried out by SOLACE in early 2024. As a council, we recognised the serious issues that were identified in the reviews and accepted the findings and recommendations. 

This Improvement Plan helps us be a well-managed and resilient Council. We cannot change the past, but we are determined to put things right, and make Guildford a thriving place to live, work, and do business.

We have made significant progress since then, and we are proud of the progress we have achieved so far. There is still work to do and our focus continues delivering our Improvement Plan.

What we want to achieve? 

Our objectives are: 

Clear strategic direction
Establish a clear strategic direction and values for the Council 

Progress so far: 

  • we've developed and published our new Corporate Strategy and values in July 2024
  • we've appointed an Independent Assurance Panel to support and challenge us in our Improvement work
  • we developed and published our Delivery Plan in May 2025 and 2026 which set outs how we are going to deliver our Corporate Strategy each year
  • we undertook an independent assessment of our Collaboration programme with Waverley Borough Council which concluded we had achieved financial savings and there were more benefits to achieve in the Councils continued
  • we supported the submission for local government reorganisation (LGR) for Surrey following the announcements by Central Government in January 2025 and are supporting the transition to West Surrey Council in April 2027
  • We refreshed the collaboration programme with a new focus on achieving the benefits of collaboration between Guildford and Waverley Councils in the lead up to LGR, and we now have a number of shared services and teams  This aims to deliver improved outcomes,  financial savings and will release additional capacity within the organisation to prepare for the transition to West Surrey Council.

Value for money
Ensure we provide the best value for money 

Progress so far: 

  • we agreed a balanced budget in February 2025 and February 2026, marking a key improvement in stabilising the Council's finances
  • we closed and published our accounts on time for the third year in a row
  • revised our financial and budget policies for consistency and ownership
  • strengthened our finance team to support our new ways of working
  • improved our budget planning process, aligning the budget to our Corporate Strategy
  • regularly review our capital programme to ensure it aligns with our corporate priorities
  • worked with Council services to review their budgets, contracts and savings
  • developed a new Procurement Strategy and trained staff on the Procurement Act launched in February 2025.  We also  have a contracts database to improve contract management and visibility, and  a reporting schedule to the Executive on our Procurement Pipelines to improve our transparency and forward-planning.

Decision making and governance
Implement effective governance across the organisation, so decisions are made at the right level, with accountabilities and responsibilities clear 

Progress so far:

  • revised our development programme for Councillors, providing training on the Best Value Duty, finance and more
  • we've established a new Audit & Risk Committee 
  • we've fully updated our Constitution, reviewing our scheme of delegations, our committees and our Local Choice Function
  • we've reviewed our decision making and internal meetings
  • we continue to improve our role and governance of our Companies, Charities and Trusts
  • strengthened our governance with Waverley BC with the establishment of joint committees 
  • we've updated our Annual Governance Statement, using it to improve the way we work
  • we host regular training on governance and whistleblowing for our staff

Public service culture
Embed a public service culture, outward-facing, innovative, building partnerships, listening to and working with our communities and businesses 

Progress so far: 

  • we've adopted a new whistleblowing policy, improved communication and transparency between colleagues and stakeholders and provided whistleblowing training 
  • we've shared the SOLACE reports and Improvement Plan publicly so we can be held accountable to our actions
  • we're refreshing and improving our approach to Complaints, ensuring that public voices and concerns are central to our learnings, processes, systems and culture
  • we've strengthened our relationship with the Tenant Engagement Group and established a Housing Operations Board and a Tenant & Leaseholder Sounding Board to ensure our resident voices are part of our decision-making
  • working with the Local Government Association, we have undertaken a IT & Digital 360 Review to assess our IT & Digital landscape

Effective service delivery
Ensure effective service delivery, focused on achieving the right outcomes for residents and businesses 

Progress so far: 

  • we regularly review our internal audit plan and was encouraged by the improvement in our Internal Audit Opinion
  • we've adopted a thorough risk management strategy and host regular training for staff
  • we're developing a new framework for delivering our programmes and projects
  • we've improved the way we measure, monitor and report on our performance to our residents and customers and seen an improved performance across the council
  • we undertook a survey to understand the priorities and ambitions of residents this year. We also supported the resident engagement survey on LGR across Surrey, and the consultation led by Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MCHLG)

Improving our housing service
Ensure that housing services are effective, value for money, and recognise the vital importance of providing a safe and secure home 

We have a Housing Improvement Plan to address the SOLACE governance review into our housing landlord function. This will evolve as we work with the Regulator of Social Housing so we can achieve the right outcomes for our residents and tenants. 

Progress so far: 

  • we've revised our Housing Improvement Plan to incorporate recommendations from external reviews, Regulator of Social Housing, Tenant Engagement Group, staff and the Independent Assurance Panel, making it more comprehensive and outcome focused
  • we've established our strategic direction for Housing by developing and publishing our  Housing Strategy 2025-2034 and the Homelessness Prevention and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2025- 2034.
  • we've reviewed our complaints policy to ensure it aligns with the Housing Ombudsman and developed Housing Policies to improve the service to our residents.
  • we've set up a Housing Operations Board (opens new window) so councillors can scrutinise and support our Housing strategic direction and performance
  • we've delivered training to staff on Procurement and Governance
  • we regularly engage with the Regulator of Social Housing and have achieved a C1 rating for the Regulator of Social Housing in 2026
  • we have improved our information online to residents as part of our commitment to transparency, continuous learning, and compliance with regulatory standards. We have published our Housing performance on compliance, complaints, Tenant Satisfaction measures and our annual report to Tenants 

Read more about our Improvement Plan

How are we monitoring our progress?

Our Housing Performance is published here and includes our Annual Complaints performance, annual report to Tenants and our Tenant Satisfaction Measures.

We have also appointed an Independent Assurance Panel to be a critical friend to us, and they will challenge and support us over the next three years.

We will report on our progress to you and the councillors every six months. The Independent Assurance Panel will also provide their view to Full Council of how we're doing every six months.

Our first progress update was presented in December 2024. The Panel noted that the Improvement Plan was fit for purpose and we had made a good start. Read the first progress updates. (opens new window)

Our second progress update was presented in July 2025.

The Panel noted that that the Improvement Plan continues to be fit for purpose and the Council has made a good progress with the delivery of the Plan. The Panel concluded that the risk that the Council could fail to meet is statutory duty to deliver Best Value has diminished significantly but as a long term programme of work, there is still work to do, particularly in Housing.

Our third update from the Independent Assurance Panel was in February 2026.  The Improvement Plan is continuing to be fit for purpose and the Council has continued to make progress, and the risk that the Council could fail to meet is statutory duty to deliver Best Value is now lower. To maintain this position, we need to continue delivering the Improvement Plan and maintain focus on LGR in Surrey, and sustaining the progress made in the Council's Housing Services. 

From our view, we can be proud of our efforts so far. We've made real progress in the last 18 months.   Risks still remain, and we must continue to work together to address these.

Our next update will be in September 2026.

We also have a Housing Operations Board (opens new window) who receive progress updates on the Housing Improvement Plan.

We also publish regular detailed Financial Monitoring reports. The reports set out our progress against our budgets and is published online to ensure transparency.

Read our MHCLG_productivity_plan_Jul-24_accessible (Word doc, 34 KB)

Ways to get involved with our improvement