In October 2023 Rugby Borough Council invited a team of independent local government experts to review how well the council delivers services for its residents and businesses.

The report highlights the council’s strengths and opportunities for further development.  The report makes numerous positive observations, recognising our desire to change and modernise to become a Council which is able to best serve our residents now and, in the future, as detailed within the Rugby Blueprint. It states that ‘Members and officers are passionate and dedicated to the Borough and there is an organisational focus on the importance of putting its communities and customers first’. 

The report also recognises that the Council has already embarked on an improvement journey, with a clear focus on delivering the four Corporate Strategy outcomes and provides detail of steps which could be taken to further sharpen that focus. The peers note that the Council has a balanced financial position, with a 4 year rolling forecast in place, which has been supported by the Council’s prudent approach to business rate gains. The report recognises that the Council is in a good financial position, but like many authorities across the country, there is work to do to address the local government financial challenges we face over the coming years.

The previous Corporate Peer Challenge took place in summer 2013. That review found that Rugby Borough Council is a good council. It found that we have a track record for engaging with residents and businesses and making things better for them, and that we have done so in a difficult and challenging economic environment.