Update from Chief Executive Mark Wynn, 15 August 2025
Hello,
Well, we are well into summer (although the weather may not always feel like it). I hope that you are managing to take some time off, and if you are looking for things to do, we have a brilliant summer campaign running at the moment that might give you some ideas.
You may have seen that our Leader County Councillor Stephen Atkinson recently recorded a short video about his time in office. You can watch the video here and we have also created a summary which can be shared with staff who may not have access to our network.
CQC inspection
Today we received the results of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) assessment of our Adult Services, which took place in February. The service has been rated as ‘Requires Improvement’. While this is disappointing, it’s important to remember that it doesn’t reflect the dedication and hard work of staff across Adult Services.
The report highlights areas where we need to make changes, but it also recognises the significant progress and commitment shown by our teams. I was pleased to see that inspectors noted many examples of excellent work, including:
- The dedication of our caring, compassionate and competent workforce.
- Listening to and supporting people and their carers.
- Carrying out social care assessments that focus on people’s strengths.
- Offering timely advocacy to those who struggle to access support.
- Making safeguarding everyone’s responsibility.
- Identifying unmet care and support needs and helping people find other options.
- Effectively managing our in-house services, many of which are rated Good or Outstanding.
At Executive Leadership Team meetings, we regularly receive updates on Adult Services, one of the biggest areas of demand in our budget. I’ve heard Helen Coombes speak with pride about the progress made since the inspection in February.
Here’s how we’ve made a positive impact:
- Faster access to care: The number of older people waiting for a care assessment has dropped significantly, from around 1,850 in April to just 1,075 in July. There has been a 48% reduction in those waiting more than 28 days.
- More reviews completed: We’ve seen an 8% increase in completed care reviews compared to the same time last year, helping ensure people’s care plans stay up to date and responsive to their needs.
- Access to Occupational Therapy: We have reduced the number of people waiting over 28 days for an assessment by 50% and will continue to improve the Occupational Therapy assessment pathway.
While there are areas to improve, the report praises the ‘strong foundations’ we have to build on and the incredible commitment of our workforce. The report findings are not where we want to be but are a stepping stone toward achieving excellence together.
There’s more to do and I know everyone in Adult Services is working towards the shared goal of improving the lives of Lancashire residents and delivering the best possible services.
You can find out more about our assessment and read the full report on our staff CQC page on the intranet. If you don't have access to the intranet please speal to your manager who can provide you with the relevant information.
Local Government Reorganisation
You may already know that all 15 councils in Lancashire are now working together to explore options for Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) to meet the government's criteria. The aim is to submit a joint proposal to government in November 2025, which may include several possible models.
Each council will need to present these options to its councillors who will decide which option to support before the submission. I’ll let you know what the options are as soon as I can.
After the proposal is submitted, the government will run a public consultation early next year and choose its preferred model by summer 2026. All councils will then work together to implement the new structure, with shadow elections expected in May 2027 and new unitary councils going live in April 2028.
Over the summer, you may see public engagement activity – such as surveys, from us and other councils to help shape the proposal. I want to reassure you that I, along with the Executive Leadership Team, will keep you informed throughout the process.
We know many of you will have questions about Local Government Reorganisation. You can send these to LGRquestions@lancashire.gov.uk, and we’ll do our best to respond.
While we may not be able to answer every question straight away, they will help us understand what matters most to you.
You’re a key part of shaping future service structures and plans. There will be opportunities for some of you to get directly involved, and for everyone to share views as the process moves forward.
Employee conference – coming soon
We’ll be holding another employee conference on 11 September, and our Leader, County Councillor Stephen Atkinson, will also be joining me.
This is a great opportunity to hear updates and ask any questions you may have. I really value the chance to see many of you face to face, so I hope as many of you as possible can join us.
If you’d like to attend in person at County Hall, you can book your place using the link below:
If you’d prefer to watch the conference on Teams, keep an eye on Staff News for the link closer to the time.
If you would like Internal Communications to ask a question on your behalf, you can email them at internal.communications@lancashire.gov.uk.
Corporate Performance report and new indicators
At the last Cabinet meeting in July, we shared our latest Corporate Performance Report. This shows how we’re doing against the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) set out in our Council Plan.
Over the past two years, performance has improved. In 2024 to 2025, 24 indicators met or exceeded their targets, up from 20 the year before. There’s a lot to be proud of fewer children are in care through our family safeguarding model, our library services continue to perform well, and we’ve improved support for carers. We’ve also made progress in economic development and customer access. We hosted the Convention of the North, were shortlisted for national awards, and moved forward with devolution.
As we expected some of the areas remain challenging. These include reducing the number of children missing from education and cutting waiting times for adult assessments. Work continues with our Special Educational Needs and Disabilities action plan, and we’re making progress in Adult Social Care. We’re committed to improving every day and are working closely with the new Administration to deliver their priorities and support all our councillors.
The report also outlines our new KPIs for 2025 2026, I would encourage you to look at the report and familiarise yourself with these.
You can read the full report on the council area of our website.
New performance framework for reporting to Cabinet
At the Cabinet meeting it was also agreed that we would have a new performance framework that would reflect the new administrations priorities and our council plan 2025-2030. This includes new performance indicators to go along side this. These also include our statutory requirement, benchmarking, recent trends, seasonal variations and resources. This will be reported to Cabinet every quarter.
The report also included the proposed key performance indicators which will monitor the delivery of the Council Plan 2025-2030. These will then be reviewed at the end of the year to make sure that they still reflect the latest policies and circumstances.
Our Areas of Focus
Cabinet also agreed our key areas of focus for the year ahead. These are in line with the priorities in our Council Plan 2025–2030. They reflect our shared ambition to build a better Lancashire, where everyone can live their best life through stronger communities, a growing economy, and high-quality public services. You can read the Our Areas of Focus document in the meeting papers on our website.
Like many councils, we continue to face financial challenges due to increased pressure in areas like adult social care. To help ease these challenges, it’s vital that we deliver planned savings and find better ways of working. A key part of our Council Plan, is that we’re committed to thinking differently, embracing innovation, improving services, and making sure we deliver value for money.
I know from speaking to many of you that you have great ideas about how we can improve the way we work and use our resources. In September, we’ll launch a new scheme so you can share your fantastic ideas directly with us.
Take care
Mark