Wealden is a ‘Good’ Council
That’s not just our view. It is the view of Audit Commission, the independent watchdog that assesses all local authorities. Just as schools have OFTSED reports, local authorities have a Comprehensive Performance Assessment to check how well they are doing. For many council services, the public can’t choose who provides them, so they can’t go elsewhere if the service is not good enough. That’s why Wealden was pleased to have the opportunity to be assessed on how well it serves the public.
The Audit Commission described Wealden as a “a good council that has delivered recent improvements and is well placed to further improve.” It praised Wealden District Council for the way it provided very good levels of service while limiting Council Tax increases to be among the lowest in the county.
“One of the early stages in the process was to assess our own performance and we are delighted that the Government's inspectors have now confirmed what we have known for some time that Wealden is a good Council, “ said Council Leader, Councillor Nigel Coltman.
The full Audit Commission report in Wealden District Council can be found on Audit Commission website.
Go to www.bestvalueinspections.gov.uk and search for Wealden District Council under Local Government. The Audit Commission judges councils according to a five categories: Excellent, Good, Fair, Weak or Poor.
The process doesn’t just end with the CPA.
The delivery of the council’s many services are measured each quarter using nationally-recognised Best Performance Indicators, and the information fed back to staff and councillors.
Improvements have now been achieved in the delivery of housing benefits and planning decisions, and work is underway to create a website to serve the needs of the district’s young people.
What the Comprehensive Performance Assessment said about Wealden:
- Councillors share an overriding concern about what is best for Wealden
- It works effectively with a range of partners to improve the quality of residents’ lives
- It is well led and managed
- It demonstrates good performance in most areas of service delivery, including housing, environmental cleanliness, recycling and regeneration
- Performance is improving in many services, some from a high base
- Public satisfaction with the council’s services is high
- Asset and financial management is strong
But there was room for improvement:
- It needs to improve performance in housing benefits and development control
- It needs to plan and coordinate services for local children and young people better
- More effective work with partners to improve community safety is needed
