Wealden District Council Rated A "Good" Council
Wealden District Council overall is 'good' according to a major report published by the Audit Commission in March 2004. Following a Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) of the Council, the Commission judged Wealden to be "a good council that has delivered recent improvements and is well placed to improve further".
This is the first time that Wealden people have had a single overall judgment on their Council . The assessment of Wealden found that the council is doing well in the following areas:
- Councillors share an overriding concern about what is best for Wealden.
- The Council works effectively with a range of partners to improve the quality of residents' lives.
- The Council 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 the assessment also found room for improvement:
- The Council needs to improve performance in housing benefits and development control
- The Council needs to plan and coordinate services for local children and young people better.
- More effective work with partners to improve community safety is needed.
The Council is working on improvement planning which includes initiatives to address these issues.
On the publication of the Audit Commission's report Wealden District
Council's Leader, Cllr Nigel Coltman, greeted the news that
the Commission rated Wealden as a good Council:
"This is great news for the people of Wealden. It is a significant
finding from a national inspection process similar to the OFSTED
inspection which applies to schools and colleges. 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. Also,
on a numerically weighted score, today's report finds us only two
points short of excellent and well-placed to improve further.
The inspection summary identifies a sound legacy of good financial
stewardship, efficient services, effective leadership and management
and a cross-party focus on what is best for Wealden. It states
services are soundly run, particularly housing, regeneration and
recycling. We are also pleased the summary finds us particularly
effective and original in our partnership working. Existing work
to tackle identified weaknesses is acknowledged by the report which
provides a comprehensive basis on which to design an improvement
plan. The Council has done well to provide very good levels of service
whilst limiting its Council tax increases to be amongst the lowest
in the County. We are proud, therefore, that this wide-ranging and
independent assessment of our performance provides yet another endorsement
of Wealden District Council."
The Audit Commission has produced a Community
Digest summarising its judgment and findings. A more
detailed Inspection Report
is also available. The Council's own Self
Assessment Document (pdf file - 1.2mb) prepared for the assessment
can also be downloaded.
Where can I find out more about CPA?
CPA makes a judgement of district councils, rating each as excellent, good, fair, weak or poor. Reporting for district councils follows the annual CPA carried out for the 150 largest councils in England . For further information on CPA please visit the Audit Commission website.
