Cheshire County Council is once again one of England’s best - the independent Audit Commission has announced.
We’ve been awarded coveted highest-possible ‘4-star’ status for the services we provided for you in 2006.
Overall, the national public spending watchdog concluded that we ‘maintained good levels of performance and improved in a number of areas’.
The outcome marks a significant milestone in sweeping new, and more rigorous, changes in the way authorities are assessed.
Says Leader of the County Council Conservative administration Paul Findlow, “Quite simply, this means Cheshire’s council-tax payers enjoy the best services that any local authority can provide.”
“Results also show that our county is a very good place for our children to grow up in.”
Labour Group Deputy Leader Peter Nurse comments:
“This result represents a sound basis for even further improvement for the future. Importantly, our efforts to support and sustain new business in Cheshire are also recognised.”
The rigorous Comprehensive Performance Assessment - The Harder Test - means that we as an authority were judged in a process involving nearly 150 councils nationally which places greater emphasis on outcomes for local people and value for money.
Across the board the Audit Commission reports that local authority performance levels have improved overall.
How well do we deliver services for Cheshire’s local people and communities?
The independent Audit Commission judged Cheshire County Council’s performance from many perspectives to reach a simply-understood rating and provide a more complete picture of how we focus activity to improve.
Successful outcomes of an intensive Joint Area Review conducted last year by six government inspectorates in sample areas of children’s services across Cheshire contributed greatly to our final rating, as did reviews of Adult, Environment and Cultural services.
Our ‘use of resources’ which measures how well we use Council Taxpayers’ money, was considered ‘good’, while our ‘direction of travel’ - which looks at how quickly we are improving - was judged adequate.
Inspectors agreed that the County Council’s Transforming Cheshire programme to achieve more responsive and cost-effective services was ‘an ambitious change programme to deliver performance improvements, modernise services and make savings’.
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