29 January 2007, 07/33
Council aiming for excellence
West Lancashire District Council is taking another step along the
road to excellence.
The Audit Commission - the watchdog body which assesses the
performance of local councils - has agreed to visit West Lancashire
to see how much the Council has improved.
Following their inspection in 2003, the Audit Commission rated West
Lancs as a 'good' council, just three points short of 'excellent'.
No other council in Lancashire scored higher.
Now the Council has invited the inspectors to come back and do a
re-assessment, with the aim of scoring an 'excellent' rating second
time round.
Councillor Geoff Roberts, Leader of the Council, said; "The fact
that the Audit Commission inspectors have agreed to return to
re-inspect us underlines they already appreciate that we have made
improvements. The inspectors carry out an independent, thorough
check on all our areas of work and assess how good we are. We are
confident that the improvements we have made over the last three
years, and the achievements we have clocked up, will result in a
rating of excellence."
Some of the Council's achievements and improvements include:
· The Council was named by the Audit Commission as the most
improved Council in the North West, and among the top 2.5 %
nationally
· Excellent' rating by the Audit Commission for Customer Access and
Focus
· Chief Executive Bill Taylor scooped the "Customer Services
Business Leader of the Year" prize in the National Customer Service
Awards in September 2006
· The Council's website www.westlancsdc.gov.uk was named the best
district council website in the north west for the second year
running, with top-level 'transactional' status'
· Significant investment in street cleaning and treatment of weeds
- we have improved the cleanliness of streets by 15% over the last
year
· People feel safer in West Lancs - fear of crime figures have been
slashed
The Council is now preparing a detailed 'self assessment' document
setting out in detail its case for 'excellent' status. The Audit
Commission inspectors will visit in March and will spend a few days
at the Council, speaking to staff, partners and customers and
assessing how well the Council carries out its work, before coming
to their final judgement, which will be announced in July.
Related information
> Council
news
> Performance and priorities