30 March 2009, 09/64
West Lancs "highly commended" at the
LGC Awards 2009
West Lancashire District Council has been
ranked as one of the top councils in the country with a “Highly
Commended” acclamation in the Local Government Chronicle
Awards.
West Lancs narrowly missed out on winning the
top title of Council of the Year in the annual awards – the
“Oscars” of the local government world – but was named as one of
two runners-up.
The Leader of the Council, Cllr Ian Grant,
said: “West Lancs has been ranked as one of the top councils in the
country and this is a marvellous achievement. It follows
recognition of ‘excellent’ status by the Audit Commission in 2007
and since then we have continued to put effort into improving
frontline services that give real, tangible benefits for residents.
I’d like to express my thanks to all the councillors, staff and
partners of the Council. Though we face difficult financial times
ahead I would like to reassure local residents that we will
continue to focus on giving value for money and providing the best
possible quality of service. “
Chief Executive Bill Taylor said: “I know from
feedback from the judges that they were absolutely blown away by
everything they saw here at West Lancashire. The judges commented
that we were one of the smallest authorities that have reached the
“Council of the Year” final and on the night of the final they
remarked that whilst we may be small, we punch way above our
weight. This is a huge achievement.”
The awards were announced at a ceremony in
London on 26 March which was attended by three members of staff who
represented the Council. West Lancs was one of six local
authorities in the shortlist for the annual award which was won by
Leicestershire County Council. Other councils on the shortlist were
Camden, Fenland, Gateshead and Tower Hamlets.
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