Wandsworth judged 'excellent' again

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for the third year running following the latest assessment of local government by the Audit Commission

Wandsworth is one of just 21 councils to have been awarded an excellent rating every year since the Audit Commission began its assessment of all town hall services in England and Wales in 2002.

 

And it is currently one of only four elite local authorities in the whole country to have been judged excellent overall and also to get the top score for its ability to improve services even further and to have achieved the maximum three star rating for both social services and education.

 

This top ranked performance confirms the council's reputation for providing its residents with value for money services. Wandsworth currently has the lowest average council tax bills in the country.

 

As well as retaining its overall "excellent" status, the council has also improved its score in social services for children and young people.

 

Its social care for children score has increased from three to the maximum four with the capacity for further improvements assessed as 'excellent'. It is one of just five councils in the country to have achieved these two top scores in this vitally important frontline service.

 

The inspectors described social services for children as being "at the leading edge of practice and partnership development" and highlighted the establishment of the multi-agency foster care programme.

 

This assessment echoes the conclusion of the Department of Health and the Commission for Social Care Inspection which awarded Wandsworth's entire social services department a maximum three star rating last month.

 

The council has also repeated last year's achievement of top marks for the borough's education service and for its financial administration and general management.

 

In its assessment, the Audit Commission reported: "Wandsworth continues to be an excellent council. It is well placed to improve the way it works and the services it provides to local people.

 

"Notable service improvements include a substantial increase in the proportion of waste recycled, a higher proportion of children in care who were adopted, improved long term stability of placements for children in care and an improvement in the time taken to produce statements of special educational needs."

 
Council leader Edward Lister (pictured below) said Wandsworth was committed to offering its residents high quality services at a price they could afford.

 

"For the past two years, the Audit Commission has said we were an excellent authority. This year they say we are even better. If the inspectors added an extra rating linked to the amount people pay for their services our results would go up even higher.

 

"For Wandsworth to be in the top tier of authorities while at the same time delivering the country's lowest council tax is a phenomenal achievement. It puts Wandsworth in a class of its own."

 

The comprehensive performance assessment (CPA) is an annual judgement by the Audit Commission of the overall performance and proven capacity to improve of 150 local authorities in England and Wales. Each council is classified in one of five categories: �excellent', �good', �fair', �weak', or �poor'.

 

However, the analysis takes no account of the different amounts councils spend nor the level of council tax charged.  In addition to making sure that taxpayers receive value for money, its aim is to provide impartial information on the quality of public services.

                                         

December 16, 2004