Taunton Deane Borough Council gets an 'Excellent' Result
Taunton Deane Borough Council has been rated as an excellent authority
by the Audit Commission
The independent inspectors conducted a rigorous assessment to arrive at
the results, which are designed to give local people information on how
well their authority is serving the community.
Taunton Deane was among a number of authorities inspected in Somerset
as part of the comprehensive performance assessment (CPA) of district councils
which rates each as either excellent, good, fair, weak or poor.
The assessment of Taunton Deane found that the council's main strengths
are :
- It's services are good, with many improvements taking place. Satisfaction
with its services is strong.
- It has maintained its focus on important
issues for local people and has achieved long-term goals, for example,
in crime reduction, leisure projects
and IT improvements.
- An effective Local Strategic Partnership is in place and the council
works well in partnership with other organisations, especially to manage
waste and reduce crime.
- It manages its finances well. There are significant
strengths in staff
and political structures and good working relationships are in
place.
But the assessment also found room for improvement:
- The council does not have a robust plan in place to meet its targets
for more affordable housing in order to meet local needs.
Audit Commission senior manager Simon Farnsworth said: "Taunton Deane
is a council with a track record of services that meet community needs
and with ambitious plans for the future. The council has made a range of
improvements to local services - often in difficult circumstances. Many
projects are delivered in partnership, supported by external funding to
deliver important services to local people."
But there is room for improvement, for example dealing with issues relating
to young people and also the challenges for the housing agenda. Residents
of Taunton Deane will want to know what happens next. Where the council
has weaknesses it should use this assessment to help it deliver improvement.
We would expect the council to make its improvement plans public. We will
want to track progress. The end result should be better services for the
people of Taunton Deane."
Leader of the Council, Cllr John Williams, said: "This is a wonderful
accolade and a credit to all staff and Members as without the team effort
and
good working relationship we enjoy across the Council and Partners, it
would not have been possible to achieve recognition as an excellent authority."
"The most important factor about achieving this rating is the independent
and impartial nature of the assessment, which confirms to the people of
Taunton Deane that we do provide good services as a reasonable cost, with
strong customer satisfaction, and we have a clear long term vision as to
how we maintain the excellent position we hold.
"It is also pleasing to note that the weak points mentioned are already
in the process of being addressed. We are well aware of the desperate need
for more affordable housing and have plans in place to provide over 100
social units this year, a substantial increase on the 43 units achieved
last year.
"We are also well aware of and are actively working towards remedying
the serious under provision in activities for the young that we have identified.
We must not rest on our laurels and have to continue working to ensure
the weak points are addressed and the good points strengthened."
The full report is available for inspection at Deane House, Belvedere
Road, Taunton, or through the Audit Commission's website
 Summary Report (28 KB)
Full Report (281 KB)
Taunton Deane's Press Release (118 KB)
Audit Commission's News Release (45 KB)
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