Conservative-led Hampshire County Council gives the council taxpayer very good value for money – that’s the official verdict from independent inspectors who have awarded the County Council top marks for performance, for a seventh consecutive year. The Council is also ‘improving strongly’ – this now raises its score to the highest level possible.
With the lowest council tax for any county in the south east and now the lowest council tax increase in 40 years for the coming year, as well as high quality services, the County Council’s efforts to secure the best for its residents have won the highest accolade from the Audit Commission.
Hampshire has once again been awarded an overall Four Stars – the top performance rating.
Four Star Performance ...
After inspecting the books for 2007/08 to see how the Council looks after the public purse, the watchdog said . . . .
"The Council currently achieves very good value for money. High performance is achieved by the Council across a range of services while costs, which clearly reflect council priorities, demonstrate good value when compared to others in key service areas.’ Other successes highlighted in the audit report are the way the Council is making better use of its office space and property, to improve efficiency."
Innovation was a strong point in the overall assessment, and among the areas to receive praise was adult social care for its ‘clear focus on modernisation, personalised services and support for more vulnerable people to live at home.’ The ‘high level of educational achievement, children’s centres and fostering arrangements’ were also highlighted for praise within Children’s Services.
The Audit Commission also cited the County Council as ‘a top performer in reducing the amount of waste going to landfill and is effective in improving the environment and public access to the countryside’.
Discovery Centres singled out for praise ...
The County Council’s new Discovery Centres and customer contact centre Hantsdirect, were also singled out for providing high quality services for extended hours. In the area of community safety, Hampshire’s Accredited Community Safety Officers (ACSOs) were judged to be successful in reducing anti-social behaviour and local people’s fear of crime, as was the county wide partnership approach to tackling community safety and crime reduction.
The County Council was also commended for its success in reducing the number of people injured on the roads.
Leader of Hampshire County Council, Councillor Ken Thornber (pictured) said; “The County Council has a budget of £1.75 billion which it uses to provide services to over 1.25 million residents across the county. Within this budget we teach around 170,000 children, maintain 8,600km of roads, dispose of 846,000 tonnes of household waste, and provide residential or nursing care to 5,400 people each year.
“Our aim is, and has always been, to offer high quality services within a council tax that is among the lowest in the land. To do this we are continually seeking savings and over the last four years we have secured £51 million in efficiencies through good housekeeping, forward planning, improved productivity and streamlining of services. This money has been invested back into vital services and has also helped to keep the council tax lower than the average.
“I am very proud of the fact that we have again been awarded not only this top overall four star rating, but also the highest accolade for value for money, especially as we have managed to maintain our high quality services during a period of increased demand, despite receiving the lowest grant of all county councils from government, and with this year the second lowest council tax increase of all county councils.”
Prospective Winchester MP Steve Brine said; “This latest rating from the Audit Commission is an outstanding achievement for all at County Hall. It recognises their commitment and ability to continuously improve, even against the backdrop of a challenging economic climate, higher public expectations and more people demanding County Council Services.
“I am very aware of the hard work and commitment that all staff invest to provide such quality services and it rather strips bare the narrow partisan rubbish put about by Winchester Liberal Democrats that HCC is a failing council wasting public money. All they do is succeed in running down our area (not for the first time) and exposing the fact they have nothing positive to say about howo they would run the council. Makes you think doesn't it!”