Council performance among the best in Wales

SWANSEA Council’s performance and vision for the future is among the best in Wales, a Wales Audit Office investigation has found.

Vital public services like education for tens of thousands of young people as well as safeguarding, social care, recycling and roads are all improving.

And despite the major financial challenges facing the public sector in Wales, the authority has a strong vision of what it wants to achieve in the years ahead.

Councillors at Thursday’s meeting of Full Council in Swansea were told by the Wales Audit Office that the authority’s priority services are improving against a background of rising demand and reducing resources.

Rob Stewart, Leader of the Council, said the corporate ‘health check’ – known as a Corporate Assessment Report – which takes place among all councils in Wales every four years, was one of the best he had seen.

Cllr Stewart said: “The Wales Audit Office does not praise lightly. Their investigation was challenging and rigorous, involving staff at all levels of the council, Members as well as partner organisations outside.

“If the Wales Audit Office says our environmental services such as recycling and waste are generally being delivered at the highest quality and the council’s work helping older people to live independent lives is ‘refreshing and positive’, then that is exactly what the position is.

“I want to pay tribute to staff at Swansea Council for their continuing commitment. This kind of corporate assessment doesn’t come out of a clear blue sky. It comes from strong leadership and hard work at all levels over a number of years.”

He added: “The challenge now is to make sure we don’t sit back. We need to keep going and build on the recommendations for improvement highlighted by the Wales Audit Office and seal our vision to deliver on the priorities of the people of Swansea.

“The Swansea story is about ambition, fairness and sustainability. Our innovative approaches to tackling the challenges the council and the city face will help us work together to continue to develop a creative climate which will breed confidence in and attract investment to Swansea Bay.”

Steve Barry, of the Wales Audit Office, addressed the meeting of Full Council. He said: “You’re identifying where you need to get to and you have strong systems in place to get there. This is a very positive report in terms of what the Council is doing and the progress it’s making to meet the challenges of the future.

“There were no surprises for senior officers or Cabinet Members. The issues we identified were understood and measures are being put in place to address them.”

The Wales Audit Office report says older people are supported to focus on their strengths and given a clear say in care services which are tailored appropriately to their needs.

It also says pupils are consistently getting GCSE results which are well above expectations and fewer pupils are leaving school without a qualification than the Welsh average.

Pointing to the Sustainable Swansea – Fit for the Future programme, The Corporate Assessment Report says the council had responded effectively to the challenge of managing a future where the resources it has to meet local needs will be severely reduced.

Auditor General for Wales Huw Vaughan Thomas said Swansea Council had a clear vision of what it wished to achieve, adding: “The Council can demonstrate improvement across a range of key services and has developed a clear framework for managing future challenges.”

And he said: “The Council has a strong track record of managing its budget and has established comprehensive arrangements for managing the financial challenges it faces in the future.”