Council steadily improving

Sixty-eight per cent of services improved last year, and now almost three quarters of residents are happy about living in the Borough - an increase from previous years.

The report recognised that the council has worked hard to improve since its previous inspection and has significant plans in place to improve further. The council has been rated as performing adequately overall.

As well as improvement in performance and delivering services, the CAA has commended the Council's work in other areas. It has been applauded for:

Promoting high quality growth
The Council has met its target for affordable housing and the recent Bozeat development, with its environmental features, was singled out for praise. Plans to improve the Borough, such as the Stanton Cross development and the town centre regeneration, were seen as slow moving although the report does acknowledge that the vision for these improvements are good and commends the Council's ability to prioritise development in the Borough.

Reducing crime and anti-social behaviour
Working with partners such as the Police has proved effective and most types of crime have dropped. The Smart water scheme, which enabled residents to put security marks on their property, has seen a significant drop in burglary in the areas where the scheme was introduced. Criminal damage has been reduced by ten per cent and there has been a marked drop in fighting between young people after school. Youth projects aimed at reducing anti-social behaviour, such as offering exciting activities like paint balling linked to community improvements such as litter picks, and the Hope centre on the Hemmingwell estate, have been praised for improving the lives of some of the most disadvantaged groups in the Borough.

Improving life chances for young people
Again the Council was commended for working well with its partners, with successes such as the schools gardening project - helped by the Police, County Council and Wellingborough Homes - which encouraged children to take a greater interest in their local environment. The Council's sports unit worked with 350 children on local play schemes, and also runs a project to help avoid young people being left out. These schemes, and others, were recognised as having the potential to be successful in meeting local and county priorities of reducing anti-social behaviour, increasing skills and training, and overall improving life chances for young people.

Delivering efficient and responsive services
The report recognised that the Council is responding well to the challenges of the recession. It was also applauded for increasing the amount of waste recycled and composted, and for reducing the time it takes to process claims for benefits, even though there has been an 11 per cent increase in the number of people claiming.

Enhancing the environment
The CAA pointed out that while more people think that Wellingborough is a good place to live, less than half are satisfied with how clean the local area is. The report acknowledged that there is a good understanding at the Council of the need to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of how the council cleans and maintains the Borough, and that plans are being developed to help this. The Council's ambitious carbon reduction plan was also commended - to reduce the amount of carbon it uses by 30 per cent by 2012 - which will increase efficiency and deliver financial savings. It was recognised that the prospects of achieving this look promising.

But, as Councillor John Bailey, Leader of the Council says, although there are many positives in the report, there is still much to do:

"We are pleased and encouraged that our own improvement efforts have been recognised by the Audit Commission, and it is even better that we have been commended for achieving positive outcomes for local people as a result of our efforts - we have good plans, good projects and exciting initiatives in place.

"We are, however, not complacent and we recognise that there is more to do in order to raise our 'adequate performance' rating.

"Our residents are concerned about anti-social behaviour, drug taking, and how clean the borough is, and they feel we should do more to improve these issues. We also need to work closely with our partners to reduce alcohol harm, and its associated health and crime problems. As an organisation, the Council needs to deliver yet more value for money and keep improving customer satisfaction.

"Our Borough does have much to be proud of, and we should be encouraged that our efforts have been recognised, and that there are plans in place to make the Borough even better in the future."

For more information, please contact Paula Whitworth, Communications Officer, on 01933 231836 or pwhitworth@wellingborough.gov.uk

     The Borough Council of Wellingborough's mission statement is

      Making Wellingborough a place to be proud of

      Our priorities are:

•       Promoting high quality growth
•      Reducing crime and anti-social behaviour
•      Improving life chances for young people
•      Delivering efficient and responsive services
•      Enhancing the environment