Property Articles | Real Estate Articles

Carrick District Council has received its last assessment of performance by the Audit Commission in the form of its annual Direction of Travel statement.

The report praises the Council for its achievements and the manner in which it has maintained focus on delivering its major priorities identified through extensive consultation with the public.

In particular the report praises the Council for its performance on housing services and notes that 40% of its performance indicators are among the best 25% of Council’s nationally, compared to an average of 33% for other District Councils. The Councils ‘Arms Length Company’, Carrick Housing, which manages the Councils housing stock has sustained a maximum 3 star rating for its high performance and remains one of the Councils major successes.

The report also comments, very favourably, about other priority achievements, in particular the increase in the rate of building affordable housing, reducing homelessness, improving recycling and composting and reducing waste through education and public awareness and also for improving public access to a range of services through its improved customer contact centres.

This level of high achievement is significant in the last 18 months in that the Council, its Members and staff have been increasingly involved in the enormity of the work required to deliver the new unitary Council for Cornwall. Despite that reduction in capacity, the Council, through working with its partners and others, has managed to deliver high performing services in an effective and efficient manner consistent with its sustained priorities for the district.

Carrick District Council will disappear on 31 March 2009, as with all other District Councils in Cornwall, in favour of the new Cornwall Council. Carrick is very proud to hand over an organisation in fine form and good shape for the future.

Leader of Council, Fred Greenslade said “this is precisely as I hoped. I was concerned the involvement and distractions in participating significantly in the formation of the new Authority would adversely affect performance of the Council. I am delighted that this has not been the case and Carrick has been accredited by the Audit Commission as a high performing Authority in its last year of existence”.

John Winskill, Chief Executive, said “I am delighted with the report. Carrick has spent many years ensuring the building blocks are in place, through service standards, tight budgeting and efficiency measures to ensure the Authority can sustain a high performing position. It is also really good to feel that, in the context of the Council’s impending abolition on 31 March 2009, it goes out having achieved its full stripes”.