Monmouthshire County Council has made significant improvements against its three core priorities of education, promoting enterprise and job creation and the protection of vulnerable people. That is the clear message from the local authority’s annual improvement plan which was discussed by councillors at a Special meeting of the council on Thursday 22nd October. The report looks back on the progress that the council made in 2010/11.
Monmouthshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, Cllr Phil Murphy, said:
“We have reviewed our performance against the commitments that we made a year ago and are proud of what we have achieved. We hope that people who read the document will share our sense that we are moving in the right direction. But rest assured, we want to move further and faster.”
Councillors discussed the plan, which describes progress against nine specific commitments that the council made for last year. Amongst our achievements the report highlights progress with collaborative projects to improve education, adult social care and waste management. The plan also reports on our new approach to economic development that was launched at the widely acclaimed Back 2 Business Week in June.
Councillor Murphy added:
“Doing the same things a little bit better isn’t what we are about, we need to raise the bar on performance but we know that local people are feeling the squeeze. So we are looking to avoid increasing Council Tax and have started to reduce our cost base to make sure that we can live within our means in the coming years.”
The Wales Audit Office will report formally on the council’s progress in January 2012. But interim feedback from the regulator confirms that Monmouthshire is making headway with its ambitious approach to secure improvement for communities despite the challenging financial climate.
The Improvement Plan will be published on the 28th October but in the meantime a draft copy is available at www.monmouthshire.gov.uk/improvement
