COUNCIL RANKS HIGH IN NATIONAL PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS

An independent assessment of Government data has put Newcastle-under-Lyme in the top 50 performing local authorities in England.

Based on information compiled by the Government Office for Local Government (Oflog), an analysis of 318 authorities put Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council 43^rd overall.

High-performing areas included financial management, waste collection and recycling, and planning efficiency.

Simon Tagg, Leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, said: “I’m delighted to see an independent assessment rank Newcastle among the top 20 per cent of English councils.

“We are working hard on delivering good services to residents at a low cost and it is part of our policy to be transparent about what we do and how we do it.

“We regularly publish information throughout the year about waste collection, town centre footfall, food inspections, the volume of inquiries handled by our staff and so on, so residents can hold us to account.

“Last year an independent Local Government Association review of our work praised our efforts, but we know we can always do better.”

Oflog measures councils across 27 categories, some of which do not apply to Newcastle as a second tier authority. The Times newspaper compared data and ranked councils accordingly.

In the Borough Council’s recently published annual report, achievements included:

• the work of the ‘One Council’ approach to redesigning delivery of services;
• the authority making a second yearly budget saving of £1 million through efficiencies;
• tireless work on Walleys Quarry, including the Abatement Notice taking force and the continuing collection of evidence;
• a reduction in rough sleeping from 49 cases to six;
• reducing carbon emissions;
• Winning the overall Britain in Bloom competition during the Borough’s 850^th

Simon Tagg added: “We’re bringing in millions of pounds of investment to the town centres of Newcastle and Kidsgrove, but we remain focused on providing the essential services for residents so they can live and work in pleasant, clean and safe surroundings with their council delivering cost-effective services with minimum fuss.”