North Lanarkshire Council podcast transcript

Anne:  This Anne McCubbin here to talk to Martin Walker about our Best Value report on North Lanarkshire Council.  Martin, what are the main findings in the report?

Martin:  Well, the Accounts Commission found that North Lanarkshire Council has a high level of performance and also demonstrate a strong commitment to improvement.  They also acknowledge the pace of change across the council and its high rate of service improvement.

Anne: Which aspects of the council does the Commission consider to be particularly good?

Martin:  In particular the Commission welcomed the good strategic direction and leadership in the council and its clear vision.  They also welcome the consultation arrangements it has with its service users.  The council also has well developed arrangement for managing its finance, assets and risk.

Anne: What needs to improve?

Martin:  There are, of course, areas where improvement is still needed and the Commission will be interested to see the council implement its improvement agenda particularly by increasing the uptake of training by elected members, developing the scrutiny of policy implementation and also making progress on a comprehensive Human Resources strategy and an improvement in sickness absence rates and staff morale.

Anne: Thinking about the services the council provides, which services are doing well?

Martin:  The services provided by North Lanarkshire Council are generally improving albeit from a relatively low starting point in some areas.  Also the rate of improvement is above the Scottish average.  Their performance is particularly strong in a number of areas including regeneration and also some parts of housing services, education and social work.

Anne:  And which services need improved?

Martin:  The areas where improvement is most needed included secondary educational attainment and also pupil attendance.  They need to improve the services for homeless people and also housing allocations, housing repairs, library services and also their waste recycling.

Anne: And finally, what happens next with this report?

Martin:  The first stage will be for the council to consider the Commission’s findings and then consider how it will continue making progress on its improvement plan and also how it might want to amend its plan in the light of this report.  Members of the Commission will also visit the council to discuss the audit and the council’s plans for improvement.  And the council’s progress against the improvement plan will be monitored on an on-going basis by the local audit team as happens in all councils.

Anne:  Martin, thanks very much.