East Dunbartonshire Council  Best Value report – podcast transcript

I’m here with Paul Reilly, Secretary of the Accounts Commission, to talk about a new report on East Dunbartonshire Council.  Paul, can you tell me what this is about….

Yes – it’s a best value report which looks at how the Council is performing. And on the positive front…. East Dunbartonshire continues to deliver a good standard of services – at least in line with other councils and some cases like education, significantly better.
But like other councils it needs to make savings – 23 million pounds over the next three years, that’s around ten per cent of its spending. At the same time its overall financial reserves are low and are projected to fall further.
What else did you find? 
Well, to achieve these savings, the Council now has a transformation programme in place – and that’s progress. But these changes have not yet made a significant impact and the Commission says it urgently needs this programme  to have clearer priorities for its  key projects so that they can be delivered along with the savings and benefits they are expected to bring.
Another area is scrutiny. The council has new scrutiny panels in place but these are as yet ineffective in practice. In a nutshell, councillors need clearer information and jargon-free reports to help them do their job effectively in assessing options available and challenging proposals made by council officers. 
So what does this all mean for the public?
The Commission is concerned about the council’s ambition is not being seen on the ground. This is what East Dunbartonshire needs to address if it is to continue to deliver good quality services in the future.

So what do you want to see happen next?

The Commission recognises the council's commitment to improvement but the Commission has serious concerns about the pace of that improvement. That’s the challenge ahead.

And progress will be monitored in a follow- up report on East Dunbartonshire from the Controller of Audit within the next 18 months.

Paul, thank you very much.