Midlothian Council making progress on Best Value

Midlothian Council has made good progress improving services to deliver Best Value over the last four years. It still faces challenges but is now better placed to address them.

A new report by the Accounts Commission, reviews developments at the council since the first Best Value report in 2008. It says Midlothian’s overall performance is satisfactory and it has good prospects for future improvement.

Councillors and officers have worked well together and shown good leadership. The Commission now expects the council to speed up the pace of change to achieve better outcomes for the people of Midlothian.

Midlothian Council services are getting better but this is not consistently the case. There is a need for further improvements in some aspects of planning, housing and secondary education.

Chair of the Accounts Commission, John Baillie said:

“We are encouraged by the progress the council has made in a number of key areas including working with partner organisations, community engagement, self-evaluation and managing people.

“Midlothian faces a number of challenges in taking forward its improvement agenda. But it shows good awareness of what these are and has plans in place to address them.”