North Lanarkshire Council has high level of performance and can improve further

In its first report on Best Value at North Lanarkshire Council, published today, the Accounts Commission for Scotland says the council shows a strong commitment to improvement, has a high level of performance and has the capacity and ability to make further improvements.

The Commission welcomes the council’s good strategic direction and pace of change, and says it has good leadership and clear vision. The Commission also highlights the council’s consultation with people who use its services and its well-developed arrangements for financial, asset and risk management.

However, there is still scope for improvement. The council knows the areas that it needs to target to make further improvements, and it has plans for doing this.

Accounts Commission Chairman John Baillie said: “North Lanarkshire Council faces challenges due to deprivation in the local area and its previous low level of performance in some areas. But the council now has a high rate of service improvement, knows where it needs to target its efforts and has the commitment, capacity and ability to build on its high performance to improve further.

“We would now like to see the council implement its improvement agenda, including plans for increasing the uptake of training by councillors, developing its scrutiny of policy implementation and producing a comprehensive human resources strategy, together with improved sickness absence rates and staff morale.”