Strong community engagement at West Dunbartonshire Council

Impressive, impactful community engagement and maintaining the quality of its services are significant strengths at West Dunbartonshire Council.

In its latest report, the Accounts Commission recognises the council is serving its communities well by maintaining the quality of local services and customer satisfaction. This includes housing and education services. Communities are also able to influence council decisions. Now the key challenge is maintaining this in the face of a £52 million funding gap, with increasing demand for services and higher costs.

The council needs to significantly increase the scale and pace of service redesign if it is to secure services for the future in a financially sustainable way. It needs to show greater clarity and detail on how it will address budget gaps, including what can be achieved through redesigning or where services may need to be reduced. Continuing to rely on using money in reserves isn’t a sustainable solution.

The council should also build and expand on its positive existing partnerships, locally and regionally, establishing arrangements that could deliver greater efficiency.

Andrew Burns, Deputy Chair of the Accounts Commission said:

West Dunbartonshire Council is well-governed and well-led, and its engagement with its communities is impressive. There are significant opportunities for local people to have their voice heard, helping shape the future of their council and services. The council also has a strong culture of continuous improvement and track record of delivering change.

These strengths will be crucial as the council looks to address significant coming challenges, including continuing to include communities in shaping the future.