Audit Commission

[gynn]

It's good to see that the Council has decided to shorten the tag-line attached to the top of its agendas. Previously it read-

"Hyndburn - An Excellent Council, as Rated by The Audit Commission"

Now it reads-

"Hyndburn - An Excellent Council"

A sensible shortening of the tag-line to give it a more punchy impact? Perhaps.

Or could it be a surrepticious move to distance the Council from an organisation that has just been axed by the Coalition Government?

The reasons for its axing, as given in an article in the Daily Telegraph, make interesting reading.

"The Audit Commission, the body responsible for tackling public waste, has become the most high profile victim of the Government’s war on the bloated public sector after being accused of squandering taxpayers’ cash.

Ministers stepped in to abolish the £200 million-a-year body following a decade of “shocking” excess which culminated in staff enjoying days out at the races and life coaching at public expense.

Officials are also accused of allowing a nanny state culture to foster, which saw local government being forced to abide by an unnecessarily bureaucratic tick box culture.

With a senior echelon of officials dominated by Labour sympathisers, councils were issued with “best practice” dictats relating to how often to collect rubbish, and ordered to collate “meaningless” information about residents’ religious beliefs.

The Commission was charged with keeping local government, the NHS and other public bodies in check. However, the minister was disturbed by its actions and considered that it was no longer fit for purpose. The minister also blamed the Commission for “rigging” the system to force the introduction of unpopular fortnightly bin collections across Britain.

He was also highly critical of the excessive culture within the Audit Commission, with six-figure salaries for its executives and junkets for staff."

Maybe our esteemed Council has concluded that being called "Excellent" by such an organisation is not something that is best shouted from the roof tops?

[lancsdave]

Originally Posted by gynn

Ministers stepped in to abolish the £200 million-a-year body following a decade of “shocking” excess which culminated in staff enjoying days out at the races and life coaching at public expense.

don't think it's rocket science to figure out how 'certain' councils got an excellent rating

[gynn]

Having distanced itself from the Audit Commission, and now faced with massive cuts over the next three years, the first items of its budget that the Council can get rid of are the enormous resources put in place to cope with the "unnecessarily bureaucratic tick box culture".

We await their proposals with interest.

[Ken Moss]

Perhaps it could be because the 'Excellent Council' tag is complete balls. A few officials breezing through the various departments hardly constitutes a thorough check in my opinion.

We have an awfully long way to go before I recognise our 'excellent' status.

[Less]

"Hyndburn - An Excellent Council, as Rated by The Audit Commission"

How much is this going to cost us? Everything right down to the Council Workers hivis jackets has that printed on it, Dave, you could make a fortune printing the new stuff for them.

[lancsdave]

Originally Posted by Less

How much is this going to cost us? Everything right down to the Council Workers hivis jackets has that printed on it, Dave, you could make a fortune printing the new stuff for them.

I could if the council sourced locally, no doubt somebody down South gets that business

[Less]

Originally Posted by lancsdave

I could if the council sourced locally, no doubt somebody down South gets that business

Yeah, that sounds about right, after all, it would be favouritism to use local folk to produce for local folk.