Council gets a pat on the back from audit commission

HARROW Council is performing better than ever, according to a local government watchdog, which rated it as one of just a handful of authorities in the UK which are improving.

Last year the Audit Commission judged Harrow to be the second worst council in the capital, but despite tougher, more comprehensive inspections, it has moved from an overall score of two out of four last year to three out of four.

In the report released yesterday (Wednesday), the council is rated as performing well.

In its summary the report states: "The council makes sure that its services provide good value for money.

"It has improved significantly in recent years and has clear priorities, which are things residents want to see improved.

"The council has managed a difficult financial position, strengthened its financial reserves, made substantive savings and invested extra money in priority areas."

The commission also commends the council for its attention to front-line services such as refuse collection, recycling and street cleaning and marks it highly for its education provision.

Councillor Paul Osborn (Con), responsible for communication, is pleased with the score but said the council would not rest on its laurels.

He said: "When we took over Harrow was a weak one-star council that was just months away from bankruptcy.

"Four years on we are a three-star council with a budget under control, having made savings and rebuilt the reserves, and we have not done this by compromising the quality of our front-line services.

"It has been hard work to get to this stage but now we have the stability and foundations in place we are confident we can still meet our initial target, to make Harrow one of the best performing councils in London by 2012."

Michael Lockwood, the council's chief executive added: "This builds on the momentum from last year, with the Audit Commission recognising that the vast majority of our services are improving and we are providing good value for money to our residents.

"Our next challenge is to go from a good to an excellent council.

"This will be particularly tough with the effects of the recession but we hope that our Better Deal for Residents programme will transform the way we work and enable us to deliver even better services to our residents for less money."