Bucks county councillors are doing a ‘highly impressive’ job making changes which benefit residents, according to judges who have handed the authority a national award.
The Local Government Chronicle award in the corporate governance category recognised the way in which the Bucks County Council’s elected councillors make a difference.
These, according to the council, include:
> Members leading innovation in public service reform in Buckinghamshire. This includes new ways of delivering services more efficiently and effectively, such as setting up a new trading company for social care services called Buckinghamshire Care and establishing community-run libraries, youth centres and day centres.
> Members choosing specific road repair schemes to do in their divisions.
> Members’ roles in transparently monitoring and challenging performance on behalf of residents.
> Strong performance management from the council’s strategic priorities through to individual accountability and performance. For example, a new, modern performance pay structure which rewards on achievement rather than time served.
In announcing the award, the judging panel said that Buckinghamshire was a ‘good council with excellent member relations’. They also described the changes that councillors had made as ‘highly impressive’.
Leader of the council, Martin Tett said: “The LGC Awards are ‘The Oscars’ of local government. Winning this award is fantastic. We are a ‘member led’ council and it is great to see this recognised on the national stage.
“It is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of all our staff and members and this award belongs to them all.”
The council also received highly commended awards in the categories of ‘Public Health’ for the way in which the council is delivering health and wellbeing improvements and ‘Innovation in Commissioning’ for the way it established the new Buckinghamshire Learning Trust organisation.
Local Government Chronicle editor Nick Golding said, “Projects such as Buckinghamshire County Council’s demonstrate the level of innovation in British local government today. Our judges were extremely impressed by the quality of the entries.
“At a time when resources are scarce, councils are innovating to ensure they provide residents with the best quality services.”