Back on Track

Stratford-on-Avon District Council has received welcome news today, Tuesday 17 October, as the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) announced it is coming out of voluntary engagement.  

"This is entirely due to the progress the Council has made and is a reflection of the efforts of all staff and members to put right the issues highlighted following the Council's weak Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) rating," says Councillor Les Topham, Leader of Stratford-on-Avon District Council.  

"My vision as Leader is for the Council to get an excellent rating by 2008.  We have nearly achieved 70% of our improvement plan, our customer satisfaction results are up and a number of our performance indicators are amongst the best in the country.  

"We still have a little way to go to achieve our ambitions but I am sure we can do it."  

"We are the only Council in the West Midlands which has been released from engagement, even though our CPA score was one of the worst.  This is a fantastic achievement made possible by teamwork between officers and members of which we can be quite proud," says Paul Lankester, Chief Executive.  

• In the Audit Commission's Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) 2004, Stratford-on-Avon District Council received an overall categorisation of 'Weak'.
  
• The Council decided to enter into voluntary engagement at the beginning of 2005.  A lead official for the ODPM (now DCLG) was appointed February 2005 and worked with the Council until February 2006.
  
• The Audit Commission re-assessed the Council's progress in December 2005 and judged that the Council was 'progressing well'.