Council Services Continue To Improve

Monmouthshire County Council continues to improve services in its priority areas according to the council’s recently published review of its improvement plan, How We Performed 2015/16. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The council has continued to focus on its core purpose of ‘building sustainable and resilient communities’ and its four priorities of; education; protecting the most vulnerable in society; supporting enterprise and maintaining locally accessible services. Over the past few years the council has reduced the amount it spends while striving to protect front-line services. Recent data released by Welsh Government shows in 2015/16 well over 50% of the council’s performance measures are in the top half when compared to other councils in Wales. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The improvement plan reviews the progress the council has made on its priorities and objectives it set for 2015/16. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The council set five improvement objectives and made good progress on four. These were to: ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

• Improve at all key stages of education
• Safeguard people, whether young or old, while reducing people’s dependence on social care
• Enable the county to thrive
• Maintain locally accessible services

The council made adequate progress on its fifth objective: ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

• Being an efficient, effective and sustainable organisation.

Effort has already been refocussed on this objective. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Commenting after councillors agreed the plan, Council Leader Peter Fox said: ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“I am pleased to see that we continue to improve our services in our priority areas. The plan clearly describes the progress we have made and I hope Monmouthshire’s residents find it useful to understand how we are performing. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“While many areas are performing well, there are still service areas that require improvement, and our performance information is already starting to show some of these improvements are being made. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“During the last four years of this administration we have seen nearly three quarters of service performance indicators improve at the same time as managing unprecedented financial challenges. These challenges along with increasing demand and the rural nature of the county mean continuing to maintain and improve performance in all service areas is becoming increasingly challenging, but it is a challenge we are up to.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The council is currently looking at its longer term plans and as part of this is asking residents about the economic, environmental, social and cultural well-being of Monmouthshire. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​