Maidenhead & Windsor

Services provided by the Maidenhead Royal Borough for local people are getting better all the time – and the Maidenhead council now has three stars* to prove it.

In the face of new and even tougher Audit Commission standards – called The Harder Test – the Maidenhead borough not only emerged from the 2005 corporate performance assessment (CPA) with three stars out of a possible four but with a "direction of travel" judgement that says the council is improving well.

This is the first time councils have been given Audit Commission star ratings under the new system. For the past two years the Maidenhead borough has achieved a "good" rating under the old system and, said Maidenhead council leader Cllr Mary Rose Gliksten, it would most likely have reached "excellent" if the rules had not been changed.

She explained: "We have done the calculations and we would most certainly have been ‘excellent'. However, the Audit Commission has raised the stakes in the way it judges councils' performance and, while the Royal Borough is making remarkable progress – recognised by the assessors in their direction of travel judgement – we now have to work even harder to meet the increasingly high standards.

"However, a three star outcome demonstrates that we are on the right path and it also reflects the tremendous amount of hard work by councillors and staff over the past year. Given the fact that the Royal Borough has travelled from being a weak rated authority in 20032 to three stars in 2005, I believe that four stars are within our grasp in the not too distant future."

David Lunn, Maidenhead chief executive, said the CPA outcome was recognition of the council's tremendous progress and a spur to further achievement in the year ahead.

He said: "The past two years have brought about significant changes for the better in the way we deliver services for our residents and customers. I am very fortunate to have staff in all services who share my commitment to continuous improvement and our goal now is to build on our achievements so far and make sure that future CPAs show even more improvements in the year ahead."

The CPA report on the Maidenhead Royal Borough's progress since last year highlights improved performance across most priority areas, including school results, building on already high standards; social care services for adults, now rated as "good"; planning and benefits services. It points to reduced crime levels and increased waste recycling, including the new glass collection service.

The report also mentions areas for Maidenhead improvement but recognises that there are good action plans to "increase the ability to improve".

The report goes on: "A programme of service reviews is helping to identify services that need improving and the council is continuing to implement its modernisations programme, Delivering Excellence. During 2005 this has led to an improved approach to purchasing goods and services, the recent opening of the customer service centre, the launch of a new website and a strengthened approach to diversity and equality. The council's ability to continue to improve has been recognised as good in recent inspections and its medium-term financial plan takes account of improvement priorities."

As part of the overall star rating the Audit Commission awards scores (out of a possible 4) for each of the council's services covered by the CPA. The Maidenhead Royal Borough scores are as
Service Score
Benefits - 3
Children and young people - 3
Culture - 3
Environment - 2
Housing - 3
Social care (adults) - 3
Use of resources - 3

Commenting on how the Maidenhead Royal Borough is run, the report says there is a greater focus on leadership, partnership working, value for money and the achievement of local priorities.

The Audit Commission has explained the two main reasons for making the CPA a "harder test" – first councils have a duty to continuously improve and second the public's expectation of councils and the services they provide is continuously rising.

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead ~ 15-Dec-2005