They’re doing their best: Council is Most Improved Performer on highways and winter maintenance
published this on 12:24 pm, Tuesday, 8th December, 2009Community News| Local Government| hallowe'en | Comments (rss) | Respond | Ping |
Proof that the appalling state of Argyll’s roads – officially the worst in Scotland – is not the sole responsibility of Argyll and Bute Council has come as a Christmas present to the strapped-for-cash local authority.
It has been named Most Improved Performer at the prestigious UK-wide Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) awards in Blackpool – in the Highways and Winter Maintenance category. APSE works with over 250 Councils across the UK, so this award is a sign of very real competitive success by Argyll & Bute Council.
The Council was also nominated for the Best Performer title in the same category, but was satisfied to have its achievements recognised in the awards of Most Improved Performer.
Councillor Duncan MacIntyre, the authority’s spokesperson for Transportation and Infrastructure, was naturally pretty chuffed by the success, saying: ‘These are national awards which recognise outstanding performance in local government front line services.
‘Our success is a real credit to the council staff who work so hard to maintain and improve our roads network, who are so often the unsung heroes.
‘These awards measured improvement in areas such as cost, quality and customer satisfaction. To have an independent body score us so highly is extremely rewarding.
‘Winning this award won’t change the way we operate. We will continue to do what we do best – look at innovative and exciting solutions to maintaining and improving our roads network within the available funding’.
And, as we all know – the potholed, bonebreaing Isle of Mull in particular – the funding available is light years short of what is needed to bring Argyll’s roads network up to the standard it shoud be, after long neglect.
The awards were presented by Strictly Come Dancing star Flavia Cacace and no one’s telling if any overjoyed members of the Council present to receive the award were tempted to assay the Tango Argentina, Flavia’s specialism. Good money will be paid for any photographs of Councillor MacIntyre tripping the hot fantastic. That would be a memorable Christmas to emerge from Kilmory.
Mark Bramah, APSE assistant chief executive, said: ‘The public sector faces an austere future, so getting best value for the public pound means constantly getting the best performance from our front line public services.
‘What these awards show is that in front line local council services there is a genuine commitment to providing high quality at the best price. The awards are strictly about performance and we have judged these councils to be amongst the very best in front line service delivery’.
Related Posts
The Latest News from ForArgyll delivered via email, weekly or daily. You know it makes sense!
Comments (rss) | Respond | Ping | | Print This Post
Loading...