Lessons to be Learned from Council 2 Star Rating

Posted By: William Hobhouse
Date Posted: 07/02/2008

The Audit Commission has rated Rochdale MBC as a 2 Star Council, and as a Council that is improving adequately. Regrettably, this assessment puts Rochdale MBC in the bottom 20% nationally. Rochdale MBC gets the same assessment as Oldham and Bury. In contrast, Bolton, Tameside, Stockport and Wigan are 4 Star Councils, and improving strongly or improving well. Manchester, Salford and Trafford are 3 Star Councils.

Michael O'Higgins, Chair of the Audit Commission, said:
'Where there are challenges we know the characteristics they need to copy from the highest performers: strong leadership, a skilled management team willing to take tough decisions and an ongoing focus on poorly performing services. 'These characteristics are reflected in the improvements that Bedfordshire, Hackney, Lambeth, Sefton and Stoke-on-Trent have made. They provide a great example to those councils that seem stuck on 2 stars.'

In Rochdale Borough, there is strong leadership and there is a skilled management team willing to take tough decisions. But it is patchy. The real challenge is to change the culture into a ‘Can Do’ Council.

To give a couple of examples
- The stubbornly high levels of sickness absence demonstrate the difference between a political commitment to reduce sickness absence and the reality within some Council services.
- The introduction of Alternate Weekly Collections requires the Council to achieve a 100% collection rate, because missed bins ceases to be an option. The Lib Dem political commitment to a step change in levels of recycling has to be matched with a step change in the service delivery.

The Audit Commission’s website is www.audit-commission.gov.uk/cpa