Published on:
17
June 2021
The Council’s performance across a range of measures improved substantially in the 2019/20 financial year.
Clackmannanshire’s overall average ranking improved substantially, from 27th to 16th place out of the 32 Scottish local authorities in the latest Local Government Benchmarking Framework.
A report on the Framework, focusing on Clackmannanshire’s performance in 2019/20 in relation to previous years, targets and other Scottish local authorities, was discussed at today’s meeting of the Audit Committee.
The Committee heard that, in 2019/20, performance improved or remained consistent in 54% of indicators, and was close to or exceeded targets in 55%. 51% of our rankings were in the top half of Councils with 58% of indicators performing above (or within 1% of) the Scottish average.
As a small local authority, the need for efficiency is a greater priority than some larger local authorities. This was reflected in the Council’s position as 9th strongest for efficiency in 2017/18 which has risen to Clackmannanshire being the 2nd most efficient authority, based on this indicator set.
Clackmannanshire achieved the best results in Scotland for:
As well as specific indicators, such as those above, we also look at each service area as a whole to see if we are achieving a balance of efficiency, effectiveness and satisfaction. This assessment finds that Clackmannanshire was best in Scotland for overall performance across the range of indicators in:
Improvement work is ongoing across all services, where challenges remain. While Academic Attainment still presents a challenge and is closely linked to deprivation, the improvement in School Leaver Destinations (from 26th place to 3rd) will improve the participation rate in future years.
Work is now underway to review a number of areas where improvements are required, including consideration of a strategy which prioritises performance levels across services to ensure investment is directed towards approved priority areas.
Spokesperson for Partnership & Third Sector Cllr Helen Lewis said: “While this data refers to the financial year immediately preceding the pandemic, meaning it reflects a very different landscape to the reality we now face, it still gives me satisfaction to see such a level of improvement in our performance.
“While there is always opportunity to improve, Council officers should take pride in what has been achieved. This information will be an important part of the work already underway to look at the prioritising our available funding on areas that can help improve the lives and futures of Clackmannanshire’s communities.”