Date:

06/05/08

Camden Council has vowed to go further to make services work for residents, as a new independent inspection rates it the top local authority in the country.

Residents will be encouraged to make video diaries and senior managers will go ‘back to the floor’ as part of a raft of measures to make services work best for those that use them.

The new drive comes as independent assessors today (Tuesday 6 May 2008) gave Camden Council the top possible rating in their latest four yearly inspection.

The council has been given a score of four out of a possible four in all areas of inspection - ambition, prioritisation, capacity, performance management and achievement.

This unprecedented result puts the council at the top of the league table across the country.

The team of Audit Commission inspectors probed the council’s work in December 2007. They looked at performance results over the past four years as well as meeting residents face to face to get their view of the council’s services.

The borough’s services for children were also given the top rating in their most thorough inspection ever.

A comprehensive two-week external review of all children’s services provided by Camden Council, health services, police and probation services and public funded services provided by voluntary bodies, rated them “outstanding” with four out of a maximum of four stars.

Leader of the Council, Cllr Keith Moffitt said:

“This is a great result for Camden but what matters most to us is what residents experience and getting it right for everyone that uses our services. Almost eight in ten think we’re doing a good job now. We’ll keep listening and innovating until we have the top possible score from residents, as well as the inspectors.”

Cllr Andrew Marshall, Deputy Leader added:

“The inspectors praised everyone on the council – staff and councillors from all parties - for ambition and drive. We’ll keep putting ourselves in the shoes of local people and businesses, as we continue to drive service quality up and improve value for money.”

Leader of the Opposition, Cllr Anna Stewart added:

“This is a four year assessment of Camden's performance. Camden has long been viewed as one of the highest performing councils in the country. This is due to long-term decisions that looked beyond raw government targets to face the day-to-day challenges experienced by local people. In particular the ground breaking work initiated on anti-social behaviour, to give our local neighbourhoods a stronger voice."

Moira Gibb, Chief Executive added:

“Camden was rated excellent when I joined it in 2003. It has improved every year since. This fantastic result demonstrates the level of progress and is a real tribute to our ‘can do’ staff, who have never become complacent. In fact we remain as ambitious as ever to deliver further improvements for residents and councillors.”

As well as the Audit Commission inspection a new independent survey of residents shows increased satisfaction year on year, with just over three quarters saying the council does a good job.

Staff will now be asked to design their services – such as council tax payments and marriage registry – based on what is easiest for different people who use them, rather than bureaucratic structures. The aim is to reach the final 25 per cent who still aren’t satisfied.

The council piloted this approach last year, reducing multiple contact numbers for adults who need social care – to one simple contact point after services users gave their feedback.

In just one year, satisfaction has shot up by a quarter among people who use the service.

The inspection period covered 2003-2007. Camden Council was previously awarded an overall score of four by the Audit Commission for the inspection in 2002.

Inspectors praised the council’s ambitions in a challenging inner-city borough and excellent understanding of the social, economic, and environmental challenges faced by its communities.

Councillors and officers were described as ‘high calibre’ and ‘provide visible, strong leadership’.

Specific achievements include:

• saving £17.5 million through a new efficiency programme
• securing thousands of jobs and homes and negotiating for sustainable regeneration with developers in the King’s Cross re-development
• reducing crime and anti-social behaviour, while retaining the value and colour of parts of the borough such as Camden Town
• safeguarding vulnerable children and young people by working with partner agencies to give an excellent range of high-quality preventative services.

- Ends -

Notes to Editors

A copy of the report will be available on the Audit Commission website on Tuesday 6 May 2008 - www.audit-commission.gov.uk/reports.

The following link takes you to a spreadsheet that indicates the scores all councils have received under the new corporate assessment methodology: http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/cpa/stcc/Downloads/CAthemeScoresPostCPAtheHarderTest.xls

Information on Camden Council

Political make-up:

• In May 2006 the council moved from almost 40 years of Labour control to a partnership administration between the Liberal Democrats (22 seats) and the Conservatives (13 seats).
• The Labour party is the main opposition with 16 seats and the Green party holds three.
• Across Camden’s 18 wards, 28 new councillors were elected, nearly half the total of 54.
• 30 per cent of councillors are women, almost 20 per cent are from black and minority ethnic communities and six are aged 30 or younger.
• The Partnership Administration has an Executive with 10 seats, six held by the Liberal Democrats (including the Leader) and four by the Conservatives (including the Deputy Leader).
  

Staff:

• The Chief Executive, Moira Gibb, joined the council in 2003.
• The council employs 8425 people including school staff.
• The council has a diverse workforce that is broadly representative of the communities it serves: 34 per cent of staff come from a BME background and 4.2 per cent of staff have declared themselves as disabled.
• In 2006/7 19 per cent of the council’s top earners were from ethnic minorities, the second highest in inner London.
• A recent Ipsos MORI staff opinion survey showed that Camden has a well-motivated workforce that performs well above the average for the public sector.
• Employee understanding of the contribution they make to achieve the council’s aims is 83 per cent compared to Ipsos MORI’s top ten clients score of 87 per cent.
  

Information on Camden the borough

Population:

• Camden’s population of 227,500 consists predominantly of younger adults, 17 per cent of the population is under 18 and 43 per cent under 30.
• The population is constantly changing, with annual mobility at 14 per cent and inward mobility in primary schools of over 20 per cent and expected to increase by up to 10 per cent by 2016.
• Demand for housing in Camden far outstrips supply with 30 per cent of households classed as overcrowded and yet 46 per cent of Camden’s households consist of one person living alone, the 4th highest proportion in London.
• More than 110 languages are spoken in Camden’s schools and 55 per cent of primary school children and 39 per cent of secondary school pupils are learning English as an additional language.
• 27 per cent of residents come from black or minority ethnic groups, the largest being of Bangladeshi and Black African origin, which are also the fastest growing groups in Camden’s schools, and a further 20 per cent from white, non-British backgrounds.
• Three in four people think that their neighbourhood has a good sense of community and 81 per cent think that people from different backgrounds get along with each other.
• Camden has one of the largest economies of any local authority area, contributing 1 per cent to the UK’s GDP, but it is also the 15th most deprived borough in England. Life expectancy is improving across the borough, but differs by ten years between some of the wealthier wards, such as Hampstead, and some of the more deprived wards like St Pancras and Somers Town.
• A quarter of a million people work in Camden every day and hundreds of thousands of visitors come every year to enjoy the major tourist attractions such as Camden Town and national institutions like the British Museum and British Library.
• Already one of the most important transport hubs in the UK, Camden has become the Gateway to Europe from November 2007, with the opening of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. It is estimated that nine million Eurostar passenger trips a year will be taken from St Pancras from 2008/9.
• The latest independent survey of residents found around three quarters of residents think Camden Council is doing a good job. This is 9 per cent higher than the London average of 67 per cent.

Last updated: 18 May 2009