Council urged to focus on tourism by peers
ROSSENDALE council has published the report produced by the Local Government Association (LGA) following their recent peer challenge.
The peer challenge is used by councils across the country to understand how well they are delivering for local residents.
The review, which took place in November 2021, made 13 recommendations - which included the council renewing its focus on tourism and reviewing the scrutiny function to ensure it has maximum impact.
The LGA also said the council should continue to prioritise work with auditors to ensure closure of accounts from 2017/18 onwards.
Addressing the failed Empty Homes Scheme, the report said: “To date the Council has incurred costs of £7.1m and the project will continue to have a negative financial impact approaching £1m per annum until December 2024/25.”
The report also recognised that the council have identified boosting recycling rates as a priority service action for this year, adding: “The council has the third lowest recycling rates amongst statistical nearest neighbours.”
The LGA team, made up of councillors and officials from other local authorities, found the council ‘clearly cares for its local communities and has a vision.’ They assessed that the council was ambitious and with a clear plan which it is delivering in tackling major challenges like climate change and improving town centres.
Council leader Alyson Barnes said: “We welcomed the external challenge from the local government team, and we have agreed a clear action plan in response to each of the team’s recommendations.
“We see this as building on the good work we have been undertaking for a number of years.
“It has given us fresh impetus to think about things like our plan for housing and how we might improve how we communicate with residents. We were quick to take action after their visit in November and have already addressed some of the findings. Over the coming months we will address each of the findings. We continue to work hard for residents to deliver on the things that are important to them, like thriving town centres and looking to improve our parks.”