News Release

Maidstone Borough Council rated as one of the top 20 in England

Maidstone Borough Council is one of the top councils in the country according to the latest reports from the Audit Commission. The 2009 Organisational Assessment says that the council performs well, scoring a maximum 4 out of 4 on Managing Performance and 3 out of 4 on the Use of Resources element. Only 18 out of the 343 councils in England assessed in 2008-09 scored the same or better.

Cabinet Member for Corporate Services, Cllr Richard Ash, said: “This is a positive result, showing that the council continues to deliver and improve services and provide value for money and outcomes for local people.

“The report highlights that the council has good prospects for further improvement and the overall result places Maidstone as one of the top performing authorities in England and also within Kent - which is a great result for the council and recognises the services provided to people in Maidstone.”

The report said that Maidstone Borough Council is making good progress against all its priorities with excellent outcomes in some areas, for example in the supply of affordable homes. The number of homes significantly exceeded the targets set, despite the challenging conditions of the housing market.

The report compliments the council on the way it works well with other organisations such the County Council, Police and Health Services to do things that are important to local people, but that it cannot tackle on its own.

The Audit Commission also recognises that the council has a strong focus on helping local people to beat the recession.

The Commission comments that "It has worked hard to understand the problems of local businesses and to support them, for example by the ‘Make it Maidstone' campaign. At the same time it has continued to provide good support to vulnerable people needing help, for example people who are homeless or requiring benefits."

The report also acknowledges the way that the Maidstone Gateway is transforming how people can access local public services more easily. The innovative one stop shop which is located in Maidstone Town Centre brings most local public services and numerous voluntary and community organisations under one roof. This is giving local people a much wider range of advice and support and is proving popular.

The Audit Commission report says that the council has good contact with vulnerable groups and it is involved in a variety of partnership programmes to address their needs, for example actions on health inequalities.

See the full report