County making "good progress" says finance watchdog

Denbighshire County Council continues to make good progress in delivering its improvement programme, according to the latest evaluation from the Wales Audit Office.

Each year, the Auditor General must report how well councils are planning for improvement and delivering their services. They draw on the work of relevant Welsh inspectorates, as well as work undertaken by the Wales Audit Office.

There are no recommendations for improvement in this year's Annual Improvement Report for Denbighshire.

The report's main highlights include:

• The council has made good progress in most aspects of its work to adapt its services to address demographic change. This includes arrangements to support independence for older people and people with a learning disability and plans to support community initiatives to meet the need of older and disabled people.

• Progress has been made in supporting regeneration projects in Rhyl. The council has begun to identify the resources necessary to achieve the ambitions it shares with partners for the town.  The council has also delivered many actions to support the county's economy, but its measures of success show limited progress during very challenging economic times.

• Estyn has judged that the council provides good quality education services for children and young people, with good prospects for further improvement

• The council's programme of road improvements is progressing, although an investigation is underway to identify whether  any additional work is needed to manage flood risk in the county following the 2012 flooding.

• The council continues to make good progress with its plans to improve the way it works.

Leader of Denbighshire, Councillor Hugh Evans, said: "This latest report makes for very positive reading.  We are pleased that the report authors recognise the work going on around the Council's main priorities and there are already many successes that the Council can be proud of.

"Our work is centred around improving services for residents and it is clear from this report that the Council is heading in the right direction and that it has a sound plan for improving services and monitoring performance in the future.

"However, there is always room for improvement and the report recognises areas where the Council needs to make some progress. We will work to address those matters. "