Report says county making progress in key areas

Denbighshire County Council has welcomed the findings of the latest Annual Improvement Report published by the Wales Audit Office.

The report shows that in 2014-15 the council continued to make progress in delivering improvements in all of its priority objectives and its track record in delivering its financial objectives means it is well placed to secure continuous improvement in 2015-16.

The key findings of the report are:

• The use of performance standards continues to promote a consistent culture of ambition across the council’s services
• Overall, the performance of social care department is strong
• The council is making good progress in committing its Discretionary Housing Payments
• Further progress has been made to improve the Welsh language capability of council staff.
• The council has improved the performance of its Human Resources service.
• The council is working hard to address the shortfall in affordable housing in the county

Leader of Denbighshire, Councillor Hugh Evans OBE, said: “Every council is facing significant challenges and in Denbighshire we are facing those challenges through careful financial and service planning and monitoring of our performance.

"This is all being done with the overarching aim of providing the best possible service to our residents.

“This report makes very positive reading and reflects the commitment and dedication of our staff to improve the council’s performance across the board and we welcome the WAO’s suggestions for improvement.

“This will offer reassurance to  residents that the council is well-placed to continue providing quality services.”