Jeremy Hunt makes debut on YouTube

Our local MP, Jeremy Hunt has started to publish short videos on YouTube. Here he is talking about a recent government decision that Dunsfold should not be a candidate for Government eco-town status:

Audit Commission assessment for Waverley

The Audit Commission has recently published its annual assessment for Waverley.

The main messages for the Council included in this report are as follows.

* The Council's performance in overall terms has improved in line with most district councils over the past 12 months.

* While significant savings were secured over the past 12 months, the financial outlook for the Council is extremely challenging. Members will need to keep Waverley's financial strategies under review, particularly where reliance is being placed on the use of reserves to finance expenditure plans and maintain a low level of council tax increase.

* The Council has been operating with transitional management structures since April 2006 and has decided that a new Managing Director should be appointed in April 2007. While there is no evidence of any adverse impact on the Council's performance in the short term, the Council will need to ensure that organisational structures are fit for purpose and provide effective community leadership.

* The Council is involved in some major regeneration projects and improvement programmes that require significant senior management expertise to deliver. The financial and managerial capacity of the Council to deliver such projects will need to be kept under close scrutiny.

* The Council will not achieve the targets set for meeting the government's Decent Homes Standard (DHS) by 2010. Officers estimate there is a shortfall in resources available to the Council of £17 million which means that only 58 per cent of stock will have achieved the standard over the next three years. Efforts are being made to find solutions and investment is being prioritised to improve those properties most at risk of further deterioration. Tenants are being kept informed of progress. However, the Council has only limited financial capacity available to improve the standard of its stock.

* Progress in achieving the Council's ambitions for ensuring a high quality of life and socially inclusive communities is mixed. While electronic access to services and disabled access to buildings has improved over the past 12 months, progress is slow in some important areas in that:

- the Council does not yet have an agreed social inclusion strategy (although a strategy is in draft) and no progress has been made in developing an implementation framework for the strategy when it is agreed;

- the Council has assessed itself as achieving Level One of the Equality Standard for Local Government, which is behind Waverley's target and most local authorities for 2005/06; and

- in 2005/06, performance in processing new benefits claims was firmly in the worst quartile of local authorities, which means that the needs of some of the most deprived people in the area were not being met. Recent management reports (in December 2006) highlight that the situation is improving.

* Performance in achieving community safety targets is good and is in the best quartile for Audit Commission Best Value performance indicators.

* Waverley did not meet the government's targets for recycling of household waste (24 per cent was recycled compared to a target of 30 per cent). The Council introduced alternate weekly collection of household waste and recyclables. At the end of January 2007, the Council estimates that recycling levels of up to 40 per cent are being achieved and that improved performance should be reported for the 2006/07 year.

* From a low base, performance in processing planning applications is getting better but remains below the average level for district councils.

* The Council's arrangements for ensuring the quality of data need to be improved, particularly in identifying and providing the training needed for staff involved in data processing.

* The Council is demonstrating better performance in its use of resources. Action was taken in 2006 to enhance arrangements for financial management, internal control and for securing improved value for money. Notably, an Audit Committee was established in September 2006. While it is too early for sustained improvement in performance to be evident in all areas, the Council is well placed to deliver even better performance over the next 12 months.

* The Council continues to prepare accounts which meet the earlier timetable for financial reporting required by the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2003 and in overall terms, performance has improved compared to previous years. We gave an unqualified opinion on the Council's financial statements for 2005/06.

* The Council demonstrates notable practice in the way it promotes external accountability, producing an annual report that summarises the business of the Council in an accessible way.

Click here to see the latest information published about Waverley by the Audit Commission