Corporate Inspection (April 2004)
In October 2002, the Audit Commission in Wales (ACiW) carried out the first part of a corporate inspection of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. The new Leader of MTCBC, Councillor Harvey Jones, invited the Audit Commission to provide an external and independent perspective on its corporate capacity to improve. The inspection also contributed to the Whole Authority Analysis that MTCBC undertook as part of the Welsh Assembly Government's Wales Programme for Improvement (WPI).
The ACiW produced a report, based on this inspection, in January 2003. The report highlighted significant concerns about the Council's management arrangements and capacity. It was highly critical and concluded that MTCBC "had the characteristics of a failing council" and "lacked strategic leadership". The ACiW set out a number of key and additional recommendations for the Council to carry out in order to improve.
After this critical report, MTCBC underwent significant changes. An Interim Chief Executive was recruited, prior to the new Chief Executive, Alistair Neill, joining the Council in September 2003. The Council then set about the job of transforming into an effective, modern organisation capable of delivering excellent services to its customers.
The MTCBC Improvement Plan 2003-2006, published in June 2003, set out a challenging programme of improvements to be made. The Audit Commission visited the Council in July 2003 to perform a brief "health check" inspection and reported a number of positive findings in relation to the work being done.
Improvement Plan English 2003-2006.pdf [415k]
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The final stage of the inspection came in February 2004, when the Audit Commission visited the Council for the final time.
The Audit Commission's report is extremely positive. One year on from the first critical report, Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council has undergone a quiet revolution. A new management and organisational structure has been put in place along with a range of performance management systems that are demonstrating radical transformation of the capabilities, the performance culture, the ambition and the morale of the organisation. A new ethos of excellence and professionalism is developing across the organisation. All 33 Councillors, who unanimously supported the Transformational Plan in 2003 that established MTCBC’s forward strategy, have supported this transformation.
Transformational Strategic Plan.pdf [253K]
The Audit Commission has recognised the "significant progress" and "key building blocks" that have been put in place to transform MTCBC. The report also comments on MTCBC "achieving improvements in a number of services" and contains many positive statements about the improvements made by the Council. The Audit Commission no longer considers MTCBC a "failing" Council.
In particular, the ACiW noted in their judgement :
- the Council is developing a capacity to improve
- the Council has firm foundations of clear direction, strong leadership and the support and commitment of both Councillors and employees
- as a small Council with limited resources, MTCBC does still face major challenges to deliver improvement - this can be done by improving efficiency and developing partnerships
- the Council has demonstrated the willingness to make difficult decisions
The report is very encouraging to everyone involved with the Council who has worked hard to transform and improve MTCBC. It provides a spur to continuing the commitment to improvement and excellence and avoiding complacency.
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The report can be downloaded as a PDF document. Adobe Acrobat Reader software is required to download and read the document. Click here for assistance to obtain Adobe Acrobat Reader Software.
ACiW Inspection Report (April 2004).pdf [167K]
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The Improvement Planning section is involved in all aspects of Improvement and Performance Management. For further information, please contact:
Improvement Planning, Civic Centre, Castle Street, Merthyr Tydfil, CF47 8AN.
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