Wales Audit Office gives Carmarthenshire Council a clean bill of health

Wales Audit Office has given Carmarthenshire a clean bill of health and praised the council for its ambitious vision.
Auditors undertook a corporate assessment of the council at the end of last year which is aimed at providing a clear picture of the authority’s capacity and capability to drive continuous improvement.
Their report stated: “Carmarthenshire County Council, demonstrating ambition in its vision, with collective leadership and more robust and transparent governance, is delivering improved outcomes for its citizens although some outdated approaches may limit the speed of progress.”
Chief Executive Mark James said: “It is a good report for the council, giving assurance generally that the council is performing very well, and has a good vision and preparedness for the future.
Officers are continuing to work hard in the face of declining budgets to ensure the council provides quality services and an exciting agenda to invest and improve further in future.”
The report also recognised that the council, in collaboration with partners, was continuing to improve performance across priority areas; and that the authority had a well-established and effective approach to partnership working.
The council’s approach to people management was also described as working well, addressing key areas such as strategic workforce planning.
Council Leader Cllr Emlyn Dole said: “The report made for very pleasant reading, it recognised that we have a well-established and ambitious vision which is being driven forward by a strong collective leadership from both the Executive Board and Corporate Management Team.
We recognise that there are always things we can do better, and we will have an action plan to address the proposals for improvement. Overall, a very pleasing report which we hope will give the public reassurance that we are performing well and continuing to improve.”
The areas highlighted for improvement within the report include:
• Strengthening procurement arrangements.
• Ensuring closer links between financial and improvement planning
• Management of assets and improved use of ICT
The report will go before the Executive Board at its next meeting and then to County Council on February 10