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Lambeth is heading in the right direction says government watchdog

09/12/2009
Lambeth is heading in the right direction says government watchdog

Lambeth is a great borough to live, work, learn and do business in and in the past year it's become cleaner, healthier and crime has gone down. That's the conclusion of a new national report called the Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) published today (9 December). An assessment of the council's performance in isolation as part of the CAA scored us three out of four which means we are serving our 274,500 residents 'well'.

The study by the Audit Commission - an independent body that looks at how local councils and their partners perform on behalf of the government - concluded that Lambeth was heading in the right direction.

For the first time ever, inspectors assessed how well local public services, such as council, police and health providers, were working together to deliver improvements for the borough as a whole.

It concluded all partners in Lambeth were working hard and succeeding to make the borough a better place to live in light of challenges, including the recession, but also highlighted some areas for improvement, including the standard of social housing.

An assessment of the council's performance in isolation as part of the CAA scored the council three out of four and concluded that "overall, Lambeth performs well".

Councillor Steve Reed, Chair of Lambeth First and Leader of Lambeth Council said: "Lambeth's CAA result shows consistent achievement in most areas however we are not complacent and will work together in partnership to improve those areas highlighted.

"Lambeth's CAA assures our local residents that Lambeth Council, the police and health trusts among others are working well together to improve quality of life here. Partnership working is pivotal to making our borough better and the CAA shows our approach is succeeding and we are delivering the priorities of Lambeth taxpayers."

Derrick Anderson, Lambeth First Board Member and the Chief Executive of Lambeth Council, added: "Lambeth is getting better. Our children are getting better test results, our older people are getting better social care, our residents are getting healthier and our challenges around unemployment and supporting businesses in light of the recession are being met with positive action. We are pleased this has been recognised. The CAA presents Lambeth as a thriving place to live, work and learn."

For further information and to view Lambeth's results, visit the One Place website

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