December 12: Kent - as good as Man Utd...(it says here)
RATHER like the cat that got the cream, Kent County
Council has been rather pleased with itself this week
after being rated again as one of the country’s best-performing
authorities.
It has every right to be celebrating the news
but has it got rather over-excited?
Just in case anyone was still wondering – or
had missed - just exactly how well it had done, the authority
has helpfully re-assembled the data issued by the Audit Commission
in its own “football league table” format and issued a six-page
press release with the results.
Anyway, guess what? Surprise, surprise, Kent
comes out top in what it self-effacingly describes as the “premier
league” of councils.
Read the press release (well, page
one) here>>>
(Although, as a colleague mentioned, strictly
speaking, while KCC puts itself top, it really ought to be fourth.
It ranks equally with four other councils and as everyone knows,
bona fide football tables always rank according to the alphabet
where teams are equally placed. Kent would be behind Camden; the
City of London and Kensington and Chelsea).
Anyway, just to ensure we really do have the
message, KCC not only provides a “Premier League” but a
“Championship” and a “League One” table of councils, too. Phew,
what about a World Cup-style rating?
Full marks for ingenuity. Rather fewer, in my
view, for modesty.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Liberal Democrat opposition
leader Cllr Trudy Dean sought to inject some
perspective into the plaudits heaped on Kent in the new “Oneplace”
assessment regime when she spoke at Thursday’s full council
meeting.
Kent's public services
among best in country>>>
She suggested there was an element of
schizophrenia about County Hall’s view of the Audit Commission,
pointing out that when it had disagreed with a report labelling it
“negligent” over its deposits in Icelandic banks, council leaders
had been so infuriated, they had gone and “duffed it up” to get the
report changed and the word "negligent" dropped.
Of this week's news, she concluded that while
it was a “very nice indicator”, it was a bit like a Christmas tree
– pretty but of no lasting value.
I don't think the Conservatives agree. Just a
hunch.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Meanwhile, the opposition Liberal Democrats at County Hall
say they have some unanswered questions about how the contract to
review Kent TV came to be awarded.
The review was carried out by the firm
CapGemini and presented to a backbench committee
meeting last month.
It cost £8,000 and the Lib
Dems are anxious to know who else KCC received quotes from for the
work.
The council’s constitution stipulates that for
any contract valued between £8,000 to £49,999, at least three
written quotations must be sought from appropriate sources. I
gather they are still waiting for details of the others.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Latest chief executive news. KCC has confirmed
that it intends to advertise “early in the New Year” for a
replacement for departing chief Peter Gilroy, with
an appointment expected to be confirmed by the end of February.
Friday, December 11 2009