Council is expecting mixed review

A review of council services is expected to say that improvements to public services are taking too long.

The Audit Commission raised concerns at Waveney District Council's planning department, the management of resources and performance in its 2007 inspection.

The commission is expected to publish a follow-up report in March.

Council officials said changes have already begun, but the commission said other areas had worsened and the "rate of change has been slow".

The 2007 Audit Commission study found that not all services provided were at or above minimum standards, that customer focus of the service was weak and it did not provide good value for money overall.

Tough assessment

While the study said some areas were good, it forecast that changes to bring improvements were likely to be slow because of its past record, poor management and the loss of good staff.

Council leader Mark Bee (Conservative) said the council had already taken some tough decisions to turn the authority around and a new, though temporary, chief executive had been appointed.

He added: "As we admitted last year, performance has not been good enough in some key areas and the departure of chief executive Glen Garrod before Christmas reflected the need to take the difficult decisions for the benefit of Waveney and its residents.

"The Audit Commission's report is a tough assessment, and it tells us what we already knew at the end of 2007 - that the pace of improvement needs to be picked up."