City council praised for progress

The report into the council will go before the Accounts Commission

Aberdeen City Council has been praised for beginning to turn around its finances.

The Controller of Audit's progress report follows a critical inquiry into the council last year. It called for a string of major changes.

The report said the council was moving in the right direction but that the financial position remained challenging - and was made worse by the recession.

The report goes before the Accounts Commission next Wednesday.

The independent Controller of Audit reports to the Accounts Commission on matters relating to councils' accounts.

The controller's report said the council had taken "prompt action" in implementing plans to address issues which had been raised.

New arrangements

These included the appointment of a new chief executive and the agreement of a new management structure.

It also said the council had "taken difficult decisions in implementing plans to address the financial challenges" and had brought in an improved budget process.

In its conclusions, the report said the council had put in place "wide-ranging and significant new arrangements to support improvement".

It stated: "The unaudited financial statements for 2008/09 show a better than expected outturn, but the council still faces a challenging financial situation which is exacerbated by the current economic climate.

"The full impact of the action taken to date has yet to flow through and the council understands that there is still a long way to go before it can demonstrate the attributes of a best value council."