The quality of life for Islington residents is improving - and the council's understanding of local needs, strong community leadership and vision of a fairer borough means things should only get better, the Audit Commission has ruled. <br><br>Islington Council has achieved an overall score of three out of a possible four in its Corporate Assessment and is 'performing well' - a good result for the council and local residents. The Audit Commission announced Islington's Corporate Assessment score - which rates how well the council is running the borough - today (13 March 2006), following an inspection at the end of 2006. <br><br>The Commission found the council has successfully worked with partners like the police and health service to revitalise Islington. Crime is down, employment levels are up, housing is better, and there are good services for Islington's diverse community, including vulnerable groups, older people and children. The Commission noted that the council's work to bring about major regeneration projects provides a real boost for the borough. The Arsenal development alone provides 2,600 new jobs, 2,500 new homes - of which more than 1,000 were affordable, new community health facilities, key worker housing, and a new Household Reuse and Recycling Centre.<br><br>Cllr James Kempton, Leader of Islington Council, said: "The Commission has noted some of the many positive changes we've worked to bring about in Islington. We live in a borough with extremes of poverty and wealth, and we've set ourselves a challenge to create one strong and active local community - 'One Islington'. We want to make Islington fairer, because by bridging the gap between people we bring them together.<br><br>"We are succeeding, and we've made real progress since the last time the Audit Commission visited. We've worked with our partners to make our streets safer - crime is down by 16 per cent since 2003/4 - and cut youth offending rates. Unemployment is falling, and we're improving existing housing while paving the way for more new affordable homes. Islington is also a greener borough, with many more people recycling thanks to the new council facilites. <br><br>"While we're pleased with our score, our main aim is to meet local needs, and we'll continue working with local people to do this. They've helped to bring about these improvements and make the borough a better place, so I'd like to thank our residents for this achievement." <br><br>Cllr Marisha Ray, Executive Member for Performance, Islington Council, said: "This is a good result for the council, particularly given the 'harder test' of performance the Audit Commission has introduced this year. The reports also give us some guidance on ways in which we might continue to develop, and we'll be building on our progress to date by strengthening the way we manage our own performance, setting specific targets around what we want to achieve and making sure we have clear strategies in place so we make the most of all the opportunities available to us." <br><br>The Corporate Assessment included the Joint Area Review (JAR) of children's services - to see the news release on the JAR visit www.islington.gov.uk. The results will feed into the council's 2007 Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA). <br><br>ENDS<br><br>For more information on this news release please contact Susie Rundle on 020 7527 3376.<br><br>Notes for Editors<br><br>Between 27 November and 8 December 2006, Islington was subject to a Corporate Assessment inspection and a Joint Area Review (JAR) of Children's Services, including an enhanced inspection of the Youth Service. The Audit Commission publishes the Corporate Assessment on its website today (13 March 2007) while the Office for Standards in Education (OfSTED) and Commission for Social Care will publish JAR reports for these inspections on their web sites tommorrow (14 March 2007). <br><br>All national inspectorates now use a standard set of scores for assessing services, which are as follows:<br>1 -- below minimum requirements -- inadequate performance<br>2 -- at only minimum requirements -- adequate performance<br>3 -- consistently above minimum requirements -- performing well<br>4 -- well above minimum requirements -- performing strongly<br><br>Islington's overall score for the corporate assessment, including the JAR and Youth elements was a 3, which is a good result.<br><br>Corporate assessments and JARs are the inspection elements of the overall CPA framework and occur every two to three years. The CPA results for 2006 were based on the 2004 corporate assessment inspection and the 2005 annual performance assessment of children's services i.e. they did not include the results for the 2006 corporate assessment and JAR, which were not published at the time.<br><br>The 2006 CPA results for all councils were published on 22 February. Islington's was scored as a 3 star (good) authority with a direction of travel label of "improving well". The Commission's report said Islington's improvement levels are 'above average', with almost three quarters of council services improving, and particularly highlighted the council's investment in making the borough's streets both cleaner and safer, which has 'resulted in significant improvements in overall crime rates'. It also praised Islington's investment in 'green' environmental policies, which has paid off, for example, by boosting the recycling rate.<br><br>For more information on the Audit Commission visit www.auditcommission.gov.uk
Page Last Updated: 17 December 2009