Selby District Council is the most improved local authority in England according to recent inspection of its services and the way it works by the independent watchdog, the Audit Commission. The Council has been given an 'Excellent' rating in the review, which is the highest rating possible for any local authority; the authority had previously been rated as 'weak'.

The full investigation, called a Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA), looked at the standard of the Council's services, the way it makes decisions, how it manages funds and how it works with other organisations to get the best for local residents. The assessment took place in October and November 2008, with the Audit Commission delivering its final verdict today (17 March).

A delighted Leader of the Council, Cllr Mark Crane, said, "After our previous assessment we were given a 'weak' rating, so to go from that to the highest possible rating is a huge achievement. We've know for a long time that the services we deliver and the way in which we work is worthy of praise - and now we have independent confirmation that we're doing the best we can for our residents.

"My heartfelt thanks must go to all staff who deliver for the people of the Selby district day after day. Their hard work and commitment means we've been able to continually improve the way we run services over recent years.

"Far from being the end of the story, however, I'm confident we'll go on from this to achieve even better results for our residents in the future. It's a great base on which to build."

The inspection team highlighted a number of key achievements of the Council over recent years, including a firm focus on key aims and objectives, sound financial management and excellent partnership work.

Cllr Mark Crane added, "Our work to support a new hospital and civic centre development in Selby, our success in working with the Police and others on community safety issues, our work to make it easier for people to access the services they need, the development of our recycling and environment services, our investment in delivering affordable housing, our work to regenerate the district and our continued focus on making the most of the money we have available - all of these were key issues picked up during the inspection process".

The Audit Commission have published a Press Release about Selby District Council, please follow the link to view.

To read the inspection letter by the Audit Commission please use the following link - Full Inspection Letter 2009 - pdf

For all the information and also to view previous reports please take a look at the Audit Commission Website.