TEST Valley Borough Council has been ranked the fourth best performing district authority in England and Wales for its financial management, according to government performance statistics.
Using data compiled by the Office for Local Government (Oflog), The Times newspaper ranked councils across five main areas, including corporate and finance, adult social care, waste management, planning and roads. For the areas the council doesn’t cover, such as social care, The Times awarded an average score.
Test Valley Borough Council landed tenth place overall in the list of the top district authorities, and fared particularly well on its financial management where it came within touching distance of the top spot. This was based on various factors including borrowing costs and reserve levels.
Leader of Test Valley Borough Council, Cllr Phil North, said: “While we recognise that ranking local authorities in this way using the Oflog data can be rather a blunt tool, it is pleasing to see that TVBC fares so well overall, with a particularly positive endorsement of the way we manage our finances.
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Council leader Phil North welcomed the news (Image: Canva)
“It is unlikely to be a coincidence that TVBC’s financial stability and ability to demonstrate capacity to deliver were linked to the Government’s decision to award the council £18.3m in Levelling Up funding in autumn 2023, to help accelerate our regeneration plans for Andover and Romsey.
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"Our financial stability also enables us to support a huge variety of community projects and new start-ups, with £700,000 channelled into local initiatives over the past year alone.”
The council also landed 65th place for its planning performance and 197th for waste management.
The Government has just announced the outcome of its ‘Simpler Recycling’ consultation on waste collection services, which will enable TVBC to progress plans to increase the variety of materials it collects at the kerbside. Though its waste contamination rate is currently the lowest in Hampshire at 13.85 per cent, following investment in behaviour change work.
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