Aberdeen City Council told to 'significantly improve' on Housing & Education
A new report from the account's commission and Audit Scotland did however, praise "strong improvements" overall from the local authority, whilst pointing out the areas needing work.
Aberdeen City Council has 'significantly improved' it's performance over the past five years, but needs to do more in addressing education and housing services.
That's the conclusion of a new report from the accounts commission into the performance of the local authority.
Whilst praising the leadership and ambition shown by the Council, the publication states: "The Commission makes clear that two key services - education and housing - must improve significantly."
The council ranks among the lowest in Scotland for satisfaction with schools, and the poverty-related attainment gap for students is one of the widest in the country. Performance across many of its housing services also falls well below the national average.
The report says the council is already acting to address these issues "but it is crucial that improvement happens faster" according to the report.
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But it does offer a bright summary of the council's response to the pandemic.
Council leader Councillor Jenny Laing said: “Aberdeen City Council welcomes today’s Accounts Commission’s report and the additional scrutiny this always brings to our operations.
“We have demonstrated significant improvements in key areas since the 2015 Best Value report, anchored by organisational restructuring and sound financial stewardship – helping the council deliver major building projects at pace, vital public services within budget, and at the same time make significant savings without impacting on local services.
“It is particularly pleasing that the Commission highlights the high level of engagement with the public on priorities, close working with partners and communities, which has resulted in the council undertaking ambitious and multifaceted investments within the city of Aberdeen, as well as the effectiveness of our response to the Covid-19 pandemic in supporting our most vulnerable residents.
“At the same time we recognise that there are areas of operation that require focus and we have been taking steps to address this through service redesign and other measures.
“Safeguarding the people and place of Aberdeen is central to everything we do, and we remain committed to further enhancing services whilst continuing to deliver best value.”
Cllr Laing said: "Our own internal analysis, supported by information in the current Education Improvement Plan and self-evaluation process, indicates we are currently on a trend of increasing attainment and with visible closing of the attainment gap between our most and least deprived pupils, and we look forward to sharing those results in due course.”
On housing, Cllr Laing added: "Despite decreasing performance in housing repairs and antisocial behaviour we remain above national average in these areas, while our performance in homelessness services is sector leading. However, we cannot be complacent, and are working closely with staff on a service redesign that will bring much needed benefits for our tenants and our own teams."
Elma Murray, Interim Chair of the Accounts Commission, said: "Aberdeen City Council has made major strides to become an award-winning council.
"The council has an innovative outlook in delivering a new economic vision for the city, working well with its partners to achieve this. But the council will continue to face significant financial pressures, made more pronounced by Covid-19. The pandemic is exacerbating inequalities for many across Scotland, and we urge the council to ensure it can support and improve the lives of those vulnerable communities in Aberdeen.
"As well as tough budget choices and managing the impacts of a volatile global oil and gas market, the council must address its underperforming education and housing services. The council must build on its recent progress to address how it delivers services, continue to work with communities and develop how it reports on its performance as the city recovers from the pandemic."