Introduction
The past year has been one of consistent progress across a wide range of services in Lewisham. This has been recognised by the independent Audit Commission, which, as part of its annual performance assessment of local government, declared Lewisham to be a three-star council that is 'improving well'.
This judgement is particularly significant, as it is part of the Commission’s ‘tougher test’ of local government performance standards. It demonstrates that we have not been standing still. It recognises that we are improving the services we provide for children and young people, for adults in our care and for the public at large. At the same time the Council is ‘performing well’ in its management of finances and in achieving value for money for local council tax payers.
It is encouraging to see the educational achievement of Lewisham’s children and young people continuing to improve – with the numbers attaining five or more GCSEs (at grades A*–C) increasing again this year. This steady improvement shows the tremendous dedication of our children, parents, teachers and everyone who works in our schools and colleges.
The past year has seen the Council work ever more closely with the police to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour. By working with the police to drive down crime, we have achieved the second lowest crime rate in inner London.
We are currently supporting the police's roll out of their 'safer neighbourhood' initiative, which will help all local partners find lasting solutions to crime and anti-social behaviour in the borough.
In addition, the Council has continued to invest in roads, street lighting, parks and open spaces to improve the overall quality of the local environment. Meanwhile, weekly collection arrangements have been introduced for all households, making it easier for residents to recycle waste.
Partnership working across public agencies (including local health services) is another area where significant progress continues to be made. For example, we are developing a formal agreement between all public agencies in Lewisham to co-ordinate all of our resources better. This will help all public agencies minimise waste and maximise the impact of the public money spent in the borough. By working together in this way, the Council and its partners will be better able to improve the quality of life and quality of life chances for all Lewisham residents.
Improving the quality of the environment, raising the standard of housing and increasing the quality of services for children and vulnerable adults remain areas in which we must make particular efforts to sustain the progress made to date. Meanwhile, our commitment to tackling crime and anti-social behaviour, in partnership with the police and local people, must also be unrelenting.
Over the coming year we will pay particular attention to our service standards and the quality of our customer service. We need to explore new ways to improve services, making them more responsive and more efficient and customer focused. We want to offer reliable and consistent services to a high quality. It does not matter which 'part' of the Council is delivering the service (or whether it is an agent or contractor of the Council) – our aim is to deliver a "One Council" service of the highest possible quality in the most efficient manner.
In so doing, we shall try to listen carefully to all opinions and points of view. That is because we want to deliver what the public want and need locally. Our aim is to deliver quality services that are responsive to your personal needs, that offer you choice as well as being delivered fairly and efficiently. We can only improve how we deliver services by taking ever more account of what you, our citizens and customers, think of our services and how you think they should be improved.
Lewisham is moving forward. By working together with other local public agencies, with private companies that have a stake in the borough as well as with local voluntary groups, we believe that we can make our borough the best place in London to live, work and learn.
Barry Quirk CBE
Chief Executive
