Orkney carrying out good work but more needs to be done to demonstrate Best Value

In its first report on Best Value at Orkney Islands Council, published today, the Accounts Commission for Scotland says the council has good leadership and performs well in a number of areas.

Accounts Commission Chairman John Baillie said: “We welcome the extent of the council’s community engagement and its financial planning and sustainability and we acknowledge its level of self-awareness and culture of openness.”

In its findings, the Commission notes that the council region is remote and spread out and the council has adopted an innovative approach to these circumstances, in particular in its partnership arrangements with NHS Orkney and its joint working with community councils. However it is not yet able to show that it is providing Best Value for local people and it needs to make progress with this.

The Commission points to areas where the council needs to improve. It says the council needs to adopt innovative approaches to building capacity, particularly to support corporate functions and needs to ensure its corporate performance management arrangements are effective. In particular the community and corporate plans need to be supported by clear action plans.

John Baillie continued: “A number of the basic systems and processes to support and demonstrate Best Value are not yet in place. At the moment the council benchmarks itself against the other island councils but we would encourage it to compare itself more systematically to a wider range of councils to enable it to benefit from best practice elsewhere in Scotland. We look forward to receiving an improvement plan with measurable and achievable outcomes, to build on the good work being done by the council.”