WINSHAM PARISH COUNCIL RECEIVES FOUNDATION AWARD
IN NATIONAL SCHEME
Winsham Parish Council
has received a prestigious award as part of the Local Council Award Scheme.
This achievement recognises that the council achieves good practice in
governance, community engagement and council improvement. Moreover, Winsham Parish Council goes above
and beyond their legal obligations, leading their communities and continuously
seeking opportunities to improve and develop even further.
The Foundation Award
Scheme report highlighted the council’s particular areas of strength, including
its website as being welcoming and professional and how the Council’s
mission statement is reflected through the work that the Council
undertakes. Other aspects of the application which were cited were the
short summaries about each Councillor which really give a picture of who they
are and the range of comprehensive policies – in particular the one for seeking
professional advice and the one relating to officers’ delegated powers were
noted.
The Local Council Award
Scheme is a peer assessed programme that has been designed to both provide the
tools and encouragement to those councils at the beginning of their improvement
journeys, as well as promoting and recognising councils that are at the cutting
edge of the sector. It is through the sector working together to share best
practice, drive up standards and supporting those who are committed to
improving their offer to their communities that individual councils and the
sector as a whole will reach its full potential.
Winsham Parish Council’s
own Chairman, Jason Stevens, says: “I am absolutely delighted with us receiving
this award. Over the past couple of
years we’ve been working hard to ensure that the Parish Council is far more responsive
and responsible to the electorate. We’ve
also put a lot of effort into over hauling all our policies and assets, and
making sure everything we do is fit for purpose. We want to be seen in leading
the way, and we won’t be resting on our laurels – we will be applying for
higher levels of accreditation! I thank everyone involved with getting us this
far”.
In terms of the
future, the council is now reviewing ways in which it can keep on improving its
offer to the local community and welcomes input from local people and partners
on this. Winsham Parish Council, and other local councils like it, are at the
front line of the government’s localism agenda and are doing as much as they
can to delivery services whilst being efficient and cost-effective.