Denis MacShane Congratulates Rotherham Council On 3 Star Rating

Denis MacShane, MP for Rotherham, has today written to Councillor Roger Stone, the leader of Rotherham council and Mike Cuff the Chief Executive to congratulate RMBC for the 3 star rating.

Council services in Rotherham – rated amongst the top ten most improved in the country in 2004 – have achieved a three star rating in this year’s independent national assessment of local authority performance by the Audit Commission.

MacShane wrote,” Many congratulations on the  Audit Commission recognition of the achievements Rotherham MBC have accomplished since you have been at the helm.
This is richly deserved and your political leadership and the team-work with councillors, Mike Cuff and all Rotherham public servants has helped bring it about.

Councillor Roger Stone, Leader of Rotherham Council, said the authority was particularly pleased with its three star rating, given that this year’s CPA – titled The Harder Test – had introduced a more rigorous assessment of council services and functions then ever before.

“The people of Rotherham deserve the very best services, delivering value for money and provided by well-trained, caring and professional staff. As a council, we accept our responsibility to demonstrate that our services are getting better year on year, and that we are able to meet the increasing expectations of our citizens. Once more, this year’s CPA rating reflects the hard work and commitment that our staff have continued to show. We look forward to even better results next year.”

Local government Minister, Phil Woolas said:  "Once again we can see that Labour councils provide the highest quality services. Of those local authorities awarded the highest rating of four stars, 43 per cent are Labour. This compares with 30 per cent being Tory and just 8 per cent being Lib Dem. And 33 per cent of all Labour councils are rated at 4 Star, with 23 per cent of Tory councils managing 4 stars and 21 per cent of Lib Dem councils.”

"On average Labour councils cost on average £180 less than Tory controlled councils and £88 less than the lib Dem councils. Labour councils not only cost you less, they provide better services as well.