Conservative Senedd member Andrew RT Davies has criticised a report that found Bridgend Council is performing well.
Mr Davies said the findings of the panel assessment, carried out by former councillors and local government officials, did not reflect residents’ experiences of the Authority.
He pointed to the Council’s failure to engage with residents on improvements to a footpath in Bryncethin as one example where its performance fell below an acceptable standard.
The Assessment concluded Bridgend is a “good Council” with “ambitious” political and managerial leadership.
It praised “impressive turnarounds in key areas” and said the Council has a “positive outlook”.
Mr Davies said appointing current and former councillors and council officers to carry out the assessments amounted to local government “marking its own homework”.
He instead called for those with private sector expertise to be appointed, with a far greater input from residents.
Mr Davies said:
“Since May, I’ve had the privilege of representing Bridgend, but in the following months my inbox has been full of complaints from residents unhappy with the Council’s performance.
“I’ve been working with the community in Bryncethin to try and secure a commitment from the Council to improve road safety in the area – but the Council has failed to engage.
“It’s disrespectful and unacceptable.
“I was therefore bemused to see an assessment find the Council was performing well – until I saw it was carried out by former councillors and local government officials.
“These assessments should instead be carried out by people from the private sector with full input from residents.”
ENDS
NOTE: Link to Bridgend Council’s Panel Performance Assessment can be found here
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