Swansea council says figures show service improvements

SWANSEA Council says new figures show it is continuing to strive to provide the best possible services to residents.

Despite a background of budget restraints and economic down turn, residents are benefiting from targets being met by business support services to provision of cardiac rehabilitation sessions in leisure centres and from urgent repairs on Council houses to rehousing homeless families.

New figures reveal that people who contacted the Council to report everything from street lamp failures, fly-tipping and abandoned vehicles to pests and stray pets are seeing their concerns acted on more quickly than ever.

A report going to Cabinet later this week on overall performance shows in the first quarter of this year 74 per cent of indicators or 72 indicators have either achieved or exceeded their targets. A further six indicators narrowly missed their target by coming within 5% of their goal.

The report shows in more than half of the indictors performance has improved or is at best performance.

Councillor Mary Jones, Cabinet Member for Business Improvement and Efficiency, said: "Achieving continuous improvement is a key aim for this Council. The results need to be considered alongside the Council's current financial situation, the wider economic climate and improvements already achieved in previous years.

"I am delighted to see that the continued efforts of our staff are resulting in continued and in many cases improving standards of service or access to services in spite of these factors.

"This report should also reassure the public we are aware of where and how we need to improve and that we will be striving for continued improvement throughout this year."