The County Council has received its annual health check report from independent auditors, PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC).

The auditor’s formal Management Letter was presented to the Council’s Policy Committee today by PWC Partner, Steve Valentine. He drew particular attention to the Council’s "effective financial control" and to its "prudent and sensible approach in setting its budget for 1998/99".

The PWC report also pays tribute to the "considerable progress" which the County Council has made since April implementing the Government’s Best Value philosophy throughout all of its services.

Leader of the Council, Councillor Ian Bottrill says:

"It has been a very successful year by any standards, and we are very proud of the performance of all of our staff and elected Members who have worked so hard to achieve such outstanding results."

"I am particularly pleased that our efforts to make a reality of Best Value in all services have been singled out for special praise. This is one of our most important programmes. The auditors’ confirm that we have made an excellent start: the challenge now is to maintain the momentum and to keep improving performance."