Five years after being labelled the 'worst authority in the country' Northampton Borough Council has been released from special measures.
Following an inspection in 2004 which rated the authority as 'poor', then local government minister, Phil Woolas, wrote to the council's former chief executive, Marie McLean, saying he considered the authority to be the poorest in the country.This week however, the CLG wrote to the council's new chief executive, David Kennedy, telling him the council had sufficiently improved and that government monitoring was no longer necessary.
The decision was welcomed by leader Brian Hoare who said it was good news for local taxpayers.
'We now want the Guildhall to be up there with the best-run councils in the country by 2013,' he said.
'Like the rest of the country, the council is facing financial challenges the likes of which local government hasn't seen in years.
'That's why we're taking the tough choices now to work more smartly with neighbouring councils, local charities and the private sector to get better value for people's £200-or-so council tax.'
In 2004 the Audit Commission found the council to have weak leadership, poor financial management and failing services.
This year under the new CAA regime the council was rated 'adequate', the highest rating it has achieved in years.
