REDBRIDGE: Council's three star rating hangs in the balance

8:14pm Monday 15th October 2007

A FURIOUS row blew up in a Redbridge Council meeting as the borough struggles to cling on to its rating as a three star authority.

Underperformance within the leisure and culture department threatens to drag the borough down, leading to higher costs and greater Government intervention.

A report prepared for the department's scrutiny committee said: "Redbridge is particularly poor in the indicators relating to leisure facilities (amongst the worst in London and indeed the country.)"

The council is predicted to drop from three stars to two under this year's comprehensive performance assessment but, if just one of six underperforming areas within the department was to improve, the three star rating would be saved.

One of the assessed areas, satisfaction with theatres and concert halls', is just 0.06 per cent away from safety and, although the council is appealing to the Audit Commission, they are not confident of passing.

Speaking in Ilford Town Hall, Cllr Gary Staight said: "For me this is a bureaucratisation system gone mad. If anyone wants to look at what's changed in this authority compare what was on that corridor in 1994 and walk down it today and you see the strategy something' and the corporate something else'.

"I don't want to do down these people's jobs but these things do my head in and are a total waste of resources."

Cllr Nicholas Hayes said: "There was a time when some of this achieved a purpose but it's now taken on a life of it's own, like Mickey Mouse in Fantasia."

Cllr Ken Turner said: "Last year we achieved three stars against all the odds despite disaster areas like housing. I'm not satisfied that we can sit here and roar with laughter as we descend to two stars because we will be providing a service with far less money and, whether the system is right or wrong, your job is not to challenge the system."

The council has been struggling to bring some of its leisure facilities, including Fullwell Cross swimming pool, up to scratch through the charitable trust, Vision Redbridge Culture & Leisure, and council officer Iain Varah defended their efforts in the face of the scoring regime.

He said: "Staff who work for Vision worked with demands that were totally unacceptable on them and if we stay a three star authority it's because we played the game."