NORTH Lanarkshire Council have received a positive report from auditors — but there is still room for improvement. In their first report on Best Value at the local authority, the Accounts Commission for Scotland said the council show a strong commitment to improvement, have a high level of performance and have the capacity and ability to make further improvements. The Commission welcomed the council’s “good strategic direction and pace of change,” and said they have good leadership and clear vision. The Commission also highlighted the council’s consultation with people who use their services and their well-developed arrangements for financial-, asset- and risk-management. However, there is still room for improvement and the authors of the report were impressed that the council were addressing those areas. Accounts Commission chairman John Baillie said: “North Lanarkshire Council face challenges due to deprivation in the local area and their previous low level of performance in some areas. But the council now have a high rate of service improvement, know where they need to target their efforts and have the commitment, capacity and ability to build on their high performance to improve further. “We would now like to see the council implement their improvement agenda, including plans for increasing the uptake of training by councillors, developing their scrutiny of policy implementation and producing a comprehensive human resources strategy, together with improved sickness absence rates and staff morale.” | 
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