Redbridge Council ranks 2nd in the country for delivering value for money for its residents

A recent report undertaken by independent organisation, Impower, found that Redbridge Council is not only number one in London, but also second in the country for delivering value for money for its residents.

The independent consultancy, Impower, crunched data on a range of metrics, assessing Councils' performances, and looking at the relative budget they have and their spend on their services.

Impower recognised that times are tough financially for Councils across the country, but praised those who were delivering against the odds, and giving excellent services to their communities across the full suite of Council services, including children's services, adult social care, waste collections, leisure and cultural services, and supporting those most in need through statutory services such as housing.

Sadly we in London are seeing the sharp end of the national housing crisis, and currently 1 in 50 Londoners are homeless. In Redbridge, despite being the third-lowest funded council in London, we are tackling this head-on, and are making life-changing decisions that support local people into housing they will be able to afford in the long-term. However, at the same time we are seeing yet more people coming to us for support.

Councillor Kam Rai, Leader of Redbridge Council said, "It is clear that for every £1 spent in Redbridge, there is a deep impact directly on local people, compared to elsewhere in the country. We don't get everything right all the time, but this ranking is certainly a true reflection of the drive we and all our staff in Redbridge have, to go the extra mile with our services, to truly look after those in need, and to provide all our services to the very best of our abilities. We, and indeed all councils nationally are finding these times incredibly challenging. We have lost 54% Government funding since 2010,and are experiencing continued rise in demand for our statutory services.

"But in Redbridge we always do our best to rise to the challenge to meet the demand as best we can, with the funding we have available.

"We always try to be a borough of greatness for local people, and have notable excellence in many of our core services. Our Children's Services have been once again rated Outstanding by Ofsted, this time in every single criterion. We are working with UNICEF UK on becoming a recognised Child Friendly Borough, where children's rights are put at the fore of local decision-making, and where children's voices are listened to at all levels. I and my cabinet members now routinely speak to children as we are developing policy. We have nine green flag parks, a forest, lakes and a farm. There are dozens of libraries in Redbridge, and leisure centres in every part of the borough. 96% our schools are Good or Outstanding.

"The current financial landscape means we are in a challenging situation as an organisation, and planning our spend is not easy. We have the same challenges as other London boroughs, but receive a far smaller proportion of funding, per head. This is why we are dedicated across the Council and across all our services, to squeeze every drop out of every pound we spend in the borough and on local people.

"I am pleased our relentless pursuit of value for money and excellence has been independently recognised. As we look to the future I see little financial certainty for councils, but we are ready in Redbridge to continue to use any current funding, and any additional funding where it may come to us, to get the very best for the people we serve. Any additional investment in Redbridge will always have a deep impact on local people's lives."

The Impower report was produced in association with the Municipal Journal, and evaluated productivity by looking at the outcomes across a range of services, vs their spend.