The Local Government (Best Value) Act (Northern Ireland) 2002, came into effect on 1 April 2002. It placed a clear statutory duty on all councils in Northern Ireland to pursue continuous performance improvement. In particular, section 1(1) of the Act provides that:

"A council shall make arrangements for continuous improvement in the way in which its functions are exercised, having regard to a combination of economy, efficiency and effectiveness."

In pursuing continuous improvement, councils are required to consult key stakeholders. Having considered the views of the customers on an ongoing basis, we have had no difficulty placing customer satisfaction at the centre of change. Critical to the successful review of each service is a detailed analysis of customer views, and these have been collected in a number of forms. Please go to our Customer's Views section for more information.

A fundamental tenet of our approach to Best Value is that we aim to maintain services at a reduced cost or make improvements at no additional cost. We will be open and accountable in our dealings with the ratepayers. The Council decided to review all its services over a four year period. In the first year, 1999-2000 Leisure Services underwent review. In the second year, 2000-2001, nine services underwent review. The Corporate Performance Improvement Plan for 2001-2002, which includes a summary of the reviews carried out in year 2, may be accessed below. A leaflet on Best Value is also available and a pdf version may be accessed below:

Related Documents to Download:

Best Value Leaflet (.pdf 114Kb)

Corporate Performance Improvement Plan 2001 - 2002 (.pdf 321Kb)

Corporate Performance Improvement Plan 2002 - 2003 (.pdf 663Kb)

Corporate Performance Improvement Plan 2003 - 2004 (.pdf 758Kb)

Corporate Performance Improvement Plan 2004 - 2005 (.pdf 741Kb)

Corporate Performance Improvement Plan 2005 - 2006 (.pdf 2.0MB)

Corporate Performance Improvement Plan 2006 - 2007 (.pdf 1.2MB)

Corporate Performance Improvement Plan 2007 - 2008 (.pdf 2.4MB)

Corporate Performance Improvement Plan 2008 - 2009 (.pdf 1.31MB)

Corporate Performance Improvement Plan 2010-2011 (.pdf 1.41MB)

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The reviews of a further sixteen services were carried out during 2001-2002. The findings of these reviews and the resulting Performance Improvement Plans have been summarised in the Corporate Performance Improvement Plan for 2002-2003.

During 2002-2003, the remaining services underwent review. This means that all Council Services have completed Best Value Service Reviews in the four year period 1999-2003. The findings of the reviews carried out in 2002-2003 and the resulting Performance Improvement Plans have been summarised in the Corporate Performance Improvement Plan for 2003-2004.

In the year 2003-2004 the Council has carried out cross cutting reviews of two areas - dog fouling and the promotion of Equality. These are areas which cut across a number of Council sections and have been looked at from the perspective of the customer. The findings of these reviews and the performance improvement plans for all services have been summarized in the Corporate Performance Improvement Plan for 2004-2005.