2011

Welsh Ministers' intervention in 2009 has not succeeded in producing a sustainable recovery from the Isle of Anglesey County Council's long history of weak governance, and stronger intervention is necessary. This is the conclusion of the Auditor General's Corporate Governance Re-inspection report, which is published today, and which concludes that the Council's prospects of achieving a full and sustainable recovery by August 2011 are poor and prospects of doing so by May 2012 ahead of local council elections are uncertain.

The Minister for Social Justice and Local Government requested the Auditor General to re-inspect the Council in February 2011. He asked for an urgent assessment of the situation at the Council and the progress it has made to date in addressing the findings of the Auditor General's 2009 Corporate Governance Inspection report.

The inspection found that, although there has been progress since 2009, conflict  is once again having a corrosive effect that seriously jeopardises service delivery. Instability and uncertainty have affected staff morale and the prospects for greater collaborative work with neighbouring Gwynedd Council. Instability is also distracting staff and councillors from delivering the ambitious programme of improvement that the Council has set for itself in its Corporate Plan.