Misleading Claims

The Most Efficient Council in London

A report presented to the  Council meeting of 5th Nov  2009 stated that:  “This is  demonstrated by the Council being recognised as the most efficient in London and the eighth best in the UK”

The claim is based on an article published in the May 2009 edition of the Local Government Chronicle summarizing the returns Councils in England, not the UK,  made about the “efficiency savings” they achieved in 2008/9.  The percentage savings reported  by Hillingdon, boosted by a large carry forward from the previous year, was indeed the highest in London.

However the Chronicle article points out “.. a council which is already lean will find it harder to generate efficiency savings than one that has more fat to trim”.   It is commendable that the council trimmed off  more fat than the other London Boroughs in 2008/9.   But it cannot as a consequence claim it is now the leanest i.e. the most efficient.    It might just as easily be the fattest / least efficient.  The returns reviewed  in the article throw no light on this one way or the other.

This was drawn to the attention of the Council’s Head Of Democratic Services in an e-mail  and a formal complaint has been sent to the Deputy Chief Executive. 

These efficiency claims contrast sharply with the assessment of the Council’s own Auditors who in their September “Uses Of Resources” report said:

“Understanding costs and achieving efficiencies  - score 2  - meets only minimum requirements”.

“When compared to nearest neighbours, the Council’s costs lie above average in all areas”

 “The Audit Commission Value for Money (VFM) profiles indicate that unit costs are higher than average in LBH, and in some areas, such as adult social care, the Council is one of the most expensive.”

In spite of this the claims were repeated and embellished  in the Dec/Nov Hillingdon People Magazine. An article on page 30 stated that:

“ Independent Auditors have confirmed that Hillingdon is the most efficient Council in London”

The  Chronicle artilcle on which the claims had been based specifically says that the figures had not been audited.  This has been pointed out to council leader Cllr Ray Puddifoot in an e-mail

It was gratifying to see that in his  “Welcome” article in the Jan/ Feb 2010 Hillingdon People Ray Puddifoot has now toned down his claim and now says ” when compared to other Councils the government ranked Hillingdon as first in terms of the proportion of efficiency  savings we made”.  A long way from saying the Borough is the most efficient in London.



See Performance Assessments page for more information.



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