I was delighted to see the recent findings from the Care Quality Commission (CQC), that West Sussex County’s Adults Services have been officially rated as Good.  Care services to adults is the largest service provided by the County Council, affecting literally thousands of lives.   

The assessment of the council was earlier this year, and the regulator found strong leadership within adult social care teams and effective support that enables people to live healthier lives.  While further improvements to address gaps in service are still needed, the findings are strong evidence that solid progress has been made, and that the council is effective at making a real difference to people’s lives.

This strong progress in Adult Services is the latest in very positive assessments that have been made of different services provided by West Sussex County Council.  The second largest service, Children’s Services, has also been seeing strong official recognition of improvements.  Last month, the inspections of three children’s homes by Ofsted were announced, with two being rated as Good and another one that’s in Crawley, being rated as Outstanding.

Additionally, the West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service has seen significant ongoing progress in its last two official inspections.  All eleven of the grading judgements from the last inspection last year were either Good or Adequate.  A clear positive trend among all the main services that have external inspections has emerged.

But what about the roads you may say?  A significant amount of investment has been ploughed in and it has been very noticeable how much road resurfacing and treatments have been taking place in Crawley over the last couple of years.  This continues and from later this month,  I’m pleased to see that there will be resurfacing on Hawth Avenue and on the Squareabout.

West Sussex County Council is performing well but has service pressures causing financial strain.  Services are at risk of being impacted if the Labour Government doesn’t ensure adequate funding to meet those pressures, and if it diverts millions of pounds away from West Sussex to other parts of the country, under it’s so-called ‘fairer funding’ plans.   

Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conservative Group

10th September 2025