During the election season, it seems customary for political parties to accuse each other of getting everything wrong and nothing right. It is all nonsense of course but it is transparent nonsense in the sense that people can see through it.
I would not wish to live in an error-free world where we get everything right. Some people might find that satisfying but is it an interesting place to be? I do not think so. There would be something rather boring about an environment that never threw up learning opportunities.
At Crawley Council, we would not claim to get everything right but we do have a commitment to being a learning organisation. This means a readiness to embrace opportunities to become better at what we do. Where appropriate, we also celebrate achievement.
Over the past year or so, we have had much to be pleased about in terms of external recognition. This is not some internal self-assessment but independent organisations passing judgement on town and council.
There have been particular successes in the environmental and green agendas of our work. We have received prestigious Green Flag awards forTilgatePark, GoffsPark and MemorialGardens. Crawley has won South and South East in Bloom and is entered inBritainin Bloom. Tilgate Parkand the nature centre have been commended by DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs). The Council has also retained EMAS (Eco Management and Audit Scheme) accreditation, reflecting its commitment to good environmental practices. Only this week,Crawley has won the national Keep Britain Tidy Award for Involving Communities.
We believe in entering for awards to get a perspective on how others see us and our performance. There is also something to be learnt from a slogan around the famous Readers’ Digest prize draws – “You have to be in it to win it”.
The Council has also been awarded charter marks for the Arts service and the Sheltered Housing and Housing Needs services. Our Benefits Team has been achieved second place nationally for its outstanding service toCrawleyresidents. The Council secured the Customer Service Excellence Standard for its Contact Centre. We even have the means to do well at communicating good news. Crawley Live received an award for being the best newspaper or magazine in the south.
All of the above achievements are a tribute to the hard work of our staff who demonstrate a real commitment to our community. That we are a cohesive team is illustrated by two further awards. We were the 6th highest placed council in The Times Best Place to Work in the Public Sector and winner of the Employee Benefits Award for Absence Management Strategy.
We are not perfect but in recent times there has been some good news to shout about and we should do so.
Councillor Bob Lanzer, Leader of Crawley Borough Council
17th March 2010