Congratulations to three Devon councils on their Local Council Award Scheme including 2 Quality Gold Awards, the first in Devon!

We are thrilled to hear of Local Council Award Scheme success for three of our member councils as Brixton, Crediton and Shobrooke have all achieved awards in the latest round. There are three levels of the award scheme; Foundation, Quality and Quality Gold and any level of the award is a fantastic achievement, recognising that the council achieves good practice in governance, community engagement and council improvement.

In this round, both Brixton Parish Council and Crediton Town Council have achieved Quality Gold. This is a first for Devon and a wonderful achievement for both councils, who should be very proud.

Rachel Avery, clerk to Crediton Town Council, says: “Crediton Town Council is on the front line of the Government’s localism agenda and are doing all we can to deliver services whilst being efficient and cost-effective. We wish to continue, improve and increase our services, whilst improving our community engagement”

Liz Hitchins, chair to Brixton Parish Council, says: “Brixton Parish Council is delighted to have received this recognition for our work. Particular thanks should go to our clerk, Kirstie Aldridge, for ensuring that Brixton Parish Council works to an effective and efficient standard to give confidence in our work to our community. Kirstie’s efficiency and thoroughness has significantly contributed to the Council winning this nationally important award. I would also like to thank all our councillors who give their time voluntarily to improving the work of the council in responding constructively to meet the needs parishioners. Thank you also to our parishioners who engage with the Parish Council in its work from taking part on the monthly open forum at Council meetings, street sweeping, improving road safety, monitoring the Public Rights of Way, being part of the Community Emergency Plan, taking part in the traffic management group and more recently with our Environment Plan groups including the Bee Wild group. All this involvement with the work of the parish council (and a lot more) was submitted as evidence to demonstrate how the community is engaged with the parish council in making Brixton a good place to live and contributed to the case for the gold award.” 

Shobrooke Parish Council has achieved Foundation award which is a superb achievement, demonstrating their commitment to their parish and their high levels of transparency.

The Local Council Award scheme is peer-assessed and has been designed to provide encouragement to those councils wanting to improve as well as promoting councils at the cutting edge of our sector. We can all work together to share best practice, drive up standards and support the communities we serve. Award Scheme success demonstrates that the councils go above and beyond their legal obligations, leading their communities and continuously seeking opportunities to improve and develop further.

DALC says “Congratulations to Brixton, Crediton and Shobrooke on their amazing achievement! We love seeing our member councils get the recognition they deserve through these awards. The Local Council Award Scheme supports councils to be the best they can be by celebrating good practice across the sector and has so many benefits for your council including increased transparency and public trust.”

Councils that are interested in participating in the award scheme can find more information here, with a NALC video here. Other councils in Devon have also achieved an award, and you can see the full list here.

Exmouth Town Council and Newton St Cyres Parish Council have achieved Quality Awards in the Local Council Award Scheme