Worthing Borough Council Gets Just One Star
The cultural services provided by Worthing Borough Council are 'fair' and have uncertain prospects for improvement, according to an independent report released today by the Audit Commission.
The Audit Commission inspection team gave the service one star out of a possible three because cultural facilities and services are of variable quality and there has been a lack of a long term vision.
The services assessed in this inspection included leisure services, theatres, Worthing Museum, parks and gardens, foreshore services, the historic environment and tourism.
"The council provides a wide range of cultural services, some of which are of good quality. However, there has been a lack of progress in improving some leisure facilities ... It is not clear how cultural services contribute to improving the well being of the community or address some of the council's corporate priorities," Chris Westwood, Audit Commission senior manager, said.
The inspectors found:
- The council has a weak track record of leadership on cultural services and a clear long-term vision and plan for culture is not in place.
- Some key cultural facilities have not received significant investment and this had resulted in a deterioraton of customer experience.
- Access to facilities needs improving and there is a lack of a strategic approach to this.
- Cultural services have limited information to show that they are making an impact in meeting the council’s corporate priorities.
To help the service improve, inspectors made a number of recommendations. These included the need to:
- develop a clear long-term vision and ambition for the role of cultural services;
- ensure that culture is represented in broader plans for the area; and
- improve access to cultural facilities and activities and provide a consistent level of service quality for all sections of the community.
The net expenditure of Worthing cultural service for 2003/04 was £7.3m. This represents over a half of the council’s total expenditure.
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