Lambeth planning services taken out of special measures

3.10.45pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 24th Oct 2005

External audits are all confirming the steady progress being pushed along by Lib Dem councillors to provide services of which Lambeth residents can at last be proud. The government has just removed Lambeth from special measures in planning, given the improvements it has recorded in the planning application processing performance. It is now making excellent progress and has exceeded the performance standards it was set.

This means that since that Labour lost power in 2002 the five services which were being monitored closely by government (Children's services, Finance, Community Safety, Housing Benefit, and now Planning) have all improved to such an extent that they are now off the critical list.

In Town Planning, Lambeth was regarded as a failing authority before the last election in 2002 when processing of applications fell way below standards set by Government. Since then, a steady programme of service improvements has seen national performance targets exceeded. From a low point just a few years ago, near the bottom of the league tables, Lambeth is now in the top quartile of London boroughs.