Borough scoops Council of the Year award

One of the most prestigious prizes in local government is heading back to the borough after the town hall was named Council of the Year.
Wigan Town HallWigan Town Hall
Wigan Town Hall

Wigan Council took the accolade at the LGC Awards 2019 for local authorities.

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The council beat competition from across the country, with other finalists including Cheshire West and Chester Council, Cornwall Council, Coventry City Council, Hull City Council, and North East Lincolnshire Council.

Wigan Council wrote on its official social media account: "We are truly honoured to be named 'Council of the Year' at the LGC Awards. A massive thank you to all our staff, councillors, partners & residents for being part of this brilliant success!"

The local authority also hailed The Deal in its message, with some of the community groups playing a more prominent role in borough life in recent years through the arrangement also taking to social media to share their congratulations.

Judges expressed admiration at how the borough has transformed services to cope with the third-worst local government cuts in the country, which will see £160m shed from the budget by 2020.

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Wigan Council leader Coun David Molyneux said: “Just to be shortlisted in such a prestigious category at these national awards is a great accolade for the council but to win is phenomenal.“This is an enormous achievement for us and is acknowledgement of all that has been achieved through The Deal. “We have taken tough but fair decisions that have helped us to maximise the support we can give to communities through innovative schemes like the Community Investment Fund.“Despite the heavy cuts in funding we are still able to give residents first class care through programmes like our reablement service, the only one in the country to be ranked outstanding, and our children’s services being ranked good with outstanding elements such as adoption by Ofsted.”Alison McKenzie-Folan, town hall chief executive, said: “The recognition Wigan Council gets on a national level is down to the hard work of our brilliant staff. “We will continue to work closely with our partners to reform services and look forward to carrying forward our person-centred approach that has residents’ strengths at the heart.”