Council's Performance

Speech by Cllr Zoe Patrick delivered to Cabinet on Tue 18th Mar 2008

I am speaking at Cabinet today to draw attention to three areas of concern on Annex 2 of the report.

• Delayed discharges - we have to get on top of this. It has been going on for too long and we know the ramifications of not taking responsibility for this. We know we should be doing better and it is a matter of urgency.

• Educational attainment - concern that the directorate says this will not be achieved. I would be interested to hear what significant action planning is underway to deal with this.

• Adult skills - this low figure of attainment is a pity. We all know the problems with the Learning and Skills Council concentrating on skills for the workforce rather than the 'social' aspect of courses. However, now the LSC is being abolished maybe this is something which will come back in house in the future. But we must remember that older people are affected by this and we should be doing more to ensure they participate more in learning activities.