Southwark council bats off ‘flawed’ data after rating as one of England’s worst councils
Southwark council has been revealed as one of the UK’s worst local authorities for overall performance, according to Government performance statistics.
Figures from the Office for Local Government (Oflog) revealed that Southwark was ranked 303rd out of 318 councils in England for overall performance.
Nottingham city council was named the worst local authority in England, while Torridge district council in Devon was the best.
Analysis of Oflog’s data by The Times shows that Southwark is ranked among the worst performing for services including social care, 302nd, waste, 223rd, and roads, 292nd.
Additional data from the Local Government Ombudsman also revealed that Southwark received 154 complaints in 2022 and 2023, the fifth highest in London, with 81 per cent of those being upheld.
The Liberal Democrat opposition in Southwark has described the data as “shocking”.
Deputy Leader of the Southwark Liberal Democrats, Cllr Rachel Bentley, said: “Residents know that services are struggling under Labour, but to see it so clearly in this ranking is shocking.
“I hope that being exposed as one of the worst performing councils in England will shame Labour into admitting their failings and making real efforts to do better for the people of Southwark.”
The figures come as more than half of councils in England could become “bankrupt” in the next five years due to Government cuts, according to the Local Government Information Unit.
The crisis threatens to devastate public services including libraries, parks, theatres, youth provisions and street cleaning services.
A spokeswoman from Southwark council said: “Independent experts have been clear these rankings are based on a wholly flawed use of data, with the Institute of Government describing them as “almost entirely meaningless”, “not objective” and “shorn of all context” and the Local Government Association saying the Oflog data they are based on is not a “tool for direct comparisons or which can be used to produce league tables”.
“We would therefore advise against using these flawed rankings to assess the performance of our or any other council.”
Southwark Council hq on Tooley Street (Picture: Google Street View)
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