Aberdeen City Council scoops top award

23/09/08

Aberdeen City Council has won a prestigious award for its work to reduce the number of empty homes in the city.

The council was awarded Internal Service Team of the Year: Construction and Building, at the Association of Public Sector Excellence Awards (APSE).

Aberdeen City Council was also a finalist in the Best Information & Communication Technology Initiative category for the Reading Bus scheme, and the Internal Service Team of the Year: Parks, Grounds & Horticultural Service category.

The winning project was introduced as a way of reducing the number of empty homes (voids) across the city.

Based on a successful project, originating in Baltimore, USA, the council made radical changes to the way in which services were delivered. It implemented Citistat, a system which aims to get better value from the money being put into public services.

The award recognised the way in which the council had transformed the letting management process and used the savings to make further improvements. This in turn means affordable homes are being re-let across the city at a faster pace and waiting times for those looking for a home are reduced.

Councillor Aileen Malone said: "Winning this award is all down to our dedicated staff putting in a lot of hard work to ensure we have the best possible housing service and the best possible use of our properties, so a big thank you must go to them.

"Our success in filling so many of our void properties means that we have more money to invest in affordable housing and more to invest in housing modernisation schemes."

If you have any queries regarding this, or any other news story, please contact Aberdeen City Council on: 01224 522000.