Have Your Say on the Council's Annual Self-Assessment

27 July 2026

The Council's Annual Self-Assessment (ASA) is currently being produced, with staff encouraged to share their views as part of that process.

The Annual Self-Assessment is much more than a statutory requirement. It is one of the Council's largest and most comprehensive evidence-based reviews, bringing together information from every directorate, service area and corporate work programme to understand how well the Authority is delivering for residents, communities and businesses across the Vale.

Though led by Helen Moses and Julia Archampong in the Corporate Strategy and Insight department, importantly, it is not a report written by one team alone.

Every employee contributes to the Annual Self-Assessment through the work they do every day, whether that is delivering frontline services, supporting colleagues, managing projects, engaging with residents, monitoring performance or helping to improve how the Council operates.

Although the report is published annually, the self-assessment process takes place throughout the year.

Evidence is gathered continuously from a wide range of sources, including performance and risk data, resident feedback, financial information, workforce information, scrutiny activity, complaints, engagement exercises, audits and inspections.

Each directorate reviews its performance throughout the year before undertaking a detailed end-of-year self-assessment. These reviews consider what has gone well, where improvement is needed, the challenges faced and how effectively resources have been used.

Those findings are then subject to robust challenge from senior officers, councillors, scrutiny chairs and staff from across the organisation to ensure conclusions are fair, balanced and evidence based.

Independent evidence is also considered, including Audit Wales reports, external inspections, benchmarking information, internal audit findings and feedback from residents and service users.

A final moderation process then brings everything together, agreeing an overall assessment of the Council's performance, use of resources and governance arrangements.

The draft report for 2025/26 highlights a number of positive achievements across the Council's five Wellbeing Objectives:

• Creating great places to live, work, and visit.
• Respecting and celebrating the environment.
• Giving everyone a good start in life.
• Supporting and protecting those who need us.
• Being the best Council we can be.

These include improvements in affordable housing delivery, homelessness prevention, recycling performance, school attendance, social care support and digital services.

The report also recognises the challenges that remain, including continued financial pressures, growing demand for services and workforce capacity issues in some areas.

Most importantly, it demonstrates the collective impact of staff across the Council and the contribution they make every day towards improving outcomes for residents.

The Annual Self-Assessment is a strong example of the Council's Wellbeing Objective to Be the Best Council We Can Be.

The process encourages reflection, challenge, learning and continuous improvement. It helps ensure decisions are based on evidence, resources are used effectively and services continue to evolve to meet the needs of our communities.

It also demonstrates the importance of collaboration, bringing together staff, managers, elected members, partners and residents to develop a shared understanding of both our successes and the areas where we need to improve.

Before the report is finalised, it is shared with staff, elected members, residents, partners, local businesses and other stakeholders to gather their feedback.

Helen Moses, Operational Manager for Corporate Strategy and Insight said: “Staff have a unique perspective on how services are performing and the challenges and opportunities facing the organisation. 

“Feedback received through the consultation helps ensure the final report is honest, balanced and reflects the reality of working within the Council.

“Whether you agree with the findings, have suggestions for improvement or feel there is something important missing, we want to hear from you.”

Views can be shared by completing this short survey.