ANOTHER day, another mauling for Swindon Council. A year ago independent inspectors of the Audit Commission branded the council's performance poor and placed it ignominiously in the bottom 10 of 150.
One year on and it's still rated poor, though now it has slipped into the worst seven in the UK.
Few people will be surprised.
In between the two inspections, the council has been roasted for its lamentable social services operation.
Burnt fingers have repeatedly been put back into the fire.
The relatively new administration and management team claim lessons have been learned. They have a vision, they say, and a will to win. They plead for a fair chance to prove themselves, arguing that a culture-change is already producing positive results.
The Audit Commission has put them on trial.
But long-suffering Swindon Council taxpayers are the real jurors.
Their verdict will be delivered at their next voting opportunity.
The stark reality now is that Swindon Council will be allowed only one last shot at troubleshooting its way out of the mess, so it had better hit its target.
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