Rutland County Council has published its annual report for 2018-2019, setting out how important local services have performed over the past 12 months.

The council publishes data showing how it has performed against a number of key targets after the end of each financial year.

To help provide a clear picture of how the county council is serving local communities, this has been turned into a simple guide which people can read to see how well their local services are working.

Councillor Oliver Hemsley, Leader of Rutland County Council, said: "This is an important report and one that I hope everyone in Rutland will want to read.

"We start each year by talking to residents about how we plan to use our budget to deliver local services.

"All local authorities are having to operate under immense pressure due to cuts in Government funding so it's more important than ever that people understand how their Council Tax is being spent.

"I'm incredibly proud of the work that's being done to help and support people in Rutland – particularly by those services which go above and beyond to protect and care for vulnerable adults and children.

"Overall this year, we have achieved 41 of our 48 targets.

"There is more that we can do to improve and this is only possible by working with our residents.

"That's why we have produced this report and why we continue to welcome people's honest feedback about the services we provide."

Since 2013 Rutland County Council has lost £4m in government funding, while rising demand for services and inflation has increased costs by £10.5m.

Rutland's annual report highlights performance across a wide range of local services including health and social care, community safety, children and young people, lifelong learning, highways, transport, culture and leisure, waste and planning.

It also explains, in simple terms, where the council is meeting, exceeding or falling short of targets.

For example, in Rutland in the past year:

• Fewer than 1% of young people in Rutland were not in education, employment or training (NEET)

• 98% of Rutland residents admitted to hospital were still at home 91 days after being discharged back into the community

• A total of 63 affordable homes were delivered in the county, surpassing the target of 45

• 84% of all Adult Social Care reviews were completed on time

• 100% of primary school starters and 95% of secondary school starters were offered a place at one of their preferred schools

• 18.9% of young people achieved three or more A Grades at A-level (6% higher than the national average)

• 93% of child safeguarding assessments were completed within the required 45-day timeframe

• More than 94,000 visits were made to local libraries

• 56% of Rutland's waste was sent for recycling (just shy of the 57.8% target)

The council narrowly missed out on just seven of its 48 targets for the year and, in all cases, steps are already being taken to close any gaps.

Council Leader Oliver Hemsley added: "We want to be upfront with residents about where we have missed any targets and let them know what we are doing about it.

"In some areas, such as the completion of adult social care reviews for people with learning disabilities, we have fallen short of our target by a single percentage point.

"In other areas, such as the management and delivery of Child Protection Plans, we are working with very small numbers of people, meaning the outcome of even just one case can have a large impact in percentage terms.

"In all cases, we have plans in place to bring about further improvements and are already working hard to do this."

The publication of Rutland Annual Report follows on from a yearly inspection by independent auditors which found that the council is managing its finances well and providing value for money for residents.

In the past year, the council's Children's Services have also received positive feedback from Ofsted, while a scheduled inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) described Rutland's Community Support Services as providing an 'outstanding' level of care for vulnerable people.

Rutland County Council Annual Report is available to view online by clicking the red button below. Printed copies will be available to read in local libraries from Monday (30 Sept).

Anyone with comments or feedback about the report can share their views with the council by emailing [email protected].