Report finds 2020 performance of Mayo County Council was 'mixed'

A report by the independent watchdog of local government has examined the performance of Mayo County Council in 2020 across eleven areas.

The annual report, by the National Oversight and Audit Commission (NOAC), found the council delivered mixed results in a range of areas including housing, the environment and financial management.

Some of the key findings in the report include:

•Housing: Mayo County Council owned 2,254 social housing dwellings at end of 2020.

•Roads: The level of motor tax transactions, which were dealt with online, was 80.82%.

•Corporate: The percentage of paid working days lost to sickness absence through medically certified leave in 2020 was 3.40%.

•Finance: The level of rent collection for 2020 was 87%.

Commenting on the publication of the report, the chair of NOAC Performance Indicator Working Group, Philomena Poole, said: “Public health restrictions and the increased challenges local authorities faced in providing essential services, along with the reduction in income, has impacted performance under various indicator headings.

"However, re-letting time and cost has again increased and although Covid-19 has impacted this area, NOAC notes that there has been a steady rise in re-letting costs since 2014, with only a small decrease shown in 2019 compared to the prior year.”

NOAC uses 42 indicators across eleven areas to measure local authority performance.

"The data is submitted by the local authorities and other State and regulatory bodies. NOAC would like to thank local authority staff, the LGMA, and all organisations who provided or reviewed data for NOAC’s 2020 annual report.