Caerphilly Council has been given a clean bill of health by an independent panel.

Chief executive Richard Edmunds told the council’s audit committee the panel had spent four days inspecting the local authority, “lifting the bonnet” to assess “whether we are meeting our performance requirements”.

Under Welsh law, councils must be assessed once every electoral cycle.

The panel found Caerphilly Council is “effectively fulfilling its functions, despite the challenging environment facing local government across Wales and the UK – marked by rising demand and significant funding gaps”.

The local authority’s leadership has a “clear grasp of the scale of these challenges”, the panel concluded, adding a “substantial” project aimed at cutting costs and modernising services was........

© South Wales Argus