Malton Town Council is celebrating Quality status with an award that recognises good practice in governance, community engagement and council improvement.

The Quality Award, made by the National Association of Local Councils (NALC), demonstrates that a council achieves good practice in governance, community engagement and council improvement. Quality Councils go above and beyond their legal obligations, leading their communities and continuously seeking opportunities to improve and develop even further.

The scheme has been designed to provide the tools and encouragement to those councils at the beginning of their improvement journeys, as well as promoting and recognising councils that are at the cutting edge of the sector.

LCAS undergoes a review every year. Local councils must meet the criteria of the guidance that is in place at the date they submit their completed application form to their local accreditation panel.

There are three award levels – Foundation, Quality and Quality Gold – and the emphasis of the scheme is on encouraging and supporting the improvement of councils, setting out criteria to be met at each level.

Malton Town Council achieved the Foundation award in 2020 but this is the first time it has been awarded Quality status.

In terms of the future, the council is now reviewing ways in which it can keep on improving its offer to the local community and welcomes input from local people and key partners on this.

Malton Town Council and other local councils like it, are at the front line of the government’s localism agenda and are doing as much as they can to deliver services whilst being efficient and cost-effective. Currently the council provides a range of services and wants to continue to improve its community engagement.

The Mayor of Malton, Councillor Kerry Ennis said: “It is fantastic to receive this award. The council aims to bring our local community together, while at the same time, ensuring value for money as well as constantly seeking new innovations and opportunities to improve.

Town Clerk, Gail Cook said: “I am very proud that we have achieved Quality status. It was very much a team effort, with everyone playing their part in working towards a successful outcome.”

Established in 1947, the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) is a membership organisation and the only national body representing the interests of local (parish and town) councils. NALC works in partnership with county associations to support, promote and improve local councils.

A local council is a universal term for community, neighbourhood, parish and town councils. They are the first tier of local government and are statutory bodies. They serve electorates and are independently elected and raise their own precept (a form of council tax). There are 10,000 local councils in England with over 30% of the country parished and 100,000 councillors who serve in these local councils.