CARMARTHENSHIRE County Council has been praised by the Wales Audit Office (WAO) for its “robust and transparent governance” following a corporate assessment carried out at the end of 2015.

The publication of the report – which is due to be presented to the council’s executive committee at its next meeting and then full council on February 10 - indicated a remarkable turnaround for the authority which was subject to two WAO Public Interest reports in early 2014 lambasting Carmarthenshire’s management structures in the wake of “unlawful” payments made in relation to the chief executive’s pension and a High Court libel action.

Both Public Interest reports pinpointed a lack of transparency at the authority, leading to a review of its management by the Welsh Local Government Association, which also identified a lack of transparency at County Hall.

It now appears however that the WAO has given Carmarthenshire a clean bill of health.

Carmarthenshire County Council, demonstrating ambition in its vision, with collective leadership and more robust and transparent governance, is delivering improved outcomes for its citizens although some outdated approaches may limit the speed of progress,” the report states.

Chief executive Mark James said: “It is a good report for the council, giving assurance generally that the council is performing very well, and has a good vision and preparedness for the future. Officers are continuing to work hard in the face of declining budgets to ensure the council provides quality services and an exciting agenda to invest and improve further in future.”

Council Leader Cllr Emlyn Dole said: “The report made for very pleasant reading, it recognised that we have a well-established and ambitious vision which is being driven forward by a strong collective leadership from both the Executive Board and Corporate Management Team.

“We recognise that there are always things we can do better, and we will have an action plan to address the proposals for improvement.

“Overall, a very pleasing report which we hope will give the public reassurance that we are performing well and continuing to improve.”

The report did however highlight a need for improved procurement arrangements, better links between financial and improvement planning and the management of authority assets and improved use of ICT.