The Council has been ‘awarded’ a Grade 3 in the latest Area Assessment.  Under the previous (but comparable scheme) it was given a 4.

Conservative Deputy Leader Councillor Geoffrey Samuel said: “The complacency with which the LibDem leadership has shrugged off this latest ‘score’ is bad news.  Complacency is the enemy of improvement."

The failure to win even one ‘green flag’ (awarded for ‘innovation and excellent practice’) is similarly dismissed.

In four of the fourteen headings Richmond is assessed as “meets only minimum requirements”.

After the Auditors gave the LIbDems the lowest possible pass category for Value for Money this should be real cause for concern.

Councillor Samuel continued: "Perhaps in future self-congratulatory publications such as Arcadia should tell not just the truth – but, for once, the whole truth. They are running out of time”.