We are having the inspectors in. The council is playing host to a team from Audit Scotland who will be assessing our performance.

The Best Value audit, as it is called, takes place periodically to hold the council to account. These inspections draw public attention to whether the council is working well or not.

Occasionally a glowing report will be given for a dedicated cohort of officers working collaboratively with a strong political leadership from the council administration.

However, it is in the nature of democratic politics that squabbling councillors and scarce resources lead to overall performance below par. The auditors usually find plenty to comment on that requires action to bring improvements.

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The policy of austerity over the past decade has sapped council resources. Social care finances are stretched to breaking point and a deficit has opened up which is proving hard to close.

The amenity services teams who look after the maintenance activities associated with roads, grass cutting, litter collection and flower beds have been forced to cut staff numbers. The result is a deterioration of the visual appearance of the public space in our towns and villages.

The public response has been mixed. More complaints have been voiced as they want to have their locality looking clean and tidy.

There has also been understanding of the predicament faced by the council. Volunteers have come forward to take up some of the slack left by the cutbacks. Members of the Community Council have picked up their spades and forks and are maintaining flower beds in Colquhoun Square.

I have noticed more people picking up litter off the streets where they live. Beach cleans by volunteers are now undertaken regularly. It shows what can be achieved when people work together.

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The council works with these volunteer groups in an informal way providing tools and materials as required.

The trend of reducing budgets is likely to continue. There is little prospect of us going back to the days when the council did these things on behalf of the community.

Sooner or later a more formal collaboration between volunteer groups maintaining the public space and council will be required.

There is clearly a willingness of many people to do ‘their bit’. They should be encouraged and assisted by the council.

There are tasks that can only be undertaken by professional staff, but there is much that can be done by enthusiasm and common sense.