Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Council has received a top accreditation that identifies good practice in governance, community engagement and council improvement.

The Local Council Award Scheme’s ‘Quality Award’ is confirmation that the Town Council goes over and beyond in its legal obligations, leads the local community and continuously seeks opportunities to further improve and develop.

Of the 224 town and parish councils in Warwickshire and West Midlands, Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Council is one of just two that has achieved this status and is the first in the West Midlands to receive this award.

The scheme was first introduced in 2014 to promote and recognise excellence and is a peer assessed programme. There are three levels of award: The Foundation Award, the Quality Award and the Quality Gold Award, with a set of criteria against each. It has been designed to both provide the tools and encouragement to councils that are at the beginning of their improvement journeys, as well as promoting and recognising councils that are at the cutting edge of the sector.

Chief executive officer for Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Council, Olive O’Sullivan, said: “We’re very pleased to have achieved this Quality Award just three years after the town council was established.

“This is testament to the hard work in our formative years to put in place a strong foundation of good governance, on which we can build for the future. It’s important to demonstrate to residents, community groups and our key partners that we are a well-managed council that goes over and beyond in our statutory and voluntary obligations.

“We’re proud of our growing community engagement too and the feedback we continually receive gives us the valuable information we need about what we’re getting right and what we need to improve upon.

“While this accreditation confirms that we are getting things right, we have so much more we want to do, particularly around delivering the priorities set out in our Strategic Plan for 2020 – 2023, to ensure Sutton Coldfield continues to be a great place to live and work.”

John Crossling, County Officer for the Warwickshire & West Midlands Association of Local Councils (WALC), said: “WALC is delighted that Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Council has achieved Quality Status in the NALC Local Councils Awards Scheme.

“To go from creation to this standard in such a short timescale is nothing short of amazing and the staff and councillors should be applauded for all the effort that has gone in to achieving this feat.”

The Quality Award accreditation will last for four years. In the meantime the Town Council will be working to achieve Quality Gold Award status which strives for excellence in governance, community leadership and council development.