THE ‘Council Oscars’ were handed out at a special ceremony this week – with a Bucks authority walking away victorious.

Bucks County Council was named outright winner of the Corporate Governance category, with members praised for the way they have made changes to improve services and performance.

The gong came at the national Local Government Chronicle (LGC) Awards, one of the biggest celebrations of innovation and talent across British councils.

Martin Tett, leader of the council, said: "The LGC Awards are 'The Oscars' of local Government. Winning this award is fantastic. We are a 'member led' council and it is great to see this recognised on the national stage.

"It is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of all our staff and members and this award belongs to them all."

In announcing the award, the judging panel said that Buckinghamshire was a 'good council with excellent member relations'. They also described the changes that councillors had made as 'highly impressive'.

The Council received highly commended awards in the categories of 'Public Health' for the way in which the Council is delivering health and wellbeing improvements and 'Innovation in Commissioning' for the way it established the new Buckinghamshire Learning Trust organisation.

LGC editor Nick Golding said, "Projects such as Buckinghamshire County Council's demonstrate the level of innovation in British local government today. Our judges were extremely impressed by the quality of the entries.

“At a time when resources are scarce, councils are innovating to ensure they provide residents with the best quality services."