A LOCAL authority is at the forefront of a national initiative to drive forward improvements in the way councils work.

Stockton Borough Council is piloting the national scheme of internal assessment for Investors in People (IIP) status.

Rob Papworth, training and development officer with the council, said it was a way of ensuring there was continuous improvement and provided a more cost effective system for the people of Stockton.

Mr Papworth said: "Using our people to review our performance means they are closer to the business, so they can bring in greater knowledge and perhaps more insight into situations.

"It is making people sit-up, look at themselves and say 'how can we improve?' There is no point in reinventing the wheel and internal review gives people the chance to learn from other's experiences."

Although the review is done internally, status has to be validated by an outside assessor.