National Recognition for Torridge (2014)

The 2014 Land Data Local Land Charges Awards for Excellence took place Monday 24 February. These celebrate the work and achievements of local authority teams that carry out land and property searches required for conveyancing transactions.

Torridge District Council won the Best Performing National Land Information Service (Level Three) Local Land Charges Department Award. It also means they are the only local authority to have either won or been highly commended for an award (in different categories) every year since the awards began seven years ago. 

Meanwhile, North Devon Council won the Best Performing NLIS (Level Two) Local Land Charges Department Award for the second year in a row.

Jan Boothroyd, Chief Executive of Land Data says: "Land Data are delighted to be able to honour the excellent service from local government local land charges teams who are delivering outstanding results in the face of radical change and budget cuts. All of our winners have shown that they are amongst the best in the business and they should feel proud of what they have achieved."

Councillor Gaye Tabor, Torridge's Lead Member for Local Land Charges, says: "Year on year brings more success to the team. This is again tremendous news. It is wonderful to see Torridge District Council officers performing so well. We are extremely pleased to have won this award and my congratulations go to the Local Land Charges Team for the excellent work that they have done and continue to do."

Robert Bates, Local Land Charges Officer at North Devon Council, says: "It's great that the hard work of the authority is recognised again. We have a great small team that all contribute towards the success of the service. We would also like to thank the local conveyancers of North Devon who have shown great loyalty towards us in these competitive times."

North Devon Council Leader, Brian Greenslade, says: "I would like to add my congratulations to the staff at both councils for achieving these awards. Not only is it recognition for the teams, but it is also recognition of the excellent service delivery that is provided here in North Devon and Torridge."

Over 135 representatives from local land charges teams across the country attended last night's event in Bristol, which was hosted by actor and presenter Shaun Williamson.

Both Torridge District Council and North Devon were up against nine other shortlisted councils in each of their categories. Judging focused on performance between June and November 2013 and is based on the highest overall percentage of NLIS electronic search volumes, the fastest electronic turnaround time and whether an electronic search price is offered to customers.

The Local Land Charges Awards for Excellence are sponsored by NLIS, the Local Land Charges Institute (LLCI), Thames Water Property Searches, SearchFlow and TM Group (UK).

Photo: Marshall King, Kevin Crowl, Shaun Williamson

24 Feb 2014