Bridgend County Borough Council has been awarded three Excellence Wales Awards at the Welsh Local Government Association's Council Oscars, held last Thursday (12 March 2009).  Bridgend Council picked up a commendation in the 'Our Citizens and Communities - building an inclusive society' category for its work with community learning brokers which sets out to increase the capacity of local communities to engage in the economic and social regeneration of their area and improve the skills and confidence needed to engage with skills for work programmes.  Bridgend Council was also recognised for its successful collaboration with other public agencies and the voluntary and private sectors to deliver shared services in social care, engineering and transport.  Bridgend Council's Head of Trading Standards Lee Jones also picked up a certificate of recognition for his work on 'Netwise' under the 'Our Authority' category, a project which is helping to detect and prevent internet fraud. The Council has been successful in securing funding from the Department of Trade and Industry to facilitate the development of the netwise toolkits and this is now a resource that all local authorities can access via a secure website.  The Council's Chief Executive Jo Farrar said:" The Excellence Wales awards showcase excellence in local government and it is a great achievement for the Council to be recognised in a number of categories. I would particularly like to thank our staff for their commitment to developing and delivering quality services that are amongst the best in Wales."  Steve Thomas, WLGA Chief Executive (pictured above) added: "Excellence Wales continues to show that councils and their local government partners are as dedicated as ever to achieving the best for their communities. Local government finances have been squeezed by an unprecedented amount over the last year, yet council's commitment and enthusiasm to delivering better services remains as strong as ever."