Introduction
Comprehensive performance assessment (CPA) is about helping councils deliver better services to local people. It is part of a wider improvement agenda set out in the Local Government White Paper Strong Local Leadership-Quality Public Services.
CPA framework for district councils
The CPA framework for district councils has been developed to encompass the role of district councils in developing and contributing to sustainable social and economic environments for their communities and local area. The approach has been widely consulted on and initially tested with ten volunteer pathfinder authorities. The feedback led to the piloting of a revised approach with the district councils in West Sussex. In the light of feedback on this approach the basis for district CPA was developed:
The main elements of the approach to district CPA are as follows:
council self-assessment;
-
accredited peer challenge of the council's self-assessment;
-
a corporate assessment, informed by the peer report and the authority's self-assessment;
-
diagnostic assessments of the council's
-
management of public space, plus;
-
progress in meeting of the decent homes standard (where the council owns its own housing stock or is still in the process of transferring its stock) or contribution to the management of housing markets (where the council does not own council housing stock)
-
Benefit Fraud Inspectorate's (BFI) assessment of benefit services;
-
appointed auditor assessments of performance on each of the main elements of the code of audit practice and;
-
audited performance indicators, inspection reports and plan assessments.
The Audit Commission will produce a single management report for each district council. This will give a judgement about the council's corporate capacity to improve services and a judgement on each of the housing and public space diagnostic assessments'.
Gosport Borough Council and CPA
Gosport Borough Council, along with other District Councils in Hampshire, was inspected as part of the Comprehensive Performance Assessment September 2003. The Audit Commission produced a final moderated report in January 2004. This report contained information on the strengths and areas for development for the Council, which was then used to inform the production of an action and improvement plan to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of its operations and performance.
The Council prepared self assessment documentation, which involved comparing current arrangements against a best practice set of guidelines, identifying any weaknesses or gaps, and identifying solutions to be developed and implemented. Click here for Self Assessment
To improve the robustness of the self assessment, the Improvement and Development Agency (an accredited peer provider) carried out a peer review of the Council's self assessment in August 2003. This valuable external feedback enabled the Council to have a better understanding of itself and inform the final self assessment.
The self assessment and diagnostic assessments were provided to the Audit Commission, along with other information and evidence on the Council's performance, to allow it to perform the inspection and to make an overall judgement on the performance of the Council in respect of CPA.
Comprehensive Performance Assessment - April 2004 - Report produced from the Audit Commission
|
|
