Best Value or Comprehensive Performance Assessment  - Performance Information

The Council's performance is measured against nationally agreed targets.

Outcome of 2004 Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA)

Best Value

The government requires each local authority to collect and publish a range of performance indicators reflecting the services the authority provides. The indicators are verified by an external auditor from the District Audit service.

The performance indicators are set by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM).

Each year every local authority has to return to the Audit Commission details of all the performance indicators (PIs) they are responsible for collecting. The Audit Commission analyses this data by taking the performance of all authorities and ranking performance from best to worst. The resultant 'league table' is then divided into quartiles e.g if 200 authorities report a particular PI, the best performing 50 authorities are classed as being the 'top quartile' and worst performing 50 authorities classed as the 'bottom quartile'. The Commission also gives details of the median figure for each PI (the median being the value of the item in the middle of a range of figures).

Comprehensive Performance Assessment

Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) is the latest in a long line of Government initiatives to improve local government. You will have seen the inspections of schools and hospitals, and the league tables that follow. Well, CPA is much the same, but for Councils. All councils are inspected by a team from the Audit Commission, often described in the media as government watchdogs.

They talk to councillors and members of staff at all levels, as well as to the public and the Council's partners, to get a view of the Council from as wide a perspective as possible. They see how the Council delivers its services, what improvements the Council could make, what difficulties they face, before they make a judgement and award a rating. The ratings are excellent, good, fair, weak and poor. Their rating is accompanied by a report, which is made public, explaining why they reached that conclusion.

Councils achieving good or excellent ratings will enjoy certain freedoms, which include relaxation of financial controls and a holiday from inspections. The main parts of the CPA are:

A Self-Assessment Document

The Council has to produce a report for the inspection team which looks at its achievements, strengths and weaknesses.

A Peer Challenge

A kind of dummy run for the real inspection. A team of Peers (colleagues from other authorities) visit the Council. Their job is to speak to representatives, groups and individuals, study evidence and the Council's draft self assessment (see above) and compile a report which, amongst other things, suggest improvements to the self-assessment. Their report is sent to the Audit Commission Inspectors as part of the evidence.

A Corporate Assessment

An official check on how the Council operates. Linked to the Self-Assessment and the Peer Challenge, this looks at the Council's performance against four questions:

• What is the Council trying to achieve?
• How has the Council set about delivering the most important improvements?
• What has the Council achieved/not achieved to date?
• In the light of what the Council has achieved so far, what do the Council plan to do next?

The answers to these questions are scored between 1 - 4 as follows:

1 = weak;

2 = weaknesses exceed strengths;

3 = strengths exceed weaknesses;

4 = strong

Documentation

Key documents, such as strategies, policies, and reports are sent to the Inspection Team before they arrive. They also receive long lists of contacts in community groups and the Council's partners, many of who will be asked to speak to them during the inspection.

Self Assessment

This is the final version of the Self Assessment document which is sent to the Audit Commission. In preparing it, the Council incorporates comments made by external partners, councillors and staff.

Included in the document is a self scoring matrix (the Council is asked to score themselves against the same set of criteria as the Inspectors), and the reports on public space and housing (see above).