Issue - meetings

A presentation will be made.

The Board received a presentation on the new Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA).

An overview was given of the scope of the CAA and it was noted that it was comprised of two key strands:

Area Assessment

This strand would consider how effectively local public services delivered local priorities, economic prospects, community safety and potential for future improvement.

Organisational Assessment

This strand would consider the use of resources and performance management and how the Council, Police, Fire and PCT delivered value for money through their combined use of resources and performance management.

In assessing this four key themes would be considered:

• Management of finances
• Governing business
• Managing resources
• Managing performance

In terms of the Area Assessment the following key areas that it would focus upon:

• How well do local priorities express community needs and aspirations?
• How well are the outcomes and improvements needed being delivered?
• What are the prospects for future improvements?

It was noted that the Local Authority would be required to produce and publish an Annual Summary, which would include an overview of key priorities, overall successes and challenges and a summary of future prospects. It was envisaged that these would form a tool for members of the public wanting to obtain an overview of the Borough.

In addition to this a flag system of red and green flags would be used to indicate areas where arrangements were considered inadequate to deliver improvements or where exceptional or innovative practice was demonstrated.

The Board was advised that that the CAA would take a more holistic approach to assessing performance and would gather evidence over the course of a year rather than focussing on a limited period.

It was noted that the following timescale for the introduction of the CAA had been set out:

• January 2009:            Publication of CAA Framework
• February 2009:          Publication of Final Council CPA Results
• November 2009:       Publication of First CAA Reports 

In response to a query, the Board was advised that as the CAA was perception based, there were no specific sanctions within it that could be issued against the Local Authority or Partners if they failed to meet these. There were sanctions under existing legislation that could be applied where performance was unacceptable.  

The Board was advised that the Audit Commission would have access to existing validated data and that this would inform the inspection.

In response to query as to how the role of the Voluntary and Community Sector would be measured, the Board was advised that the Council’s relationship with HAVCO would be considered and the involvement of the CLF representatives on HSP and Thematic Boards.

The Chaired noted that each partner organisation would now need to consider it would address the four key themes set out above. 

RESOLVED:

That the presentation be noted.