Thanet’s Comprehensive Performance Assessment
The Audit Commission undertook a Comprehensive
Performance Assessment (CPA) of the Council in March 2004. The
purpose of the assessment was to help the Council deliver better
services to local people.
The inspectors assessed what the Council was
trying to achieve, how it was delivering its priorities, what the
Council had achieved/not achieved and how successfully it plans for
the future.
Council performance is given an
across-the-board ranking from five possible scores: poor, weak,
fair, good or excellent, and in 2004 the Council received a ‘weak’
ranking. The Council took up the challenge laid down by the CPA
report, and used the lessons learned to accelerate the drive for
improvement already identified by the inspectors. Consequently at
the end of 2006 the Council applied to be recategorised. Inspectors
visited the Council in February 2007 and their final report was
released in June. The report recognised the improvements the
Council had made and recategorised the Council as ‘fair’.
What did the Report Say?
In the report the Audit Commission described
the Council as having staff that are “highly committed, well
informed and appraised” with a “strong approach to training and
developing people”. Morale was described as being high amongst
staff and the Council was seen as having a “can do” attitude.
The Council was seen as improving performance
in some areas, with particular praise for the work done to improve
the cleanliness of the area. The report stated that “Award winning
beaches are maintained to a high standard, graffiti and fly-posting
levels are low and cleanliness is improving. The Council manages an
effective programme of events, including Sport 4 NRG, an innovative
scheme which provides sporting activities as a diversionary
activity for young offenders.”
Other comments described the Council as having
a “well developed” community leadership role, with ambitions that
were “soundly based on consultation”. The Council was also praised
for improving its performance in a number of customer focused
areas, including reducing the time it takes to process new benefits
claims and improvements in responding to phone calls from
customers.
However, the report also pointed out that the
Council’s scrutiny arrangements were “not robust” and provided
“insufficient challenge to drive improvement” and that the Council
was not “using customer feedback to improve council services.” The
Audit Commission also commented that the “Council should improve
project management, so that priority projects are delivered on
time” and the report also warned that “some Council spending
priorities are not supported or driven by a clear strategy”, citing
the lack of a cultural strategy and a sports strategy.
The report recommended that the Council set
itself more challenging targets and maintained a better focus on
its ambitions. It was remarked that the Council could be clearer
about what its priorities are and what they are not. The report
noted that service plans do not reflect the Council’s priorities.
The Commission recommended that clear service standards should be
published for all services, and that the Council ensure that its
buildings are made accessible to disabled people.
To read the full report please visit the Audit
Commission website at:
http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/authority.asp?CategoryID=ENGLISH%5e576%5eLOCAL-VIEW%5eAUTHORITIES%5e108326
How is the Council Responding?
The Council has welcomed the recognition given for the
improvements that have been made and has positively responded to
the new challenges the report provides. Many of the Audit
Commissions findings have influenced the content of the Council’s
new Corporate Plan, including the target to ensure 100% compliance
with disability access legislation, and the creation of service
standards across the organisation.
The Corporate Plan also addresses issues
around prioritisation and ambition clearly stating where the
Council’s focus will be over the coming four years. Service plans
have been aligned against the Corporate Plan themes and project
management has been built into the corporate performance management
process.
Following the recent election there has been a
new approach to the scrutiny function, where the two scrutiny
panels have been combined, with a clearer focus of work including
involvement in Value for Money reviews. Scrutiny is also going to
be taking the lead on developing a CPA improvement plan with the
intention that all key opportunities for improvement identified by
the Audit Commission are taken forward in the coming months and
years.
The Council has also begun to develop further
the way it deals with, and learns from complaints and this focus
will be supported by the inclusion of information on complaints
being included within internal service performance reports on a
monthly basis.
The Council has found CPA to be a positive
experience which has clearly shown that we are on the right track.
Our services continue to improve and our work within the community
is helping to change Thanet for the better.
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