Unnecessary changes to CPA indicators will confuse public warns London Councils

Plans by the Audit Commission to change the measures used to annually assess how councils are performing are unnecessary and will lead to confusion says London Councils.

The Audit Commission is seeking to alter some of the indicators it uses to judge how well councils are serving their local communities through Comprehensive Performance Assessments (CPA). This is despite CPAs being replaced with Comprehensive Area Assessments, looking at how all public services in an area work together, from 2009.

Under the Audit Commission's proposals national targets will be used to judge performance on housing, environmental and culture services. London Councils has written to the Commission warning that these national targets will not take account of local circumstances, particularly in London.

Councils across the capital and the rest of the country have different needs and face different challenges. London Councils fears that using the same targets to judge their services will confuse local communities by giving them a distorted view of the work of their councils.

London Councils' Executive member for Improvement, Cllr Michael White, said:

"The CPA process plays an important role in driving change and improvement in local government, which is something London boroughs are fully committed to.

"However, I can not see the value in making changes to the CPA system when it is being replaced from 2009.

"The proposals the Commission is putting forward put too much emphasis on judging a councils performance against national targets. This will fail to take account of local issues, especially in London.

"London is totally different to anywhere else in the country and the Audit Commission must realise that a one size fits all approach will not work.

"London's boroughs are committed to improving the lives of their local residents, and this is shown by having five of the top 10 performing councils in the country in the capital. But these proposals will have a negative impact on any future performance assessment of London's councils. As a result their reputation could be severely damaged within their local communities."

Further information

In its submission London Councils raises concerns that the Audit Commission is proposing councils should be judged on the number of fly tipping reports in their area, even if the council is taking action to clear the rubbish dumped and stop it happening again.

It also believes that any indicators on how councils are performing on recycling must take account of the difficulties faced by London boroughs due to the high proportions of flats and multi-occupancy homes in the capital.

London Councils believes that regional targets on how well authorities are tackling overcrowding and homelessness should also be used. Using a national target will fail to adequately reflect London's special circumstances. Homelessness is at an historic high in the capital and over half of England's severely overcrowded households are also in London.

London Councils also feels it is wrong to judge individual boroughs on the number of museums, libraries, theatres and concert halls they have in their area. The capital has a highly mobile population who will travel across the capital to visit culture and entertainment venues. London Councils believes that this means the capital as a whole should be assessed on improvements in culture services.

Under CPA councils receive an overall performance category ranging from 0 to 4 star, with 4 star being the highest. The system also assesses the direction of each council's overall improvement using the following direction of travel labels: improving strongly; improving well; improving adequately; and not improving adequately (or not improving).

In London 85 per cent of councils have achieved either a 3 or 4 star rating - the highest possible under the CPA. The national average currently stands at 80 per cent.

London performs even better on the direction of travel ratings.  97% of London councils were rated as either improving well or improving strongly.   London has five of only ten councils in the country that received the highest possible rating of "four star, improving strongly".

Contact

Any member off the media wanting more information should contact Stewart Henderson on 020 7934 9620 or at stewart.henderson@londoncouncils.gov.uk