HC Deb 02 December 2002 vol 395 cc633-5W
Mr. Andrew Turner

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the means by which scores for(a) OFSTED,(b) SSI and (c) other inspections are aggregated in the Comprehensive Performance Assessment process; and what criteria must be met for a local authority to achieve each CPA Grade. [83590]

Mr. Raynsford

The Audit Commission are responsible for the methodology used in the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) of local authorities. Full details are available in the Audit Commission's publication, "Final Framework for CPA for Single Tier and County Councils", and on their website at www.audit-commission.gov.uk with a summary in Annex A, which has been placed in the Library.

In practice, OFSTED, SSI and other inspection scores are translated into a 1 to 4 scale, multiplied by the appropriate weighting, and added together to produce an overall performance score. Councils are allocated to a CPA category on the basis of their overall performance score and their corporate assessment score, together with the application of various rules that, for example, mean that a council must achieve a level of performance in key services to be 'excellent' or 'good'.

May 2002 June 2002 July/August 2002 September 2002
Barnsley MBC Coventry CC Bracknell Forest BC Bath and North East Somerset
Bedfordshire CC Devon CC Buckinghamshire CC Birmingham City
Bournemouth BC East Sussex CC Bury MBC Blackburn with Darwen BC
Brighton and Hove City Essex CC Cambridgeshire CC Blackpool BC

Mr. Andrew Turner

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the dates of(a) CPA inspections of each local authority and (b) other inspections which contribute to the CPA process. [83591]

Mr. Raynsford

The dates on which Corporate Assessments were carried out for English county, metropolitan and unitary councils and London boroughs, are tabled below. Other inspection work contributing to the overall performance score for each authority is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Annex —Comprehensive Performance Assessment List of Phases for Single Tier and County Councils

The corporate assessments for the 10 pathfinder councils took place in April 2002:

  • Bolton MBC
  • LB of Camden
  • LB of Havering
  • Hertfordshire CC
  • Kent CC
  • Leeds MBC
  • Borough of Telford and Wrekin
  • Wigan MBC
  • Wiltshire CC
  • RB of Windsor and Maidenhead

May 2002 June 2002 July/August 2002 September 2002
Cheshire CC Halton BC City of York Bristol City
Derbyshire CC Isles of Scilly Corporation of London City of Bradford
Dorset CC Knowsley MBC Cumbria CC Calderdale MBC
East Riding of Yorkshire LB of Bexley Derby City Cornwall CC
Gateshead MBC LB of Bromley Dudley MBC Darlington BC
Hampshire CC LB of Greenwich Durham CC Doncaster MBC
Kirklees MBC LB of Hammersmith and Fulham Isle of Wight Hartlepool BC
LB of Barking and Dagenham LB of Haringey Kingston upon Hull Herefordshire CC
LB of Kensington and Chelsea LB of Islington LB of Brent Lancashire CC
LB of Lewisham LB of Richmond upon Thames LB of Baling LB of Barnet
LB of Newham LB of Southwark LB of Harrow LB of Croydon
LB of Sutton Leicester City LB of Lambeth LB of Enfield
Norfolk CC Leicestershire CC LB of Redbridge LB of Hackney
Northamptonshire CC Luton BC LB of Tower Hamlets LB of Hillingdon
Nottinghamshire CC Newcastle-upon-Tyne City Lincolnshire CC LB of Hounslow
Oxfordshire CC North Yorkshire CC Liverpool City LB of Merton
Peterborough City Rotheram MBC North Lincolnshire LB of Waltham Forest
Poole BC Sandwell MBC North Somerset LB of Wandsworth
Sefton MBC Slough BC North Tyneside MBC Manchester City
Staffordshire CC St.Helens MBC Oldham MBC Milton Keynes
West Sussex CC Surrey BC Portsmouth City North East Lincolnshire
Wirral MBC Tameside MBC RB of Kingston upon Thames Northumberland CC
Wokingham Trafford MBC Reading BC Nottingham City
Worcestershire CC Wakefield City Redcar and Cleveland BC Plymouth City
Rochdale MBC Salford City
Rutland CC Sheffield City
Somerset CC Shropshire CC
South Gloucestershire Solihull MBC
Stockport MBC South Tyneside MBC
Stockton-on-Tees BC Southampton City
Stoke-on-Trent City Southend-on-Sea BC
Swindon BC Suffolk CC
Warrington BC Sunderland City
West Berkshire Thurrock BC
Wolverhampton City Torbay
Walsall MBC
Warwickshire CC
Westminster City

Mr. Andrew Turner

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what(a)i qualifications are required and(b) criteria are adopted for selection of members of CPA inspection teams. [83592]

Mr. Raynsford

The composition and recruitment of CPA inspection teams is a matter for the Audit Commission. However, I understand that the teams that conducted the corporate assessment element of CPA were made up of: a team leadereither a senior Audit Commission inspector or auditor; an Audit Commission inspector; an appointed auditor; a peer councillor; and a peer officer.

Peer Councillors and officers were appointed with the help of the Local Government Association and the Improvement and Development Agency. Team members were all senior staff with the relevant skills and experience.