Local Government: Comprehensive Performance Assessments (Hansard, 11 December 2002)

§ Lord Rooker

The Audit Commission will announce the outcome of comprehensive performance assessments (CPA) for London boroughs, unitary, metropolitan and county councils on 12 December. These assessments will provide the basis for better local decision-making, inform relations between central and local government and give local people a clear understanding of how well their council is serving them. It is a key stage in one of the most ambitious exercises in performance management ever undertaken by central and local government. But CPA results are not the end of the process; they are the starting point for improvement planning that will demonstrate the Government's public sector reform agenda in action.

The services included in CPA have a significant impact on the quality of all our lives: education, social services, housing, transport, welfare benefits, waste, planning and library and leisure facilities. CPA also delivers a picture of the council as a corporate entity, recognising the importance of councils as community leaders, forging effective partnerships and delivering on national and local priorities. We will build on the connections CPA has made through a collective central government response, applying the measures announced on 26 November to devolve power, increase support where it is needed and work directly with councils to ensure local people receive the quality of services to which they are entitled.

We want to see all councils aiming to be excellent. Our vision is one where local government takes ownership of the improvement agenda, with those who do so successfully encouraged to innovate by the removal of controls. There is a great deal that can be learned from the best performing councils, and it is vital that we build on as well as celebrate their achievements.

We are reducing red tape and unnecessary controls that distract councils from improving services. For the very best councils, we are going further. These are councils with a strong focus on improvement which are delivering high quality services. They come in all shapes and sizes, including councils working in the most challenging circumstances. For high achievers CPA will bring new flexibility to expand or to change the way they deliver services and significant additional freedoms to go much further and trailblaze innovative and new practices.

We are making it clear that getting by will not be enough. There is no room for those in the middle simply to stay there. They will have to raise their game or fall behind. CPA will clearly identify the service priorities for the underperforming and the corporate obstacles to innovation and better services. It will indicate where these councils will have to focus their efforts and where central government should be prioritising support. Government are working with the LGA to identify a range of support and improvement activities in response to CPA. But it is clear that the skills needed to realise continuous improvement will be found primarily within local government. Securing long-term and sustained improvement will be achieved only through building a 36WA greater capacity across the whole local government sector. There will be an immediate focus on the poor and weak councils, informed by the corporate assessment element of CPA.

Government will work in a spirit of co-operation with those councils which are doing poorly. Wherever possible an authority should be given the opportunity to tackle its own problems and weaknesses. The Government will nevertheless seek to engage directly with poor performers and provide appropriate support. We recognise that even overall poor performers have some good services, and we are determined to build on good practice. CPA will deliver the challenge that some councils have needed to address complacency and take a radical look at the way they currently work. For others it will initiate the process of identifying the measures needed to turn around failing services. In all cases the message will be that we will not tolerate poor performance or failing councils. They let down the people they are elected to represent and serve. They tarnish the reputation of the rest of local government. Where necessary, government will not shirk from taking decisive and tough action.

CPA scores will be the launch-pad for action for central and local government. The overarching aim is to secure the foundation for genuine and long-lasting improvement in council services. Freedoms and flexibilities will enable the highest performers to do more. They will also provide a strong incentive for others to change. Where improvements are needed CPA will be the basis for better focused and more determined improvement planning. Ownership of improvement planning and strong local leadership at member and officer level will be vital, as will delivering against realistic but challenging targets. We expect CPA and the improvement planning process to deliver rapid and tangible benefits to local government and to the people they serve.