HC Deb 05 March 2002 vol 381 cc168-9W
16. Mr. Jim Cunningham

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what changes he proposes to introduce to the performance assessment for local authorities. [36659]

25. Ms Coffey

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans he has to introduce a more coherent and integrated system of local government performance measures. [36668]

Dr. Whitehead

In our White Paper—Strong Local Leadership-Quality Public Services—we announced that the Audit Commission would develop, in consultation with central and local government, a comprehensive performance assessment framework for local government. This will bring together the range of existing assessment processes to provide a coherent overall performance profile for each authority.

Comprehensive performance assessment is at the heart of a significant move towards a more bespoke evaluation, inspection, support and intervention process for local authorities. It will provide Government, councils and the public with a clear performance profile for each council. This information will allow a proportionate action plan to be agreed with each authority to address areas of concern, better inform negotiation of targets and provide a robust basis for action to tackle poor performance.