§ Mr. BradyTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister which local authorities he is assessing for(a) the introduction of relationship managers and (b) transferring the control of their services to other councils; and what criteria he has used in making these assessments. [145229]
§ Mr. RaynsfordThe Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has appointed lead officials to work with the 13 education and social services authorities rated "poor" under the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) carried out by the Audit Commission in 2002; also with two authorities which were rated "weak" in 2002 but with poor corporate capacity to improve; and at present with one district council rated as "poor" in October 2003. These authorities are: Bedfordshire, Coventry, Hackney, Islington, Kingston-upon-Hull, Lambeth, North East Lincolnshire, North Tyneside, Oldham, Plymouth, Swindon, Torbay, Torridge, Wakefield, Walsall and Waltham Forest.
In addition, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has been working on a voluntary basis prior to CPA assessment with Chester-le-Street, Erewash and Rossendale district councils. Discussions are currently also under way with a number of authorities who were rated "weak" in 2002 with a view to working on a voluntary basis with them.
It is for the councils themselves to identify the key steps needed to achieve recovery through improvement. The role of lead officials is to monitor their rate of progress, and to provide advice to Ministers on whether that rate of progress is acceptable. Under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1999, the Government do have power to intervene in authorities which fail to comply with their duty of best value.