13 December 2002
Seventy-six of the 150 authorities that have undergone intensive inspections in recent months made it into the 'excellent' or 'good' categories. It was a result trumpeted by ministers and local government leaders alike as evidence of the strength of local services.
These councils will be rewarded with extra freedoms, such as a reduced inspection regime and a reduction in ringfenced funding.
'There is much for councils to be proud of,' local government minister Nick Raynsford said. 'These are councils with a strong focus on improvement and delivering high quality services.'
The CPA was introduced earlier this year amid much controversy. This is the first set of inspection results, and authorities have been grouped into five categories: 22 were deemed to be excellent; 54 were good; 39 were fair; 22 were weak; and 13 were poor.
Commission chair James Strachan said the CPA constituted the 'most detailed analysis' of authorities' performance ever made. 'The whole point of the CPA is to create a powerful tool for improving public services,' he said. 'Now is the time for all councils, regardless of ranking, to focus intently on where they can do better.'
All those in the bottom two categories will have meetings with ministers and officials from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, and will have to draw up action plans to raise services to an acceptable level.
Raynsford said these authorities would be given the chance to put their own houses in order, and if their plans were 'satisfactory' they would be left to 'get on with it'. But he said the government would not hesitate to send hit squads into failing authorities where they were needed.
'If we believe there is a need for additional intervention to ensure that improvement is achieved we will not hesitate to do it,' he said.
Sir Jeremy Beecham, chair of the Local Government Association, said the CPA had been 'stimulating' and that authorities should 'celebrate' their success. But he made clear that he wanted the 'local government family' to be given the room to tackle problems without government intervention.
'Councils will work together to help each other address their difficulties. The LGA is confident that local government is best placed to support itself to improve.'
Beecham also called for the new powers being offered to top-performing authorities to be given to all. 'We see freedoms and flexibilities not as rewards but as tools for improvement, and we'd like to see them rolled out to all in time.'
Dennis Reed, director of the Local Government Information Unit, which counts 150 authorities among its members, attacked the CPA for rendering simplistic judgements that 'denigrate' good work done by authorities.
'School reports have moved away from simple categorisation, and promote motivation by recognising individual diversity and strength. It is a shame the Audit Commission and the government have not learned these lessons.'
Westminster chief executive Peter Rogers, whose authority was among the best in the country, also criticised the new regime. 'The process added little that we didn't know from previous inspections. It wasn't constructive, didn't add value or speed up the improvement process,' he said.
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