27 June 2003
The Audit Commission has given in to pressure from council leaders and scaled back plans to increase the thresholds between performance categories when the Comprehensive Performance Assessments are updated.
The commission, which on June 25 unveiled its final blueprint for the yearly reassessments scheduled to take place between 2003 and 2006, has confirmed that the scores needed for each of the five rankings will be the same as those used in the 2002 league tables.
In addition, authorities hoping to move up a category will have to boost their overall score by at least three points, showing improvement in either education, social services or two other service blocks. Those classified as 'poor' or 'good' will have to undergo another corporate assessment before moving up.
The commission had originally proposed higher thresholds and improvement of at least five points in the overall score.
The change of heart has come after a concerted campaign by town hall leaders, who had argued the proposed standards were so high that many authorities that deserved to move up the rankings would be trapped in their existing performance categories.
The decision opens the way for the first wave of councils to win promotion in December this year, when the next set of tables are due to be published.
Commission chair James Strachan said the revisions to the plans, which were released for consultation in April, would still ensure councils only moved up if they could demonstrate tangible service improvements.
'We have listened to feedback from local government and have changed our approach to increase the effectiveness of the CPA. We must ensure that improvement reporting reflects significant improvement in local services,' Strachan said.
But the Local Government Association gave the plans a cool reception. Its chair, Sir Jeremy Beecham, told Public Finance he was still waiting to receive a copy of the final framework from the commission and did not expect it until early next week.
He expressed concern that authorities would still have to improve their scores over and above the 2002 performance category thresholds to be promoted.
'It's demotivating for one thing and does nothing for the credibility of the process,' he said. 'If I were in an authority which increased its score by one or two points and passed the 2002 threshold I would be saying “we are as good as the others, don't take any notice of the classification”.'
But Beecham did endorse other aspects of the framework outlined by the commission, such as confirmation that authorities will be able to request another corporate reassessment if they can show substantial progress.
'It appears the commission has listened to some of the concerns of the LGA and our member authorities,' he said. 'The efforts the commission is making to consult and listen are important and welcome.'
PFjun2003
