By David Scott in Edinburgh
16 October 2009
Councils in Scotland must carry out more market-testing to demonstrate they are providing value for money, according to a local government spending watchdog.
Following an analysis of Best Value audits of the 32 councils, the Accounts Commission found a less than robust approach to testing competitiveness. Its report, published on October 15, concluded that this was an area where most councils had considerable scope to improve.
The watchdog said that for the first time the system of Best Value audits, introduced in 2004, had given the public an overall picture of how well their councils were performing.
Commission chair John Baillie said that while there was still a long way to go, councils had made improvements.
However, areas such as performance management, public reporting and scrutiny were lagging behind. Local authorities also needed to do more to demonstrate Best Value and cost-effectiveness across the whole range of services, the report stated: ‘Councils must be able to show that their services provide value for money by being able to demonstrate that the cost of services is “competitive” when compared with other providers or commissioners of services.’
One way that competitiveness could be tested was by comparing cost and service performance against other providers, both in the private and public sectors, the report added.
‘Local people should be able to have confidence that their council is delivering services in a way that ensures they are getting the best possible service, given the resources available.’
The commission said the lack of a robust approach to testing competitiveness was an area where most councils had ‘considerable scope to improve’.
Issues relating to competitiveness featured in 23 of the 32 Best Value reports.
The report said the better councils had sound performance management frameworks in place, but the poorer councils lacked a coherent corporate framework and performance information was patchy across various departments.
Deputy auditor general Caroline Gardner said: ‘There is now a much clearer understanding of important issues and how to drive improvement.
‘But, as most councils realise, they still have much to do to ensure they are operating as effectively and efficiently as possible.’
16 October 2009
Councils in Scotland must carry out more market-testing to demonstrate they are providing value for money, according to a local government spending watchdog.
Following an analysis of Best Value audits of the 32 councils, the Accounts Commission found a less than robust approach to testing competitiveness. Its report, published on October 15, concluded that this was an area where most councils had considerable scope to improve.
The watchdog said that for the first time the system of Best Value audits, introduced in 2004, had given the public an overall picture of how well their councils were performing.
Commission chair John Baillie said that while there was still a long way to go, councils had made improvements.
However, areas such as performance management, public reporting and scrutiny were lagging behind. Local authorities also needed to do more to demonstrate Best Value and cost-effectiveness across the whole range of services, the report stated: ‘Councils must be able to show that their services provide value for money by being able to demonstrate that the cost of services is “competitive” when compared with other providers or commissioners of services.’
One way that competitiveness could be tested was by comparing cost and service performance against other providers, both in the private and public sectors, the report added.
‘Local people should be able to have confidence that their council is delivering services in a way that ensures they are getting the best possible service, given the resources available.’
The commission said the lack of a robust approach to testing competitiveness was an area where most councils had ‘considerable scope to improve’.
Issues relating to competitiveness featured in 23 of the 32 Best Value reports.
The report said the better councils had sound performance management frameworks in place, but the poorer councils lacked a coherent corporate framework and performance information was patchy across various departments.
Deputy auditor general Caroline Gardner said: ‘There is now a much clearer understanding of important issues and how to drive improvement.
‘But, as most councils realise, they still have much to do to ensure they are operating as effectively and efficiently as possible.’
