07 March 2003
The relentless push for public services improvement has provided a burgeoning market for the Improvement and Development Agency, which plans to expand to meet rising demand from local government.
District councils are expected to be the main beneficiaries of the expansion as the Comprehensive Performance Assessment regime is rolled out to all councils in the coming year.
The plans, which are expected to be rubber-stamped by the IDA board on March 12, include a 'clearing house' where members and officers are parachuted in to assess the performance in councils. Already working with more than 80 accredited people, the IDA plans to introduce a database of more than double that number.
IDA chief executive Steve Bundred told Public Finance that public service reform and improvement was a central aim of the government.
Compared with the resources going into NHS modernisation and other similar improvements in the public sector, local government has a lot to do to get a similar level of service, according to Bundred.
Councils normally face a £12,000 bill from the IDA for the Local Government Improvement Programme, although the new plans include a reduction for districts, cutting the bill to £5,000.
Bundred defended the charges and said it was unfair for council taxpayers to subsidise a service that was provided by others on the open market. But he said the aim of the service was not just to work with those graded weak or poor.
He said: 'The CPA has had an effect on what we do, but we know that more than half of councils in the first batch are good or excellent, and we are just as keen to work with those who push boundaries forward as those who need extra help.'
He said the best councils were those who were not inward-looking, but even the best often needed an external challenge.
The agency is already working with 15 councils with serious corporate performance issues, and plans to appoint two 'top-level' strategic advisers to develop links with education and social services departments.
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