By David Williams
24 September 2009
The Audit Commission has admitted to ‘teething problems’ in its new inspection regime for local authorities, following strong criticism from council leaders.
The regulator’s Comprehensive Area Assessment programme is failing to reduce the burden on councils, and is not being co-ordinated effectively, a Local Government Association survey found.
The CAA, which replaced the Comprehensive Performance Assessment in April, is intended to be less burdensome on well-performing councils, while targeting the highest priorities for each area.
It also looks across services in a local authority area, so involves other public service regulators.
David Parsons, chair of the LGA improvement board, said: ‘These results question [the CAA’s] relevance and longevity. It’s not clear that the inspectorates’ assessment is going to tell us anything we don’t already know. The CAA is going to have to demonstrate its value for money – at the moment we are not convinced.’
The LGA acknowledged that it was still early days for the new regime, and was positive about how local CAA co-ordinators were involving authorities.
But its survey found that just one in ten councils believed regulation had become less intrusive, while 40% said they were spending more time on the CAA than they had on the CPA.
One council leader said the burden of regulation had been reduced only for the regulators, while another said the level of inspection activity could not be sustained.
Seven out of ten councils said the inspectorates involved were not being effectively co-ordinated locally, with Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission identified as being particularly disconnected.
Councils were also concerned about a ‘lack of any clear thinking’ on how the CAA would be implemented in two-tier authority areas.
An Audit Commission spokesman noted the criticisms. ‘Teething problems are inevitable as [the CAA] beds in,’ he said. ‘The survey, and the LGA’s conclusions, show agreement on the need to join up the assessment of local services. We affirm our commitment to cut the cost of inspection and acknowledge natural misgivings – before anyone has seen the first set of reports.
‘Multiple local conversations are taking place between inspectorate staff, councillors and officers as we move towards reporting the results of the first assessments in December.’
24 September 2009
The Audit Commission has admitted to ‘teething problems’ in its new inspection regime for local authorities, following strong criticism from council leaders.
The regulator’s Comprehensive Area Assessment programme is failing to reduce the burden on councils, and is not being co-ordinated effectively, a Local Government Association survey found.
The CAA, which replaced the Comprehensive Performance Assessment in April, is intended to be less burdensome on well-performing councils, while targeting the highest priorities for each area.
It also looks across services in a local authority area, so involves other public service regulators.
David Parsons, chair of the LGA improvement board, said: ‘These results question [the CAA’s] relevance and longevity. It’s not clear that the inspectorates’ assessment is going to tell us anything we don’t already know. The CAA is going to have to demonstrate its value for money – at the moment we are not convinced.’
The LGA acknowledged that it was still early days for the new regime, and was positive about how local CAA co-ordinators were involving authorities.
But its survey found that just one in ten councils believed regulation had become less intrusive, while 40% said they were spending more time on the CAA than they had on the CPA.
One council leader said the burden of regulation had been reduced only for the regulators, while another said the level of inspection activity could not be sustained.
Seven out of ten councils said the inspectorates involved were not being effectively co-ordinated locally, with Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission identified as being particularly disconnected.
Councils were also concerned about a ‘lack of any clear thinking’ on how the CAA would be implemented in two-tier authority areas.
An Audit Commission spokesman noted the criticisms. ‘Teething problems are inevitable as [the CAA] beds in,’ he said. ‘The survey, and the LGA’s conclusions, show agreement on the need to join up the assessment of local services. We affirm our commitment to cut the cost of inspection and acknowledge natural misgivings – before anyone has seen the first set of reports.
‘Multiple local conversations are taking place between inspectorate staff, councillors and officers as we move towards reporting the results of the first assessments in December.’
