By Vivienne Russell
18 March 2010
Council leaders have clashed with the Audit Commission over the costs of the new local inspection regime.
The Local Government Association this week warned that costs of Comprehensive Area Assessments were ‘unsustainable’ and compared unfavourably with the predecessor Comprehensive Performance Assessments.
An LGA analysis of five councils found that in one, a metropolitan district council, CAA cost 311% more than CPA, while in the unitary council surveyed, costs had increased by 112%. Only one council – a London borough – had seen a reduction in inspection costs.
David Parsons, chair of the LGA’s improvement board, said: ‘The costs for councils of the current CAA regime are unsustainable. Demands for ever greater efficiencies… mean it is essential the burden of inspection and assessment are also reduced.’
But the Audit Commission hit back, saying it did not recognise most of the LGA’s figures. It cited independent Office for Public Management research that showed the overall cost to councils had reduced by at least 15%.
However, the commission did acknowledge that it was larger councils that had seen their inspection costs reduce. Costs had risen by around 5% for smaller, district councils because of the extra work needed for CAA’s ‘use of resources’ element.
Chair Michael O’Higgins said CAA ‘points the way to reducing the cost of inspection and promoting improvement’.
