Three stars for Warwickshire County Council
Warwickshire County Council has achieved a 3-star rating under the latest Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA). It is also said to be “improving adequately” in key areas.
Star ratings have replaced the old CPA categories of excellent, good, fair, weak and poor. The Audit Commission introduced the new system this year – and has made it clear that the new assessments are tougher than ever on councils, in order to encourage continuous improvement within local authorities and to meet rising public expectations.
There are two dimensions to the new system: overall performance, rated from 0 to 4 stars, with 4 stars being the highest; and “direction of travel”, for which the ratings are “improving strongly”, “improving well”, “improving adequately”, “not improving adequately”, and “not improving”. The new names reflect that the latest CPA tests are significantly different from what went before.
The new CPA allocates its overall rating by looking at a council’s:
· use of resources
· work with children and young people
· adult social care
· culture
· environment
· corporate capacity to improve services.
Warwickshire’s 3-star rating reflects the Audit Commission’s judgement that services are generally good and improving, and the “direction of travel” score shows that Warwickshire is “improving adequately” overall.
“In most areas there is a robust integrated planning framework, and clear improvement plans supported by an effective performance management system which keeps implementation on track,” says the report.
Jim Graham, Chief Executive of Warwickshire County Council, said: “The Council is improving outcomes in many priority areas, and this is encouraging news.
“The Council has a consistent record on improving value for money, and is improving access to services: for example, it is on track to achieve e-government targets. Consultation is extensive and effective, and satisfaction levels are above average and improving.
“At the same time, we are taking action to tackle services where there is room for improvement to make sure we continue to raise standards.
“We have also started to work on the pace with which we will make improvements to the overall organisation. Our aim is to get four stars.”
Warwickshire County Council’s CPA 2005 scores in brief:
Service performance:
· Children and young people: 3
· Culture: 3
· Environment: 3
· Social care (adults): 2
Use of resources: 3
Council ability: 3