Download - Comprehensive Area Assessment
Comprehensive Area Assessment
Charles Marshall, Audit Commission
April 2008
Comprehensive Area Assessment
April 2008
Outline
• What is CAA?• Scope of CAA• Issues around area assessment• Points raised in consultation• Further development• Questions and (?) answers
Comprehensive Area Assessment
April 2008
What is CAA?
• The new joint assessment framework for local services from 2009
• A catalyst for further improvement in the quality of life for citizens, the experience of people who use services and value for money for tax payers
• A source of independent information and assurance about local services for citizens, people who use services, tax payers and central government
• A mechanism for coordinating and rationalising inspection, improvement support and intervention and targeting them where they are most needed
Comprehensive Area Assessment
April 2008
What is CAA? – key components
• For areas: annual area “risk” assessment by inspectorates jointly; and performance on the new national indicator set
• For councils: annual use of resources judgement (by appointed auditor with input from other inspectorates) and annual direction of travel assessment (by inspectorates jointly)
• Use of resources judgements also for NHS bodies (not Foundation Trusts), police authorities and fire and rescue authorities
Comprehensive Area Assessment
April 2008
Scope of CAA
• Focus is on those outcomes which are the responsibility of the local authority either alone or working in partnership with other public, voluntary or private bodies
• So relevant to all the activities of the LSP: health and well-being, community safety, sustainable communities, economic development, housing strategy, children’s services, etc.
• Other service-specific performance frameworks will continue, but will need to fit with CAA (health and social care, police & community safety etc) and not duplicate each other
Comprehensive Area Assessment
April 2008
Comprehensive Area Assessment
April 2008
Area Assessment: what area?
• The “footprint” is the area covered by the LAA, but…
• Need to reflect both local and regional context
• Particular issues in two-tier Counties
Comprehensive Area Assessment
April 2008
Area Assessment: what risk?
• Problems with the vocabulary of risk
• Focus on outcomes for local people
• Issues around vulnerability
Comprehensive Area Assessment
April 2008
Area Assessment: key question -
ARE IMPROVED OUTCOMES LIKELY TO BE ACHIEVED?
• How well does the partnership understand and assess the needs of its communities, now and in the future?
• Use this understanding to inform its local priorities? • these priorities?• Secure effective arrangements to identify and manage
the risks to achieving successful outcomes?
Comprehensive Area Assessment
April 2008
Area risk assessment: a different style
• Lighter touch – relying on information the partnership needs to produce for its own purposes.
• Not an inspection event – ongoing dialogue, evidence gathered throughout the year.
• More contextual – less about processes and more about what partners are trying to achieve
• Less emphasis on scores and more on improvement
Comprehensive Area Assessment
April 2008
Further development
• Four action learning sites already engaged
• Responses to initial consultation analyzed
• More action learning sites being identified
• Final consultation later this year
Comprehensive Area Assessment
April 2008
Questions?
