PAPER B

THIS IS A COPY OF THE CABINET REPORT FOR SUBMISSION TO FULL COUNCIL FOR INFORMATION ON 15 NOVEMBER 2006

                                                                                                                Purpose : for Decision

Committee :   CABINET

 

Date :              7 NOVEMBER 2006

 

Title :               CORPORATE PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT IMPROVEMENT   PLAN

                       

REPORT OF THE LEADER OF THE COUNCIL

 

IMPLEMENTATION DATE : 17 November 2006

 

PURPOSE

 

1.                  The purpose is to:-

 

(a)               receive the Corporate Assessment Report, to agree an improvement plan, and

 

(b)               recommend Full Council debates the outcome of the Corporate Assessment and the steps being taken to deliver improvement.

 

BACKGROUND

 

2.                  The Corporate Assessment undertaken by the Audit Commission and the Joint Area Review together form the Comprehensive Performance Assessment, which is itself a very significant part of the external assessment framework of the Council.  That framework includes annual direction of travel statement by the District Auditor (due in February 2007) and assessments by regulators such as Ofsted, the Commission for Social Care Inspection and the Benefits Fraud Inspectorate.

 

3.                  Fieldwork for the twin assessments took place in May 2006 and the parallel reports were published on 14 August 2006. 

 

4.                  The Council has an obligation to adopt an action plan in relation to the Corporate Assessment and to publish a response to the Joint Area Review.  The response to the Joint Area Review is proposed elsewhere on this agenda.  The Corporate Assessment judged the Council to be a two star Authority.

 

5.                  Improvement planning in response to the Corporate Assessment is not taking place in isolation from planning and delivering improvements driven by other factors - not least the Council’s own ambition.  It is for this reason that the plan bears the title ‘One Council’.  One Council will be the framework for improving the Council over the next 18 to 24 months, looking forward to the next planned Comprehensive Performance Assessment in 2009.

 

6.                  Cabinet Members will wish to note that the 2006 Corporate Assessment was undertaken under an inspection methodology called the Harder Test.  The methodology judges the Council against standards which are higher than those applied in a previous similar inspection in 2002.  The practice of requiring every assessment to be more rigorous and challenging than the previous one matches the ambition of this Council to improve ever more rapidly and the entitlement of local communities to see the benefit of that improvement.

 

7.                  Links to the Harder Test inspection methodology and the full Corporate Assessment report can be found at Harder Test Framework 2006.  The summary and recommendations of the Corporate Assessment are attached to this report as Appendix 1.

 

8.                  Appendix 2 to this report is the proposed improvement plan.  The plan sets out the actions which will be taken by the Council in the short and medium term to address the weaknesses identified in the Corporate Assessment Report. A number of longer term outcomes are identified, by which the success of the actions in the plan will be judged.

 

9.                  The Improvement Plan identifies where additional resources are to be deployed.

 

10.             Full Council sets the budget and policy framework within which the Cabinet operates.  The definition of the policy framework is set out in Article 4 of the Constitution and includes the Corporate Plan.  Aim High was adopted as a corporate plan in March 2006.  As Full Council adopted that Plan, it was acknowledged that the CPA Improvement Plan would need to be added into the corporate policy framework.

 

11.             It is therefore proposed that Cabinet recommend to Full Council that it:-

 

(a)               notes the outcome of the Corporate Performance Assessment, and

 

(b)               adopts the Comprehensive Performance Assessment Improvement Plan to refresh the existing corporate plan

 

STRATEGIC CONTEXT

 

12.             The Corporate Assessment, and the opportunity to develop an improvement plan, should be seen as opportunity to assist the Council with its own locally driven improvement agenda, and most recently set out in the Aim High Corporate Plan and to be further developed and driven by the One Council document in the future.

 

CONSULTATION

 

13.             Stakeholders, including staff and partners, were engaged in the CPA inspection process and their contributions are reflected in the final report and recommendations.  Consultation in relation to the development of the improvement plan included engagement with the various regulators who contributed to the CPA and JAR inspection processes.

FINANCIAL/BUDGET IMPLICATIONS

 

14.             Where additional resources are being deployed they are identified in the plan.

 

LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

 

15.             The process of CPA inspection, and improvement planning is underpinned  by the 1999 Local Government Act and the duty to provide continually improving services.

 

OPTIONS

 

16.             The action plan submitted is recommended as being the best response available to the Council to the Corporate Assessment Report.  Amendments can be made to the plan however, the plan is a balanced and appropriate response to the outcomes of the inspection, therefore the recommendation is that it is adopted as drafted.

 

17.             The Improvement Plan will be submitted to Regulators, including the Audit Commission on 20th November. It is recommended that the Chief Executive be given a specific delegation to make further amendments to the improvement plan, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, where any amendments will improve the quality of the Improvement Plan, without changing the overall direction and objectives set out in the current draft.

 

18.             The Improvement Plan effectively replaces the Aim High Corporate Plan as the principal driver of change and organisational development. The recommendation to full council reflects this by proposing that Aim High becomes, for the period until the proposed One Council plan is adopted, the corporate plan.

 

EVALUATION/RISK MANAGEMENT

 

19.             The principal risks to the delivery of the improvement plan relate to ensuring that sufficient resources are deployed to ensure it is delivered.  Careful programme management of the plan will ensure that the resources identified as necessary for delivery are available and used effectively.

 

20.             Communication of the objectives and the detail of the plan will also be extremely important and extra capacity continues to be procured for both internal and external communications activity.

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

 

21.             That the Cabinet:-

 

(a)               Receives the Corporate Assessment report.

 

(b)               Adopts the CPA Improvement Plan set out as Appendix 2.

 

(c)               Specifically delegates the Chief Executive to make amendments to the approved draft, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, where any amendments improve the quality of the Plan, without changing the overall objectives.

 

(d)               Recommends that Full Council:-

 

(i)                 notes the outcome of the Corporate Performance Assessment, and

 

(ii)               adopts the Comprehensive Performance Assessment Improvement Plan to refresh the existing corporate plan.

 

BACKGROUND PAPERS

 

None.

 

APPENDICES

 

22.             Appendix 1 - Corporate Assessment Summary and Recommendations.

 

Appendix 2 - One Council - CPA Improvement Plan.

 

 

Contact Point :     John Lawson, Director of Policy, Performance and Partnerships and Deputy Chief Executive, ' 821000 ext. 3203.  [email protected]

 

 

 

 

JOHN LAWSON

Director of Policy, Performance and Partnerships and Deputy Chief Executive

COUNCILLOR ANDY SUTTON

Leader of the Council