A new Government inspection regime, Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) officially announced today, Wednesday 9 December, that Stratford-on-Avon District Council is a Council which performs well.
Inspectors were on site in July where they interviewed staff, Councillors, partners and looked through lots of documentary evidence.
The report states that the 'quality of services delivered by the District Council is good, satisfaction levels with the Council are good and residents like the District as a place to live.'
It goes on to say 'Stratford-on-Avon District Council is credited for increasingly using its services to tackle inequality and issues that are important for local people. It is helping more people to recycle their waste (with recycling levels amongst the best in the country), get help with their rent and Council Tax and get housing they can afford. There is help for small businesses and tourism is starting to pick up after several years of declining visitor numbers.'
Council Tax and spending is low with investment in priority areas. The report recognises that the District Council is good at making savings and this needs to continue, and that it works with partners to improve value for money.
Cllr Les Topham, Leader of the Council, said: "This result justifies all the work and commitment the District Council and its partners do together and is the ultimate seal of approval from an independent inspection regime scrutinising everything the Council is doing. For the first time ever, people will be able to see at a glance how public services in the District are doing as a whole to deliver services and tackle the important issues currently facing our residents."
Paul Lankester, Chief Executive of Stratford-on-Avon District Council, said: "I am pleased with the overall assessment, but we will not be complacent and we will continue to learn and strive for further improvements.
"This Council is proud to offer the lowest Council Tax in Warwickshire and we will continue to watch the public purse whilst continuing to invest in priority areas. As with any inspection regime it highlights strengths and areas for improvements from which we will learn."
As for the Area Assessment crime levels are falling in Warwickshire, roads are safer, improved exam results, these are some of the many positive comments made in the first ever Comprehensive Area Assessment for Warwickshire.
Despite being hit hard by the recession, councils in Warwickshire have pulled together information and advice that will help people. Partners working across Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull have secured funds of over £22 million to help businesses and training for people becoming redundant.
However, the report says that partners in Warwickshire need to work better together to make sure people are as healthy as they can be. But it acknowledges that people in Warwickshire are generally healthy and live longer than in many other areas. Partners are also increasing the work they do to encourage everyone to exercise more, eat well and healthily.
Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) background information:
- Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) is not the same as Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA), this is because it is a different type of assessment using the new harder test method, looking forward to what the authority wants to achieve and is less dependent on the past. This is the first year for CAA.
- CAA focuses on what a council and its partner organisations want to achieve and the outcomes they deliver for their area and has two elements:
- Area Assessment (AA) - focuses on what public sector bodies (County and District Councils, Police, Health, Fire and Rescue Service) in an area can achieve together. The CAA Area Assessment represents the combined judgements from six inspectorates: Audit Commission, Care Quality Commission, OFSTED, HMIC, Inspectorate of Probation, Inspectorate of Prisons. It uses green and red flags to show exceptional performance/best practice or areas of concern respectively.
- Organisational Assessment (OA) assesses each organisation individually, there are two parts - Managing Performance (MP) and Use of Resources (UofR) the assessment itself is different - focusing much more on outcomes than before.
- The CAA is a new way of assessing and reporting on public services in England. For the first time ever, people will be able to see at a glance how well Warwickshire is doing as a whole to deliver public service and tackle the important issues currently facing our residents.
- From 9 December a new website called Oneplace will be the place to find comprehensive information on how our local public services are working together and how well they are tackling problems in different areas. The website will contain the results of the countys first ever Comprehensive Area Assessment. Until now, public bodies in Warwickshire were looked at and assessed separately only.
