News

Comprehensive Area Assessment is a new way of assessing local services to help people hold them to account. And when CAA's website and its assessments of local services launch on 10 December, it will have a shorter, snappier and friendlier name - oneplace.

oneplace will help answer the simple question 'how well I am being served by local public services?'. There will be jargon-free, easy-to-read narratives on every place in England, and links to detailed information from the independent inspectorates behind CAA - the Audit Commission, Ofsted, Care Quality Commission and Her Majesty's Inspectorates of Constabulary, Prisons and Probation. The oneplace site is being designed to be as user-focused and user-friendly as possible - easy to navigate and easy to understand.

And, in the spirit of CAA's mission to shine a light on peoples' experience of public services, the six inspectorates behind oneplace are now joining forces with one of the most recognisable brands in public service information - Directgov. oneplace will be available through the Directgov website as well as via each inspectorate's site. This innovative agreement will give oneplace impressive visibility, as Directgov has up to 18 million visits each month.

In addition to oneplace's internet presence, ways are being found to create access to CAA assessments for those not on-line, or in other hard-to-reach groups.

Audit Commission Chief Executive Steve Bundred said:
'The success and value of CAA will increase relative to how many people it reaches. Our aim is for oneplace to become the first-choice site for anyone seeking independent information on what is, and isn't, being achieved by local public services in their part of England. This alliance with Directgov and its already-established audience will be a major boost to oneplace, making it immediately accessible to millions of people.'

Delegates at the Local Government Association Conference in Harrogate are getting a preview of the oneplace brand this week.

Notes

Comprehensive Area Assessment will look at how well local services are working together to improve the quality of life for local people. It will make straightforward independent information available to people about their local services, helping them make informed choices and influence decisions.
CAA is about people and places, will give people a snapshot of life in their local area each year, will help local services improve quality of life in their area, will help people understand if they are getting value for money from their local services.
CAA began in April 2009. Public bodies are being assessed at present, and CAA will publish its first reports for all areas of England on 10 December via the oneplace website.
The six partner inspectorates will provide a joint assessment of what it is like to live in each area of England, and assess the prospects for sustainable improvement in the future. For the first time, local public services will be held collectively to account for their impact on better outcomes. This means that CAA will look across councils, health and social care bodies, police forces, fire and rescue services and others responsible for local public services, which are increasingly expected to work in partnership to tackle the challenges facing their communities.
CAA is also being used by the inspectorates to better coordinate their activity and reduce the cost of inspection and its demands on the time of front line professionals.
The oneplace site is under construction, and its web address will be publicised before CAA’s first reporting on 10 December 2009.
Directgov is the Nation’s official website providing everything you need to know about essential government information. From taxing your car to ordering a new passport, from checking your benefits entitlements to searching for jobs in your area, Directgov makes accessing government information easier.
Directgov is available via this link www.direct.gov.uk
Further details about the role of the Audit Commission can be obtained from - http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Mark Nicholson, Media Relations Manager Tel: 0844 798 2135 or 020 7166 2135 or 07813 038132 24hr Press line 0844 798 2128 E-mail: m-nicholson@audit-commission.gov.uk AUDIT COMMISSION PRESS OFFICE ON 0844 798 2128

IRRV Alert - week ending 3rd July 2009

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