Collaboration is the way forward for better services and value for money, CAA review says

Released 24 February 2010

A review of Comprehensive Area Assessment, published today, says that councils, the police, NHS, business and voluntary organisations all need to learn from each other and work more closely together if they are to improve services and increase value for money. Journalists can download the review from the Oneplace website.

The report from the six inspectorates¹ responsible for assessing local public services in England looks at the first year of the new assessments. An independent report evaluating CAA and its costs will be published in Spring 2010.

The picture across public services is broadly one of improvement, and the review reflects CAA's focus on local priorities, showing a wide variation in what different areas of England consider pressing issues. But it also indicates that there must be a greater focus on achieving better value for money.

The CAA website, www.direct.gov.uk/oneplace, launched in December 2009, brings together independent, expert views of how well local areas are being served, based on the combined assessments of the inspectorates. It was designed to help those using and paying for local public services, to hold them to account. The information is also a way for those providing services to learn from effective action elsewhere.

• Devon brought together councils, health services, police, courts and the voluntary sector to counter domestic violence. Since the scheme began there has been a six-fold increase in the number of victims helped, 6,000 staff from local services and businesses have been trained to recognise signs, and prosecution and conviction rates have also risen.
• Wolverhampton's Keep it Safe programme made the city centre safer and more enjoyable place to be at night. The primary care trust worked with police, fire service, council and voluntary groups and business. Focusing on sensible drinking, safer sex and getting home safely, the partnership secured a 29 per cent decrease in violent crime, as well as reductions in alcohol related ambulance calls and visits to A and E.

Michael O'Higgins, the Chairman of the Audit Commission, said:

'Oneplace has made a lot of interesting information available for the first time in straightforward language to local people. It shows that much progress has been made, although stubborn problems persist, including pockets of bad health, inadequate housing and inequality.

'It highlights examples of really imaginative solutions to serious problems that other parts of the country should steal or adapt. It is encouraging that places like Camden and Sunderland are building on existing good practice by looking at what can be learnt from green flag examples from other areas. But it is frustrating that more are not learning from each other.

'The good news is that for every problem local public services face, this review shows someone, somewhere, is tackling it intelligently and innovatively.'

The report contains examples of both cross-organisation and cross-boundary working

• Manchester saw a cut of more than 90 per cent in gang-related firearms incidents in 2009. Manchester City Council worked with Trafford Council and Greater Manchester police on young people at risk of getting involved with gangs and guns.
• In 2008 South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse district councils formed shared management teams saving £500,000.

Councillors and other local leaders must ensure they know all they can and that their data is relevant and up-to-date.

• Tameside Council found out more about family eligibility and its own spending patterns and was able to redesign free school meals, increasing uptake while cutting the cost of processing applications from £16.07 to 6 pence each.
• In 2009 Oldham managed to buck the national upward trend in the number of young people not in education, employment or training. Better qualifications were achieved, particular by those from poorer backgrounds. A 'junior university' targeted those who may otherwise have left education at age 16, and there was success in attracting teenage mothers into education or training. The council worked closely with the sixth form college, university and other partners to achieve this.
• East Riding of Yorkshire reviewed the cost and quality of its drugs and alcohol service and what people thought of it, and used the information to save £250,000.

The review found freedom and flexibility matter and many of the innovations highlighted in oneplace involved local leaders adjusting national programmes to suit their areas.

To arrange interviews please contact the Audit Commission Press Office on 020 7166 2128.
Notes to editors

1. CAA brings together, for the first time, judgments from these independent inspectorates on how well local organisations achieve their priority outcomes. The inspectorates are: the Audit Commission; the Care Quality Commission; Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary; Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons; Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation; and Ofsted.
2. www.direct.gov.uk/oneplace contains the judgements of the six inspectorates on 402 organisations in 152 areas of England. It is searchable by postcode, themes and organisations.
3. Oneplace is a new way for the public to hold their local public services to account on the basis of expert, external assessment of their areas and the organisations delivering services.
4. The inspectorates use a green flag to show outstanding achievements or improvements, or an innovation that we think is likely to be successful. This will help other areas to learn from them. We use a red flag to highlight where we have major concerns about problems in the area and not enough is being done to tackle the concern. This means that local partners need to do something more or different to make improvements.

Information on the Inspectorates

1. The Audit Commission is an independent watchdog, driving economy, efficiency and effectiveness in local public services to deliver better outcomes for everyone. Our work across local government, health, housing, community safety and fire and rescue services means that we have a unique perspective. We promote value for money for taxpayers, auditing the £200 billion spent by 11,000 local public bodies. As a force for improvement, we work in partnership to assess local public services and make practical recommendations for promoting a better quality of life for local people.
2. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of all health and adult social care in England. We inspect all health and adult social care services in England, whether they're provided by the NHS, local authorities, private companies or voluntary organisations. We also seek to protect the interests of people whose rights are restricted under the Mental Health Act. We make sure that people who use services meet the same set of essential standards of quality and safety wherever they need care, whether it is acute care or longer term residential care and however it is funded, publicly or privately. We promote the rights and interests of people who use services and we have a wide range of enforcement powers to take action on their behalf if services are unacceptably poor.
   
   Our work brings together (for the first time) independent regulation of health, mental health and adult social care. Before 1 April 2009, this work was carried out by the Healthcare Commission, the Mental Health Act Commission and the Commission for Social Care Inspection.
   
   Our aim is to make sure that better care is provided for everyone. Under new legislation, the National Minimum Standards (for adult social care and independent healthcare) and the Standards for Better Health (for the NHS) are being replaced by essential standards of quality and safety across the care sector. From April 2010, all health and adult social care providers will be required by law to register with CQC and must show that they are meeting these new standards. Registration isn't just about initial registration. It encompasses initial registration, monitoring and checking of ongoing compliance, working with providers to improve services and, where services are failing people, taking proportionate action which may result in an enforcement action.
3. Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) is an independent inspectorate, inspecting policing in the public interest and rigorously examines the effectiveness of police forces and authorities to tackle crime and terrorism, improve criminal justice and raise confidence. HMIC inspects and regulates all 43 police forces in England and Wales together with other major policing bodies such as the Serious Organised Crime Agency, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the British Transport Police.
4. Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons for England and Wales (HMI Prisons) is an independent inspectorate which reports on conditions for and treatment of those in prison, young offender institutions and immigration detention facilities. HM Chief Inspector of Prisons is appointed for a term of five years. The Chief Inspector reports to Ministers on the treatment of prisoners and conditions in prisons in England and Wales.
5. HM Inspectorate of Probation is an independent Inspectorate, funded by the Ministry of Justice, and reporting directly to the Secretary of State on the effectiveness of work with individual offenders, children and young people aimed at reducing reoffending and protecting the public.
6. Ofsted, The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. The services it regulates and inspects include early years and childcare, children's social care, the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children's services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.