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ITEM EX6

EXECUTIVE – 14 JANUARY 2004

COMPREHENSIVE PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

Report by the Chief Executive

Introduction

  1. The Audit Commission has recently published its 2003 CPA scorecard for Oxfordshire, which sets out refreshed performance scores for our services and gives a short description of progress against our improvement priorities over the last 12 months. This confirms the Commission’s view that the Council is making good progress, both in the way the Council is run and in the quality of its services. It also confirms, in light of this progress, that the Council qualifies for a corporate reassessment in 2004.

    2. Background

  2. On 18 December 2003 the Audit Commission published CPA scorecards for all single tier and County Councils as part of its arrangements for reporting annual improvements in CPA outcomes. A more detailed evaluation of our performance is made in the annual Audit and Inspection letter published at the end of December 2003, which will be considered by the Best Value Committee and the Executive.

  3. A copy of the scorecard is attached as Annex 1 (download as .doc file). It shows we have improved our service performance for Social Care (Children) and Libraries & Leisure.

    4. Implications

  4. Although not reflected in the scorecard, we have much to celebrate in terms of recent successes, such as;

    • The Peer Review return visit in May 2003 found that we had made ‘tremendous progress’.

    • Our Social & Health Care Directorate has improved to 2 stars; one of the ten most improved authorities nationally.

    • The Whole Service Inspection of Cultural Services recognised that we provide ‘Good’ service to the public.

    • Our improvements in Key Stage 3 tests have been recognised by the Minister of State for School Standards.

    • We have been shortlisted for Beacon status for Supporting People.

  1. Oxfordshire County Council was judged to be Fair in the CPA assessment of 2002. Our main weakness lay in our corporate assessment of the way the Council is run. The above improvements, and the evidence of Raising our Performance 2, suggest that the Council would receive a higher rating if it were reassessed now. The improvement achieved in our service performance scores in 2003 automatically qualifies us for a new corporate assessment in 2004, subject to the Executive making a formal application to the Audit Commission.

  2. Raising our Performance 2, adopted by the Executive in November 2003, confirms the Council’s ambition to become an outstanding authority – one that provides an excellent service to the people and communities of Oxfordshire. Success criteria for this outcome involve the achievement of improved CPA ratings. I therefore recommend that we apply for a corporate assessment in 2004 to provide both external validation of the Council’s improved performance and advice on actions that could be taken to make further improvements.

    3. RECOMMENDATIONS

  3. The Executive is RECOMMENDED to:

          1. note the successes achieved by the County Council over the last 12 months;

          2. formally request the Audit Commission to undertake a further corporate assessment in 2004.

RICHARD SHAW
Chief Executive

Background Papers: Nil

Contact Officer: Neil Lawrence, Tel: 01865 816036

January 2004

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