Hampshire County Council

Recreation and Heritage Policy Review Committee Item 2

15 November 2001

Best Value Inspection Report - October 2001

Report of Best Value Team Leader

Contact: John Dunne Ext: 6100

1. Summary

1.1 The Audit Commission Inspection of the Library Service Best Value Review, was undertaken in July 2001 and followed closely on from the Outcome Report of the Review which was presented to the Best Value Review Panel (Recreation and Heritage) in May 2001.

1.2 The inspectors made two judgements

· How good is the service?

Hampshire is a `good' service and got a 2 star rating (out of 3)

· How likely is the service to improve?

The judgement is `unlikely'

1.3 A number of recommendations are made in the Inspection Report and these are now being addressed by the Library Management Team.

2. Library Service Best Value Review

2.1 The Library Service Best Value Review began in March 2000 with the remit to consider the whole service.

2.2 The Review was scoped and three main areas of improvement were identified:

· Access - consideration of access areas for different client groups with the aim of ensuring equality of access for all

· Efficiency - consideration of the most efficient and effective use of resources in the context of the new Public Library Standards (at the draft stage and not in force at the time)

· New developments - investigation of the use of new technology and new approaches, in the context of the New Opportunities Fund for Information Communications Technology (ICT), which aims to provide training for staff and infrastructure monies.

2.3 District Audit concerns, which had been raised in previous reports, about the cost of the mobile library service and planning processes, were also included under Access and Efficiency respectively.

2.4 Working groups for each of the three main areas identified for improvements were set up consisting of Members and Officers.

2.5 Consultation with the public, staff and other stakeholders took place and comparisons on performance with other authorities were researched.

2.6 Following a lengthy process involving 150 days of staff time, four main outcomes were agreed:

· To improve equality of access to services, especially by those who are disabled or isolated

· To improve the efficiency and effectiveness of services to the public

· To provide better IT access and support for the public

· To evaluate the range of resources and speed of supply

2.7 An Improvement Plan with more than fifty actions was drawn up with specific target dates by which they should be achieved.

2.8 The Outcome Report was reported to the Best Value Review Panel (Recreation and Heritage) in May 2001 and a number of specific recommendations arising from the Improvement Plan were agreed.

3. Best Value Inspection

3.1 The Library Service Best Value Review was subject to a full inspection by the Audit Commission in July 2001

3.2 Two Inspectors (one a generalist, the other a library specialist) spent a week on site holding interviews, setting up focus groups and visiting libraries.

3.3 An Interim Challenge was presented to Members and Officers on 23^rd July with a draft final report shortly afterwards. The inspectors summarised the service as providing a good, traditional library service that is unlikely to improve.

3.4 The Best Value Inspection report judged Hamphire Library Service to be providing a `good' 2 star rating (out of 3). This judgement is in line with very high levels of public satisfaction reported in the MORI residents survey in 1999 (89%) and the acknowledgement that there is `high quality bookstock' and `highly motivated, helpful and efficient staff'.

3.5 The report judged Hampshire Library Service `unlikely' to improve because the scope of the review encouraged a focus on specific operational issues, missing opportunities for change at the strategic level, and because existing examples of good practice had not been consistently evaluated for deployment across the whole service.

3.6 The Chief Executive will be working with the Library Management Team to identify those recommendations which accord with the County Council's Corporate Strategy and to revise the Improvement Plan to address them.

3.7 The report acknowledges the `clear senior corporate vision and commitment to innovation within the service' and key to that are the new management arrangements that are currently being put in place within the Recreation and Heritage Department and the Library Service.

3.8 Audit Commission inspections of libraries in other authorities to date have proved that their judgements are largely critical (see Appendix 1). Of the twenty inspections carried out to date only two authorities have had their service judged as `excellent' (3 stars). Similarly, on the question of whether services will improve, 14% `will not', 47.5% `unlikely' (including Hampshire), 29% `likely' and 9.5% `will'. Since our inspection the Audit Commission has announced it is altering the terminology used in its judgement on whether services will improve and in the case of Hampshire `unlikely' would now be `uncertain'.

Recommendation

To consider the Best Value Inspection Report with a view to a revised Improvement Plan being reported to the Executive Member and Cabinet.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background papers

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB the list excludes:

1 Published works.

2 Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

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Best Value Inspection Report *