Contact: Jenny Heath, ext 7402, e-mail: [email protected]

1 Legislative background

1.1 The Local Government Act 1999 introduced the statutory obligation for every local authority to maintain a five year programme of Best Value reviews, covering all its functions. The requirement was amended in 2003 and guidance given through ODPM Circular 03/2003. Paragraph 44 states:

'The requirement for authorities to review all their functions over a five-year cycle was revoked in SI 2002/305. This change does not remove the legal requirement on local authorities to review their functions.... Rather it enables them to focus reviews on priority areas arising from their Comprehensive Performance assessments and other considerations.'

 

2 The position to date

2.1 Since the first year of Best Value reviews in 2000, the Council has sought to minimise the bureaucracy originally associated with the regime and to ensure that the resources invested in reviews yielded practical improvements to services.

2.2 The Council's current approach to the review programme is based on circular 03/2003.  The cross-cutting Best Value reviews undertaken have primarily reflected recommendations in our CPA Corporate Assessment although they have also taken account of other initiatives, as identified by lead officers in those areas, eg Lifelong Learning. Service reviews have continued only where departments have felt there is scope for improvement or changes needed.

2.3 The methodology for the above reviews remains rigorous in its application of the four Cs (Challenge, Compete, Compare and Consult) required by Best Value guidance and in the engagement of Members, who are key in agreeing the review outcomes. Over time the review process has become less prescriptive and relies more on having experienced review facilitators, who guide review teams in their exploration of issues and options for improvement.

2.4 The majority of the Council's services have been reviewed since 2000: the first programme was `front-loaded' to comply with the original requirement to review every service in 5 years, while some that were scheduled for later still went ahead, as departments felt they were a good catalyst for implementing a performance culture. The best value website, accessed through the Performance Plan provides details of all the reviews undertaken and a summary of the outcomes.  

3 Planning review activity in the future

3.1 Having reached the end of the legacy of the original five-year programme and of the Hampshire Improvement Programme (CPA), 2005/06 is the right time to reconsider the Council's approach to its review programme. These proposals for taking the review programme forward have been discussed with the local auditor, who has indicated that they are appropriate, pragmatic and comply with the spirit of the legislation.

3.2 The proposal is that the Council will not have a separate 'Best Value Review Programme' but that such a programme will be the sum of the Council's review activity at both strategic and service levels. Paragraph 4 identifies the types of review activity currently in place across the Council.

3.3 An initial mapping of reviews planned or already underway for 2005/06 has shown that further work is needed:

· to clarify what constitutes a `review', so that the Council is not bureaucratic in its approach to day-to-day operational schemes aimed at delivering service improvements.

· to identify what mechanisms are planned to consider the results of reviews and approve any improvement plans. This will identify both management and member approval and monitoring mechanisms.

· to ensure that the 4 Cs of best value are consistently applied.

3.4 As with former `Best Value Reviews' progress with reviews and subsequent improvement plans will be reported in the Performance Plan which is published in June every year.

4 Types of review activity

4.1 Projects / general reviews

Departmental returns identify reviews to evaluate proposals, such as pilot projects or feasibility studies, as well as reviews of cross-cutting areas which they may be either leading or participating in. Projects which are being dealt with as part of the normal service delivery have been filtered out, unless they have significant impact. Projects which have reached the implementation stage will also be excluded from the review programme

4.2 Service reviews

Departments are already beginning to identify the desirability of continuing to review services - over and above the process of annual service planning updates.  They do not plan to review every service at this level each year: their selection of which services to review will be based on a number of factors, including performance as identified by performance reporting, but also including factors such as cost / efficiency / impact on the community. The departments are at different stages in developing their approaches to this, with informal performance networks providing a mechanism for sharing good practice.

4.3 Procurement reviews

The Corporate Procurement Network has identified a number of areas which it is reviewing with the aim of achieving greater efficiency and cost savings. Progress is reported to the Buildings, Land and Procurement Panel.

4.4 Scrutiny reviews

The Policy and Resources Scrutiny and Select Committee has identified a number of scrutiny reviews it is progressing as part of the scrutiny pilot.

The Health Review Committee also has an ongoing review programme

4.5 Efficiency reviews

Efficiency has always been a key factor in the Council's budget, procurement and routine decision making by the Cabinet and Executive members. Efficiency is also central to established review processes as set out above, and in consultancy work commissioned both internally (primarily from the Treasurer's Consultancy Team) and externally. That said, the production of a formal and targeted efficiency plan requires that:

· the efficiency elements in such reviews (and in the service planning process as a whole) be made more explicit, and quantified with a clear identification of what is cashable (ie capable of leading to either a reduction in net service cost or reinvestment in alternative additional services) and what is not; and

· Chief Officers both within their departments and corporately through CMT (and, perhaps, through cross-departmental working groups) identify areas with a potential to deliver efficiency savings and commission reviews accordingly. Performance and procurement information will be key criteria for deciding that a service or function has the opportunity to make efficiency gains and should be reviewed. The focus of such reviews should be to improve efficiency without detriment to service quality.

These characteristics differentiate an efficiency review from either a programme of budget cuts or a policy which focuses primarily on service improvement.

4.6 E-government reviews

There is a significant work programme related to e-government, much of which incorporates review activity prior to projects being undertaken. The corporate e-government & ICT Steering Group have reviewed, during 2004, the County Council's e-government programme and workstreams against the IEG return to the ODPM, the Priority Outcomes established for e-government and the Council's corporate e-government & ICT strategy. Each individual workstream has been risk assessed and management arrangements put in place to ensure that the relevant outcomes are delivered through the programme.

It is not proposed to include this activity in the `Best Value Review Programme' because of the inter-dependency between these elements of the Council's e-government strategy and the existing rigorous regime of scrutiny. However, the e-government website is a valuable source of information which can help identify related activity and avoid duplicating work before a project is undertaken.

5 Conclusions

5.1 While it has been relatively easy to identify the topics of review activity planned for 2005/06, the initial list showed that there was inconsistency in the level of operations being reviewed and the ways in which they would be monitored. Therefore, work will be undertaken with departments to ensure that a definitive list can be placed before Cabinet for approval as the Best Value Review Programme for 2005/06, with clear indications of the mechanisms for approval and monitoring.

5.2 Taking a step back from day-to-day operations and reviewing services has proved to provide opportunities for the Council to consider the best way of achieving its priorities and delivering high quality services as efficiently and economically as possible. Mainstreaming review activity with other initiatives, while being a more efficient use of resources, makes it more difficult to identify costs which are solely associated with the review programme.

Recommendation

1 That Cabinet approve the revised approach to the Best Value Review Programme and receive a further report detailing the reviews which will constitute the 2005/06 programme.

Section 100D - 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.

N.B. The list excludes:

1. Published works

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

2004/05 departmental returns of proposed review topics held by Corporate Performance Team

E-mail correspondence with local auditor, held on file by Corporate
Performance Manager