Archived decisions

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Decision Report

1. Executive Summary

1.1. It has been recognised that the County Council `Performs Excellently' - this is the highest rating possible.

1.2. This report sets out the County Council's response to the first Comprehensive Area Assessment reports. Overall these reports are extremely positive. In addition, there are no surprises or unknown issues highlighted. Whilst there are some noted areas for continued improvement, on the whole these are well known with improvement plans already in place.

2. Contextual information

2.1. The national performance assessment and inspection regime changed in 2009 to the new CAA¹ framework, replacing the old CPA² star ratings. CAA is intended to shift the emphasis from service quality and availability as delivered by organisations to service impacts on the ground as they are felt by local residents and their contribution to overall quality of life.

2.2. CAA is made up of two main assessments: Organisational Assessment and Area Assessment. The former is a scored report led by the Audit Commission and focuses on the County Council (partners have experienced similar assessments separately). The latter is a joint inspectorate judgement on Hampshire as an area, focussing on partnership working and community outcomes, and is a narrative based report with Red and Green Flags, by exception. For a fuller overview please see appendix one.

2.3. A key message nationally and locally is that CAA is different, harder and early indications are that this has been borne out by the spread of results and assessments nationally.

2.4. It is important to note that the separate national performance assessment and inspection arrangements for Children's Services and Adult Services have continued in parallel and their assessments have informed specific elements of the CAA framework.

2.5. Members should also note that the Driving Success Framework focuses on performance and improvement beyond inspection and reflects genuine local priorities from Chief Officer Self Assessments and Cabinet reviews. The Chief Executive proposes to further embed this approach in 2010 with continued focus on this framework to drive outcomes.

3. Organisational Assessment

3.1. The Organisational Assessment is the element which relates directly to Hampshire County Council by itself and consists of the Use of Resources and Managing Performance assessments. Together these provide a judgement of the Council's performance, effectiveness and value for money. An overview of these CAA judgements is provided in the following table:

3.2. At the time of writing indications are that there will only be a handful of Councils that will receive the top `Performs Excellently' rating for their Organisational Assessment. The report highlights that:

"Hampshire County Council is performing excellently. It delivers high quality services that meet people's needs and can demonstrate improvement in the areas the public thinks are important. Prospects for improvement are excellent."

3.3. It goes on to say:

"Excellent financial management has enabled the council to keep council tax low and make savings which can be reinvested in improved services. A dynamic approach to building staff capacity supports the drive for improved services, value for money and innovation. This is why we have decided that overall the council is performing excellently."

3.4. There were no `key issues' highlighted for specific improvement by the Audit Commission that were not already being addressed.

4. Area Assessment

4.1. The Area Assessment relates to Hampshire as an area³ and is a judgement about the collective effectiveness of all local public service providers. This is a narrative based report.

4.2. `Flags' are used by exception to highlight issues of significant risk/poor performance or innovation/high performance. Hampshire has not received any `Red Flags' but, perhaps more surprisingly, has not received any `Green Flags' either.

4.3. In kind with the Organisational Assessment, Hampshire County Council coordinated a wealth of evidence independently and across the LAA partners. As part of this a strong range of case studies were produced. This significant evidence file promoted numerous Green Flag areas. Some of these and others were identified by the local Audit Commission team as strong contenders. However, as part of the national trend, in the event very few Green Flags were upheld through the moderation process.

4.4. The Area Assessment report noted several `key issues' where progress will be checked and reported as part of the 2010 area assessment and these are noted in appendix two.

5. Looking Forward

5.1. There are no recommendations or specific issues for improvement identified in either the Organisational or Area Assessment reports. There are a number of issues highlighted or implied in the body of the reports which the County Council, Hampshire Senate and LAA Executive will want to note.

5.2. The inspectorates recognise that in most instances the issues highlighted in the reports are known, well understood and improvement plans are in place. It will be important to maintain focus and momentum in these areas.

5.3. Driving Success provides the County Council with a strong performance management framework. This framework provides the means to continue to identify and address significant performance issues to ensure action is taken to improve.

5.4. The Driving Success Chief Officer Self-Assessment 2009/10 Quarter Two report is elsewhere on the Cabinet agenda. This report, alongside the issues highlighted through the CAA process, should inform the development of the Council's 2010/11 Corporate improvement Plan. Cabinet will be presented with further options around this in the next couple of months.

6. Conclusion

6.1. The Council prides itself in its commitment to drive continuous improvement in the things that are important locally and it welcomes wherever CAA helps to support that. 

6.2. However, the Council is very clear that CAA should not distract the authority from Driving Success and delivering improvements in priority services, achieving greater value for money and taking action on key issues locally.

6.3. Local priorities and a community outcome focus must have primacy.

6.4. The results and judgements received in the first round of CAA assessments is extremely impressive. The Council feels this accords the authority a strong position from which to influence and inform the further development of or alternative to CAA to ensure that the regime is proportionate; delivers a reduced burden on the ground; and adds value to local government service delivery over and above the inputs from local partners.

6.5. As part of the Driving Success Performance Framework the Chief Executive proposes to draw together a review of the inspection reports, focusing on outcomes for 2009/10, from all services specifically dealing with "hard to move" indicators and outcomes as part of the review of the Corporate Improvement Plan. This focuses further improvement in one business management process recognising that the remaining time which remains in 2009/10 to improve outcomes is limited.

7. Recommendation(s)

7.1. It is recommended to Cabinet that:

1. The excellent assessment and judgement ratings are welcomed and Members and Staff thanked for their hard work and commitment which made these possible.

2. The local inspection teams, and Linda Krywald as CAA Lead in particular, are thanked for their hard work.

3. Chief Officers are asked to note the reports and address any areas for improvement as part of Driving Success, reporting progress as appropriate through the Chief Officer Self-Assessments in the normal way.

4. The Area Assessment is presented to the Hampshire Senate and LAA Executive to ensure that focus is maintained on delivering progress in the key issues identified in appendix two.

5. A review of inspection reports, focusing on outcomes for 2009/10, from all services specifically dealing with "hard to move" indicators and outcomes be undertaken as part of the review of the Corporate Improvement Plan.

Appendix One: CAA Key Elements & Questions⁴

Appendix Two: Area Assessment `Key Issues'

The Area Assessment report on the Hampshire area noted several key issues where progress will be checked and reported as part of the 2010 area assessment. These have been lifted from the report and listed below:

· Educational Attainment of Vulnerable Children: There is a gap in attainment for children whose circumstances make them more vulnerable. This gap is closing in some areas, but the picture is different for different groups. For example children in care do not do as well as they should in school and too many young people who have been in care are not in work, education or training. The county council is improving the results for children and young people with special educational needs and those from poorer backgrounds. Hampshire's voluntary sector plays a major part in this. There is still more to do to make sure that all children and young people get the best they could from their education. Hampshire partners are aware of the issues and are working together, including through locally organised children's partnerships, to improve the situation.

· Sexual Health: Sexual health services across the county vary in quality and a recent review found that Hampshire's approach to improving sexual health is not well coordinated. The Hampshire Teenage Pregnancy Partnership has a plan in place to improve this.

· Ambulance Response Times in Rural Areas: People in rural parts of Hampshire who make an emergency call for an ambulance wait longer for one to arrive than in neighbouring areas or nationally. However, things are improving. The ambulance service is working with others to improve the response to a life threatening medical emergency. Its 'coresponder' project, where either a trained volunteer or firefighter from the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service will get to the patient ahead of the ambulance to start treatment, has been successful. The ambulance service has been able to demonstrate that patients who receive this service are not disadvantaged and receive high quality treatment. This is now being rolled out in more areas.

· Efficiency of Health Services: The efficiency of health services in Hampshire is improving but partners need to do more now and in the future to make sure that the money available goes as far as possible in meeting people's health needs. In some parts of the county, significant changes in the delivery of health services are being planned and these need to be seen through. A key issue is that people who could be looked after at home or in their local community are still going into hospital for treatment, which does not make the best or most efficient use of local services, and can be less good for the patient. There are examples of good partnership to make people healthier but health and other partners still need to improve how they work together to make changes which are in the best interests of the patient and the public.

· Shared Service Efficiencies: Some councils seem reluctant to share services. Partners have been slow to take the opportunities for improved efficiency and value on a larger scale. Higher cost services, such as waste collection are not usually delivered across more than one council area in Hampshire. Partnership working is emerging too slowly and there is clear potential for improved efficiency which has not yet been taken. As financial pressure increases, health, local government, police and fire will need to look for significant larger scale joint services, crosssector management and pooled budgets. This is important not only in delivering value for money but also in making access to services easier and less confusing for the public.

CORPORATE OR LEGAL INFORMATION:

Links to the Corporate Strategy

IMPACT ASSESSMENTS:

1. Equalities Impact Assessment:

This report is a response to the CAA reports. The CAA reports provide a judgement on how both the County Council and Hampshire as an area is performing. Equalities are considered as part of this.

1. Impact on Crime and Disorder:

This report is a response to the CAA reports. The CAA reports provide a judgement on how both the County Council and Hampshire as an area is performing. Equalities are considered as part of this.

2. Climate Change:

i. How does what is being proposed impact on our carbon footprint / energy consumption?

This report is a response to the CAA reports. The CAA reports provide a judgement on how both the County Council and Hampshire as an area is performing. The carbon footprint and energy consumption informs this.

ii. How does what is being proposed consider the need to adapt to climate change, and be resilient to its longer term impacts?

This report is a response to the CAA reports. The CAA reports provide a judgement on how both the County Council and Hampshire as an area is performing. Climate change and adaptation informs this.