Davy Jones Consultancy

So, the dust has now settled on the release of the CAA results. What do we find ?

No surprises
There are precious few people complaining about their assessment. So, it hasn't told us much we didn't already know. Interesting that 9 green flags were given for community involvement, including three (Norfolk, Tower Hamlets & Wiltshire) explicitly linked to the use of Participatory Budgeting (though inexplicably, Newcastle, the leading PB pilot in the country wasn't one of them !). And around 15 green flags awarded for sustainability. Few red flags in these areas - just 2 on community cohesion (Thurrock and Knowsley) and one on residents' perceptions of local public services (Oldham). But there are lots of people complaining instead about the "burden" of CAA not being much easier than CPA.

Was it a real Comprehensive Area Assessment?
No. Despite Total Place, CAA still assessed value for money in each separate local public agency. And it retained all the separate organisational assessments. So the area focus was mixed at best. It wasn't comprehensive either, with its starting point the 3 year Local Area Agreement , applying only to top tier councils and focusing on the next three years. And while the public continue to welcome an independent assessment of their local services, citizens and services users were entirely excluded from the process.

What's the alternative?
Local Area Agreements should become just that - Local. They should be discussed with and signed off by local people, not with Government. All three tiers of local government should be encouraged to have one as a way of focusing discussion on the priorities for local places. The public will never agree to local services just policing themselves. But if the burden of an army of inspectors is too much, there needs to be another independent element - the public.

CAA should be a process initiated by local services involving not only their peers and staff, but also crucially local people and service users. The process and the outcome should be widely discussed and communicated locally. Councils and other services should seek innovative ways to capture qualitative feedback from local people, including through "Amazon-style" local ratings feedback.

What about inspection?
There will always be a need for unannounced inspection of services for the vulnerable - children, the elderly and infirm. But inspections in other services should be a last not a first resort - triggered by peer reviews or public concern.

Other reforms
Of course, all this would work better if other key changes were implemented too - reforming the finances and governance of local services - but that's a subject for past and future blogs!