Key Lines of Enquiry

CPA 2005

Key lines of enquiry

for

corporate assessment

KEY LINES OF ENQUIRY

Corporate assessment is part of the Audit Commission’s Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) framework. It focuses on the importance of a sound corporate ‘engine’ to drive good services. It measures how effectively the council is working corporately, and with its partners, to improve services and deliver improved outcomes for local people.

Corporate assessment uses key lines of enquiry (KLOEs) to provide a framework through which to gather and assess evidence about how effectively the council is working. The corporate assessment KLOEs for CPA 2005 measure how well councils understand their local communities and neighbourhoods; how this understanding of local people and places translates into councils’ ambitions and priorities; their capacity to deliver these; and what councils are achieving.

Headline questions, themes and sub-themes

The KLOEs provide a framework to assess the council against five themes arranged under three headline questions:

What is the council, together with its partners, trying to achieve?
Theme 1 / Ambition for the community
Theme 2 / Prioritisation
What is the capacity of the council, including its work with partners, to deliver what it is trying to achieve?
Theme 3 / Capacity
Theme 4 / Performance management
What has been achieved?
Theme 5 / Achievement

Achievement is assessed by examining how well councils are delivering local priorities and outcomes across five sub-themes. These are based on the ‘shared priorities’ agreed by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister’s central and local government partnership. The five ‘shared priority’ sub-themes are:

Sustainable communities and transport
Safer and stronger communities
Healthier communities
Older people
Children and young people

Elements of the key lines of enquiry

Each theme of the KLOEs is divided into three parts:

A number of key questions which are used to reach judgements for each theme.
An inspection focus for each key question, which guides assessment activity.
Criteria for judgement - used to help determine the appropriate score for each theme for the council’s level of performance – see below.

The themes and the key questions are shown on page 6.

Judgement and scoring

The teams judge each theme and assign a score using the following table:

Theme score / Description / Judgement
1 / Below minimum requirements / Inadequate performance
2 / At only minimum requirements / Adequate performance
3 / Consistently above minimum requirements / Performing well
4 / Well above minimum requirements / Performing strongly

The criteria for judgement provide an indication of the expected levels of performance consistent with scores of 2 (adequate performance) and 3 (performing well). These are examples to help determine appropriate scores for each theme. They are not intended to prescribe specific standards or activities; or to be exhaustive lists of how councils are expected to perform at these levels.

Note that theme 5 (achievement) is given a single score of 1 – 4. The ‘shared priority’ sub-themes are not required to be scored. Criteria for judgement for each sub-theme (apart from the sub-theme for children and young people) are provided to help build a picture of how the council is performing under the overall theme of achievement. Judgements in the achievement theme will take into account the extent of the council’s planning and investment to deliver priorities, its implementation of plans and priorities, and the delivery of improved outcomes. The judgement for the children and young people sub-theme is provided by the Joint Area Review (JAR), normally undertaken at the same time as the corporate assessment.

Reporting

The corporate assessment report will set out conclusions on each main theme and the associated scores. It will also provide an executive summary.

Executive summary: This provides an overall summary of the council’s performance, based on the three headline questions and assessment of each theme. In addition, it will include clear statements on each of the following:
community leadership;
political and managerial leadership;
user focus and diversity; and
value for money.

Themes 1 – 4: The report will set out conclusions on each main theme and the associated scores, indicating the judgement and related evidence.

Theme 5 – achievement: This section will provide a summary of the council’s achievement. This will indicate the judgement and score for the achievement theme and include comment on how the council’s local priorities relate to national and shared priorities; how the performance of the council under the themes 1 – 4 has shaped and led to the achievement of outcomes; and how well the council has contributed to the achievement of shared priorities whilst delivering its local priorities.

The section will also set out the team’s conclusions and related evidence on each of the five sub-themes. This includes the conclusions and score for the council’s performance with regard to children and young people, provided by the Joint Area Review.

Corporate Assessment KLOE (Full-Length Version) – February 2006

What is the council, together with its partners, trying to achieve?
1 Ambition for the community
1.1 Are there clear and challenging ambitions for the area and its communities?
1.2 Are ambitions based on a shared understanding amongst the council and partner organisations of local needs?
1.3 Does the council with its partners provide leadership across the community and ensure effective partnership working?
2 Prioritisation
2.1 Are there clear and robust priorities within the ambitions for the area?
2.2 Is there a robust strategy to deliver the priorities?
2.3 Is robust action taken to deliver the strategy?
What is the capacity of the council, including its work with partners, to deliver what it is trying to achieve?
3 Capacity
3.1 Is there clear accountability and decision making to support service delivery and continuous improvement?
3.2 Is capacity used effectively and developed to deliver ambitions and priorities?
3.3Does the council, with its partners, have the capacity it needs to achieve change and deliver its priorities?
4 Performance management
4.1 Is there a consistent, rigorous and open approach to performance management?
4.2 Do the council and partner organisations know how well they and each other are performing against planned outcomes?
4.3 Is knowledge about performance used to drive continuous improvement in outcomes?
What has been achieved?
5 Achievement
Summary of achievement
5.1 What progress has the council made in delivering its priorities and improving quality of life for local people?
Sustainable communities and transport
5.2 What has the council, with its partners, achieved in its ambitions to develop sustainable communities, integrating economic, social and environmental issues?
Safer and stronger communities
5.3 What has the council, with its partners, achieved in its ambitions for building safer and stronger communities?
Healthier communities
5.4 What has the council, with its partners, achieved in its ambitions for the promotion of healthier communities and the narrowing of health inequalities?
Older people
5.5 What has the council, with its partners, achieved in its ambitions to promote and support the independence and well-being of older people?
Children and young people

Corporate Assessment KLOE (Full-Length Version) – February 2006

Corporate Assessment KLOE – February 2006

What is the council, together with its partners, trying to achieve?
1. Ambition for the community
Key Question
1.1 Are there clear and challenging ambitions for the area and its communities?
Inspection Focus
Evidence that

ambitions for the community address the underlying needs of the area and its communities
ambitions are shared amongst partner organisations and understood by staff and the local community
ambitions are challenging but realistic – underpinned by prioritisation, capacity and performance management

Criteria for Judgement
Level 2 / Level 3

The council has a vision of what it wants to achieve for its communities. It has translated this into ambitions that address the underlying needs, and promote the economic, social and environmental well-being of the area and its communities.
The council communicates decisions about its ambitions, and changes in these decisions to councillors, officers and staff; and to local people and communities, partners and stakeholders.
The council can demonstrate that its ambitions are realistic and that it has the capacity and performance management systems in place to deliver them.

The council has developed an overarching, strategic vision and set of clear and challenging ambitions, aims and objectives for the community that promote the economic, social and environmental well-being of the area.
The council communicates decisions about its ambitions, and changes in these decisions, to councillors, officers and staff; and to local people and communities, partners and stakeholders. Councillors, officers and partners are clear about their respective roles and are enthusiastic about achieving the overall ambitions which have been set. Local people are clear about what it is the council and its partners are seeking to achieve and understand the balances that have been struck and why. There is understanding and support for the council’s ambitions among the community.
Ambitions are stretching and challenging, aiming to make a real and measurable difference for local people. The council has taken steps to identify what longer-term, sustainable outcomes the council together with its partners can realistically achieve, including across authority boundaries.

Key Question
1.2 Are ambitions based on a shared understanding amongst the council and partner organisations of local needs?
Inspection Focus
Evidence that

data collection and analysis needs are agreed between councils and partner organisations and information is shared openly between them
councils and partner organisations work together to assess changes in statutory responsibilities, to analyse demographic characteristics and trends, to consider the findings of performance monitoring, to identify gaps and shortfalls in provision, and councils and partner organisations work together to assess the likely availability of resources
service users, staff and other stakeholders, including voluntary and community and private sector organisations, are encouraged to give their views and supported where necessary in doing so; measures are taken within this to involve black and minority ethnic groups and other groups at risk of disadvantage
consultation recognises the range and complexity of service user needs and makes provision for choice

Criteria for Judgement
Level 2 / Level 3

The council has an understanding of the local context in which it operates together with the problems and opportunities facing the area.
The council uses intelligence at its disposal to gain a better understanding of what it has achieved to date and what remains to be done. It has some level of self-awareness and understanding of the problems it faces and how its forward planning will address these.
Communities and partners are regularly consulted, with a view to building a shared vision for the area for citizens, users and partners. The council takes limited steps to improve the level and quality of engagement with those from black and minority ethnic groups and other groups at risk of disadvantage.
In planning for consultation the council takes steps to provide for greater choice where it is realistic to do so.

Information gathered by the council is converted into good intelligence that reflects the area’s demographics and this is used to develop the ambitions for the community and its neighbourhoods. The council takes active steps to share the information with partner organisations.
The council has taken steps to understand the scale of the social, economic and environmental challenges and opportunities it faces in the area including those related to diversity, race equality and deprivation. It makes decisions based on the information produced through research on local needs and engagement with local citizens, communities and partners. As a result, the council understands how its own services and activities, and those of partners and stakeholders, can contribute, and has shaped its forward planning accordingly. It is self-aware, and reviews its achievements in the light of national, regional and local policy priorities and needs. It adopts a flexible approach to building solutions.
The council uses effective community engagement mechanisms to understand the views, needs, desires and preferences of its citizens (including those from black and minority ethnic groups and other groups at risk of disadvantage) as well as partners in the public, private and voluntary sectors. Regular consultation helps to achieve consensus and commitment for achieving community ambitions and building a vision for the area, taking into account the needs and opinions of all sections of the community, including areas of specific local importance such as rural areas.
The council is responsive to the range and complexity of service user needs and provides for greater choice in planning for these.

Key Question
1.3 Does the council, with its partners, provide leadership across the community and ensure effective partnership working?
Inspection Focus
Evidence that

the council demonstrates community leadership through its ability to work in partnership with the statutory, community, voluntary, business and private sectors to add value and deliver against its ambitions and priorities
councillors and officers are willing to make difficult decisions about what are and are not local ambitions
the council is effective in ensuring that partnership working is productive and sustainable and that accountability in partnerships is clear and robust

Criteria for Judgement
Level 2 / Level 3

The council is taking steps to provide robust and effective leadership to the community and is strengthening its overall community, political and managerial leadership capacity. The community strategy is fully supported by the council’s partners. It addresses the economic, social and environmental well-being of the area. The council has also linked its internal strategies and key documents with those of the Local Strategic Partnership.
Councillors and officers have determined local ambitions after consultation and discussion with partners. There are some examples of good practice in collaboration and co-ordinating competing demands.
The council has articulated its principles and aspirations for its own culture and values and has communicated this approach to staff and partners. The council is taking steps to ensure that councillors, officers, staff, partners and the community understand how decisions have been arrived at in relation to community and council strategies. The council is aware of its own and its partners’ strengths and weaknesses. Relationships with partners are effective, with evidence of trust and challenge.

The council champions the needs of the area and its community by providing innovative and creative leadership to address local and national challenges, and promoting fair access to services, community cohesion, sustainable communities and anti-discrimination. Councillors, officers and the community recognise that the council provides effective leadership. It demonstrates wider community leadership based on a strategic and robust understanding of the area’s social, economic and environmental issues and how local priorities relate to regional or international aims and a commitment to the long-term future well-being of the area and its residents. Actions and targets in the community strategy promote the economic, social and environmental well-being of the area in a balanced and integrated way. The strategy sets out what is important for the local area and the council’s ambitions for promoting sustainable, safer, stronger and healthier communities with particular focus on older people, children and young people, black and minority ethnic groups and other groups at risk of disadvantage. In turn, the ambitions and actions for the Local Strategic Partnership clearly link to the council’s key strategies and those of its partners.
Councillors and managers are willing to tackle difficult problems and to take (and stick to) tough decisions. These decisions show how balances have been struck between competing demands and expectations in the light of available resources. This includes achieving a balance between levels of council tax and the expenditure needed for the council to achieve its ambitions and deliver its statutory functions. The council responds to competing demands from different partnership bodies, and in promoting collaboration.
The council has articulated a strategic approach to its principles and aspirations for its own culture and values, and has communicated this approach to councillors, staff and partners. Most are clear on what are the culture and values of the council. Councillors and senior officers consciously adopt a range of leadership and management styles appropriate to the complex community and organisational environments in which they operate, and devolve responsibility and decision-making to officers and staff where appropriate. Councillors and officers are committed to partnership working, and have created and maintained effective working relationships with partners based on trust, openness and constructive challenge.