To note the detailed proposals for the new system of Comprehensive Area Assessment and how Cabinet has agreed Herefordshire’s preparations are to be taken forward.

The Committee was informed of the detailed proposals for the new system of Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) and how Cabinet had agreed Herefordshire’s preparations were to be taken forward.

The report considered by Cabinet on 2 October was appended.

The Corporate Policy and Research Manager presented the report.  He said that revised proposals for the assessment had simplified the CAA arrangements so that there would be two complementary assessments: an area assessment and an organisational assessment.  He highlighted six key headings at paragraph 5 of the report performance on which it had been agreed it would be important to focus.

He added that in terms of the Committee’s role the extent to which the Council’s partners were meeting performance requirements in addition to the Council itself was important.  He suggested that the Committee might wish to consider with relevant partners particular areas of performance.  

Given the information now available about the proposed CAA assessments Cabinet had agreed to end the current CAA preparation programme and focus on the delivery of improvement programmes of the Council and the wider Herefordshire Partnership, tested against the proposed CAA key questions and lines of enquiry, rather than on processes. 

He added that the CAA system was a very different type of system to the former Comprehensive Performance Assessment process and would not require new information to be provided specifically for the Inspectors. Instead it would use the information the Council itself and the Herefordshire Partnership and individual partner organisations used to monitor and manage performance.  Likewise there would be no special period with inspectors on site.

In the ensuing discussion the following principal points were made:

·         Members discussed the new statutory duty to involve people in local decision making.  The role of Parish and Town Councils was highlighted. 

·         Members emphasised the importance of the Local Member and the need for the Council to keep them informed as the first point of local contact.  It was noted that Local Members considered that the current Codes of Conduct restricted their ability to represent their communities.  The Assistant Chief Executive (Legal and Democratic) advised that the Code, as revised, did afford Local Members more flexibility in this respect.

·         In response to a question about the demands of the new system the CPRM emphasised that the CAA was likely to be a more demanding system of assessment because it expected the Council and its partners to be on top of understanding needs and to be delivering improved outcomes for people, rather than testing compliance with particular check-lists or processes.  It was not a one-off inspection but should rather be considered as the core of planning and performance management and, therefore, of reporting for the Council, public service arrangements with the PCT and with the Herefordshire Partnership. 

The Committee noted that further reporting relevant to the CAA would  be included as part of the Integrated Corporate Performance Report.

To inform Cabinet of the detailed proposals for the new system of Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) and seek agreement to how Herefordshire’s preparations should be taken forward.

The Cabinet considered a report which detailed proposals for the new system of Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) and sought agreement to how Herefordshire’s preparations should be taken forward.

The Cabinet Member for Corporate and Customer Services and Human Resources emphasised the importance of the CAA inspection as the key external judgement on the Council and its partners in future years. A series of CAA preparation seminars for Members, non-executives and officers of the Council, the PCT and partner organisations had been launched and the objectives of the seminars were set out in the report.

The Corporate Policy and Research Manager informed Cabinet that the latest proposed arrangements for CAA had taken account of the views submitted by local authorities and other organisations on the original proposals, to the extent that they now appeared less complex and onerous to operate. Above all, the latest proposals should enable the Council and its partners to concentrate on what really mattered understanding the needs and aspirations of people in the county and responding to them better, with value for money services that would improve people’s life chances and quality of life.

The Labour Group Leader agreed that the Council needs to be proactive and not reactive with a view to making sure we are in a position for the new system of inspection. The Member stressed, in particular, the importance of public understanding and involvement and of the Council communicating to people the value of the independent review of the Council’s performance.

The Cabinet Member for Corporate and Customer Services and Human Resources agreed that there was a need to involve communities and that Partners and Communities Together (PACT) meetings needed to be addressed as it was felt by Members that they leaned more towards the police and away from the Council.  It was added that it had been sometime since the Member seminar on PACTS had been held, but as yet no changes had been brought about.  It was emphasised that communities must be kept informed and involved.

RESOLVED:   That

(i)                 the development and re-launching of the CAA preparation programme so that all energies are focused on the delivery of  the improvement programmes of the Council with the Primary Care Trust and the wider Herefordshire Partnership, tested against the proposed CAA key questions and lines of enquiry be agreed;

(ii)               this be buttressed by a rolling programme of self-evaluations against the key questions for the area assessment and the key lines of enquiry for the Council’s organisational assessment, updated quarterly, the first cut of which to be produced by November and finalised before the end of December;

(iii)             the Council’s response to the inspectorates’ proposals be developed and submitted within the County Councils’ Network; and

(iv)      the final report on the out-going CAA preparation programme be noted.