Cumbria County Council has been praised in a new Audit Commission report, which says the council “is achieving its priorities and has successfully brought about significant improvements over the last few years”.
A team from the Audit Commission spent two weeks in September conducting a corporate assessment of the council and analysing its ambitions, achievements, priorities, capacity and performance management. Corporate assessments feed into the overall CPA (Comprehensive Performance Assessment) star rating which all councils receive annually.
Last year Cumbria County Council was rated in the CPA as a one-star authority out of a possible four stars. The Audit Commission’s new CPA ratings won’t be published until February 22, but the new corporate assessment score of 2 points out of a possible 4 shows promising signs that the council overall has shown significant improvement.
Tim Stoddard, Leader of Cumbria County Council, said:
“This report makes for very satisfying reading. It’s not just the fact that it proves we have improved significantly as a local authority, but it is also full of optimistic pointers for the future. It’s not time to rest on our laurels, it’s time to take this positive attitude and build on it so that the council continues to improve and prosper. The pace of change in the organisation has really built a momentum - so much so that I’m convinced that if the assessment was undertaken tomorrow I firmly believe we would fare even better.”
Deputy Leader Joan Stocker, cabinet member responsible for finance, said:
"The corporate assessment praises us for balancing the books. It says we have the capacity to deliver on our ambitions and that the council is building the financial capacity needed to deliver its improvement agenda."
Peter Stybelski, chief executive, said:
"The last time a corporate assessment was carried out on the county council was in 2002; this report proves we are a better-run authority now than we were then. The Audit Commission's testing regime is far more rigorous now than it was in 2002 and many other councils have found themselves marked down under the new scoring system. That's not true in Cumbria - not only have we got better, but we've also got better under a tougher scoring system.
The report praises the “clear vision” in the county for future achievements and says “clear outcomes” have been achieved in areas such as the local economy and community safety. It also said the council is providing “strong community leadership” for Cumbria and engages well with local people through local committees and neighbourhood forums.
Strong points highlighted by the Audit Commission include:
- Sound financial management, with evidence that future risks are being managed.
- Value for money services, with a clear focus on efficiencies.
- Strong political and managerial leadership, which is having a positive impact on the council’s internal culture.
- Economic regeneration and success in attracting European funding to create jobs.
- Partnership working to reduce crime.
The report also outlined areas that still need to be improved. They include:
- The need for a stronger, countywide approach to health.
- The need for greater consistency of approach to black and minority ethnic communities.
- The need to benchmark and improve value for money when delivering services.
- The need to move forward at a faster pace so the public feel the benefit in areas such as waste management, transport and caring for older people.
- The need to strengthen internal management systems to focus on areas such as human resources processes.
All areas for improvement highlighted in the corporate assessment are being addressed in the Council improvement plan, which is due to be presented alongside the Budget in February. Work has already begun on all areas highlighted. Improvements do far include:
- Stronger partnership work with the new Primary Care Trust for the whole of Cumbria. The county council is also leading on the development of a network of information officers across district councils, health services and the police to share information about community needs and priorities.
- The Cumbria Equality and Diversity Partnership is carrying out an ethnicity mapping exercise for the county, where data on migrant worker registrations, GP registrations by ethnicity, Language Line usage data and school pupil data will all be collated to build a fuller picture of diversity in the county. Equality Impact Assessments have also been carried out on 40 areas of policy across the county council.
- A balanced scorecard pilot scheme has been run in Children’s Services which combines monitoring of service and performance to analyse whether value for money is being delivered.
- The future of the county’s waste management has also taken major strides forward since the inspection, with a preferred bidder now chosen to develop a solution which will drastically cut the amount of waste going to landfill. Recycling rates and the amount of waste produced per head of population are also showing significant improvements.
- A new human resources structure with a fresh emphasis on people development has been introduced.
- A full review has been conducted on passenger transport in the county with a new focus on making sure that as many people as possible have a transport link to a key service centre so they can reasonably reach important services such as libraries, family centres and shops.
You can view a copy of the Audit Commission report at the link below:
Media enquiries to Gareth Cosslett, News Manager on 01228 606332
Read the Audit Commission report (PDF)