As part of the
Every Child Matters
programme of reform, changes have been made to comprehensive performance assessment (CPA), which has implications for youth justice practitioners. Information on children and young people within the youth justice system will now be used to make up CPA ratings.
Comprehensive performance assessment rates how well councils deliver services to local communities and how effectively they are run. It considers performance from various perspectives and highlights areas where targeted activity is needed to enable improvement.
It is essential that improvement continues to be made following initial assessment. CPA needs to both develop and maintain focus, while sustaining a reduction of the burden on local authorities. The revised CPA process puts more emphasis on outcomes for local people and value for money.
As of the changes in 2005, CPA ratings will be made up of:
- use of resources score (annual self-assessment returns)
- corporate assessment score (three-year cycle)
- seven service block ratings, of which the ‘Outcomes for Children and Young People’ service block is one.
As well as the CPA rating, a direction of travel assessment is carried out, which shows how well an authority is improving (separate judgement from the CPA score).
In December 2005 the Audit Commission published the CPA scores. These can be seen on the Audit Commission website [opens in new window].
The Department of Communities and Local Government (previously ODPM) recently consulted on the proposed changes to local authority freedoms and flexibilities to take account of the new CPA scoring. Their proposal can be downloaded from the CLG website [opens in new window].
Corporate assessment
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.
As part of the revised CPA arrangements, there will be a common team member working on both the corporate assessment and joint area review. There will be a common timetable with the joint area reviews and integrated fieldwork. Findings will also be interwoven with the joint area review.
YOT performance data on mental health, prevention, recidivism, substance misuse and education contribute directly to corporate assessment. Following a consultation with YOTs, the YJB will also provide YOT throughput data on disposals and offences which will support the Audit Commission’s set of contextual indicators for the corporate assessment. This is supplied by the YJB and no further reports are required by YOTs.