Overall, WPI shows that there were improvements in risk assessments of local services in 2005-2006 and improvements in the way councils manage themselves. For example, social services are improving their monitoring and they are responding quicker to inspection findings. There are improvements in performance of waste/recycling although it is high risk, reflecting the issue of sustaining this improvement.  Corporate management arrangements are also becoming increasingly focused on identifying long term vision and key strategic priorities.

However, some areas remain static, particularly in Education attendance and average external qualifications point score for 16 year olds. There is also declining performance in highways maintenance. High risk areas have also been identified in relation to Democratic Renewal, Standards of Conduct, Sustainability and Equalities.

The WPI programme was revised last year and included the introduction of a new Performance Management Framework. It is intended to allow individual local authorities to use performance indicators which best suit them, while providing the ability to compare performance across Wales. But today’s report concludes that it still difficult to compare performance accurately because of the lack of an agreed, balanced set of performance indicators and minimum service standards. This means information cannot be consistently applied across Wales and even within the same local authority over time.

The report also warns that the process of councils carrying out annual assessments in the absence of such standards no longer provides a real fundamental challenge and is in danger of becoming a separate bureaucratic process

The report identifies a number of examples of good practice across Wales, relating to a variety local services - such as energy efficiency at Flintshire Council; Bridgend’s ‘Most Youth Friendly Council in Great Britain’ award; Pembrokeshire County Council’s ‘Quality of life’ checklist; and Monmouthshire County Council’s central billing system for paying energy and water bills. The full list is featured in Appendix 2 of the report.

Auditor General for Wales, Jeremy Colman said today:
“Today’s report shows that there is still considerable work to be done to improve the way local authority performance is assessed in Wales. Council managers and members and the public should have access to clear, reliable information on how their local services are delivering and how they compare with the rest of the country. We are only part of the way there. But, I am encouraged that the recommendations made in last year’s report are going to be implemented - particularly work to establish a set of minimum service standards, which is a major step forward.”

Notes to Editors:

• This report sought to answer the question: ‘Does the Wales Programme for Improvement provide assurance that local government services are improving?’

• The Wales Programme for Improvement was established in April 2002 by the Welsh Assembly Government and is the vehicle through which it, along with the Wales Audit Office and Welsh local government itself, stimulates and supports change and improvement in Welsh councils.

• WPI is based on a risk assessment of service areas and corporate functions agreed jointly by the local authority and its regulators which, in turn, informs an authority’s Improvement Plan.

• 2005/2006 was the first year of the new Performance Measurement Framework which was developed through consultation with stakeholders. The framework is made up of a set of national strategic indicators, on which local authorities must report, and a set of core indicators which authorities must collect and may decide on how to use.

• The Wales Audit Office, with other regulators, considers annually, the question of whether the outcomes of the WPI process demonstrates that local authorities are achieving continuous improvement and whether they are applying the WPI framework appropriately.

• The Wales Audit Office is independent of government and is responsible for the annual audit of some £19 billion of annual public expenditure.

• The Wales Audit Office was created in April 2005 through the Public Audit (Wales) Act 2004, which expanded the functions of the Auditor General for Wales and enabled the transfer of staff from the Audit Commission in Wales and National Audit Office in Wales to his employment.

Ends

For more information, please contact Rachel Moss (Communications Manager) on 02920 262 675 or email rachel.moss@wao.gov.uk