Help | Site Index | Site Map | Printer Friendly Version | Change Contrast
Each year all Councils across the country are evaluated by the Audit Commission using a complex process called Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) As a result of this evaluation each Council will be given a “Star” rating from “no stars” to “4 stars.”.
The process judges two key areas of how the council performs. Firstly it looks at how well the council delivers against its services, for example, social care and housing. This judgement is made via the Service Block score. Secondly it considers how well the council is run, via a Corporate Assessment inspection.. In addition, the Council is also awarded a “Direction of Travel” score, which indicates how well it has improved in the previous year.
The Council received its first CPA judgement in December 2002, when the Council was found to be weak, and awarded the equivalent of only 1 star. Since that time the Council has set about its journey to reverse that judgement and move towards its goal of becoming excellent and achieving 4 stars. In December 2004, the Council had a second Corporate Assessment, and this was extremely positive about the improvements we had made since 2002. This, coupled with improved service performance, meant that we became a “2 star” Authority in December 2005.
Meanwhile, the Direction of Travel judgement said that the Council was “Improving Well.” This is the second highest judgement that it is possible to get, and was pleasing because it meant that our improvements were being recognised.
In 2006 our improvements continued, and we remain a 2-star Authority. Although we have not increased our star rating, our services continue to improve. In fact, we are held back from achieving 3 or 4 stars because of our Corporate Assessment score. Councils are only subject to the Corporate Assessment element of CPA every 4 years, and Oldham is not due for its Assessment until 2008. Thus, whilst our services improve each year, our annual CPA score cannot rise as quickly as it might because of the timing of the Corporate Assessment.
The CPA judgement for 2006 showed increased scores in Environmental Services, Cultural Services, and Social Care (Adults). None of our service blocks went down, and we are still described as “Improving Well” by the Audit Commission.
2007 will see even more improvements, and although we still won’t have had a Corporate Assessment, it is possible that our services will have improved so much that we do indeed gain a third star. As we move towards the next Corporate Assessment in 2008, it is very possible that we will achieve 4 stars then. That is the Council’s aim.