Slough Borough Council: Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) and Joint Area Review (JAR)

Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) and Joint Area Review (JAR)

The Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) system aims to measure how well councils are serving their local community. Slough Borough Council was one of the first councils to undergo the Audit Commission’s 'CPA – the harder test' in 2005.

The council receives an annual star rating on a scale of 0 stars to 4 stars for its overall performance. The star ratings for all councils are announced each February together with an annual 'Direction of Travel Assessment’ saying whether a council's performance is improving, deteriorating or staying the same.

In February 2008 Slough Borough Council was awarded 2 stars and was assessed as “adequately improving”. An outline of the CPA process can be found below, full details on how the council is assessed can be found on the Audit Commission website.

What is CPA?

CPA is an independent government inspection into how well the council delivers its services to local people.

What does the CPA look at?

Inspectors base their assessment of the council and its services on four key questions:

What is the council trying to achieve?
How has the council set about delivering its priorities for improvement?
What improvements has the council achieved / not achieved to date?
In the light of what the council has learnt to date, what does it plan to do next?

What are the main elements of the assessment?

The Council produces a self-assessment and the Audit Commission publishes an overall annual audit inspection assessment of how the council is doing based on a combination of scores awarded for:

How we work with our partners and other organisations in the town
an annual score for each of the following core services - Children's Services, Adults Services, Benefits, Housing, Environment and Culture
a 'Corporate Assessment' i.e. an on-site inspection carried out once every 3-4 years
an annual assessment of the way the council uses its resources
Performance indicators, inspections reports and assessments of our plans

As well as the corporate assessment, the council also has a Joint Area Review of Children’s services, and received a ‘good’ rating overall

What is the Joint Area Review of Children’s Services (JAR)

A Joint Area Review (JAR) of children’s services was introduced in 2005 and reflects the national agenda of bringing together education, social care services for children and all other public sector and voluntary/community provision for children.

Slough was one of the first councils to have a review. The on-site inspection for the JAR and CPA took place in September 2005.

The JAR assesses the quality of services and makes judgements about how well services work together to improve the well-being of children and young people.

The JAR also looks at how effective the council is at working with other organisations in the town such as health and the police, and how well we integrate our services. As well as interviewing staff, the inspectors asked young people for their views on the services the council and its partners provide.

The JAR describes the outcomes achieved by children and young people growing up in the area and evaluates the way local services, taken together, contribute to their well-being.

Slough JAR report is available on the Ofsted website.

What is the Annual Performance Assessment (APA)?

An APA assesses the council's contribution to improving the lives of children and young people through its education and social care functions, and covers other relevant services. This annual inspection forms the basis of the score for the children and young people service block in the Comprehensive Performance Assessment.

Slough APA reports are available on the Ofsted website.