Issue - meetings

To consider a report summarising the findings of the area assessment and organisational assessments published by the Audit Commission in December 2009 and to provide an update on the current work being undertaken on the “Use of Resources” assessment. 

The Committee considered a report on the Comprehensive Area Assessment for Cheshire East Council. The report summarised the findings of the area assessment and organisational assessments published by the Audit Commission in December 2009, and gave an update on the work being undertaken on the “Use of Resources” assessment. 

Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) was a new way of assessing local public services in England. It examined how well councils were working together with other public bodies to meet the needs of the people they served. The assessment was a joint assessment made by a group of six independent watchdogs. 

The Use of Resources aspect of the CAA was broken down into three areas:

Managing finances

Governing the business

Managing resources

Key Lines of Enquiry (KLOEs) provided individual scores towards the summary score for each of the three areas and towards the overall score for Use of Resources. The possible scores were:

Performs poorly         (1)

Performs adequately (2)

Performs well             (3)

Performs excellently  (4)

Cheshire East was unlikely to score an overall level 3 for 2009/10 as many of the KLOEs related to embedding processes and demonstrating measured outcomes from plans already in place. In particular, as reported at a previous meeting, there were concerns about the Council’s current procurement and asset management processes which needed to be addressed.

There were two particular lines of enquiry that had very specific links to the Committee’s work:

?       Did the organisation promote and demonstrate the principles and values of good governance?  (KLOE 2.3)

?       Did the organisation manage its risks and maintain a sound system of internal control? (KLOE 2.4)

RESOLVED

That

(1)   the findings and the monitoring mechanisms used to ensure timely action in relation to CAA reports by the Audit Commission be noted; and

(2)   the link between the Governance and Constitution Committee and the Use of Resources assessment Key Lines of Enquiry (KLOEs 2.3 and 2.4) and links to the strategic risk register be noted.