FAQs Comprehensive Area Assessment 2009 04

© Urban Forum 2008

The Audit Commission and partner Inspectorates have published their final framework for Comprehensive Area Assessment.  Here are the essential things you need to know about CAA.

What is CAA?
The Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) is the new inspection framework for local public services. The CAA combines the perspectives of the six partner inspectorates making independent information available to people about their local services which should assist them in making informed choices.

• It is about people and places
• It aims to give people a snapshot of life in their local area each year
• It should give local services improve quality of life in their area
• It will help people understand if they are getting value for money from their local services

What are the origins of CAA?
The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 introduced Local Area Agreements throughout England, to give local areas a greater say over priorities and spending plans. As part of this a new local performance framework was established, within which the development of the CAA is a key element. In April 2007, seven inspectorates were commissioned (now six, as two have merged) to develop and introduce CAA.

What does the CAA replace?
CAA replaces a range of other inspection regimes, including: the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA), Children's Services, Joint Area Reviews, Annual Performance Assessment of services for children and young people and Social Services star ratings.

When does the new CAA take effect?
From 1st April 2009 with the first CAA assessments being published in November.

Which Inspectorates are involved?
The Audit Commission (local government); the Care Quality Commission (CQC); Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary; Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons; Her majesty's Inspectorate of Probation' and Ofsted (education)

Who is CAA for?

• For the public: CAA aims to be ‘a catalyst for improvement' and by bringing the six Inspectorates together, assessment will be more coordinated and better targeted. It is essential for people to know how well the services in their area are performing for them so they can make choices, whether that be about how they use the services, the ballot box, or where they choose to live.
• For those delivering public services: is intended to encourage improvement and highlight which areas need to be changed, improved, or celebrated by sharing good practice. 
• For government: CAA will provide assurance that public money is being well spent (or not), and how well local services are improving and delivering on key priorities.

How does the CAA framework function?
The CAA framework has two parts:

• The area inspection which looks at how partners in the local authority area are working together to deliver the priorities agreed in their Local Area Agreement (LAA) and Sustainable Community Strategy.
• The organisational assessments, will measure the performance of the local authority, Primary Care Trust, fire and rescue and police services.

Both parts of the framework are underpinned with evidence from the national indicator set which includes 188 indicators which local authorities must collect data on and select their LAA targets from. [There were 198, but this has now been reduced to 188].

For further information on the National Indicator Set is available from the Communities and Local Government website

What's different or new about CAA?
For the first time, local public services will be held to account collectively for their impact on better outcomes. This means that CAA will look across councils, health bodies, police forces, fire and rescue services and others responsible for local public services, which are increasingly expected to work in partnership to tackle the challenges facing their communities. The idea is that CAA will look most at what matters locally. As CAA will assess how effective partnership working is in an area, it will also explore relationships with third sector groups and the private sector.

What will happen to the other Assessments which take place at a local level?
Other service or organisation specific assessments will continue, for example, police and health services will still be assessed by their respective inspectorates, but these will be developed alongside CAA to avoid any duplication. Schools, colleges, social housing and residential care homes will also continue to be inspected independently to ensure they meet required standards.

Will there still be ‘stars' to rate performance?
The system of using stars to show how well a council is performing will no longer be used. Instead green and red flags will be used to indicate success or areas where further or different action is urgently needed.

How should councils be working with the local community in the new regime?
The Local Government Association (LGA) and IDeA (the Improvement and Development Agency for Local Government) have published guidance for local authorities on how they should work with local people. ‘Insight: Understanding Your Citizens, Customers and Communities', sets out the expectation that local partners must:

• show they understand their community - in particular, the needs and aspirations of vulnerable groups - and create local priorities that reflect those groups' needs and aspirations
• seek to improve their customers' experience of services and tailor services to local needs.

Where can I find out more?
You can download the guidance on  engaging local people from IDeA's website

There is more information about CAA on the Audit Commission's website where you can also download the CAA framework

Kate Hathway
April 2009