This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the Chief Executive of the Audit Commission to write to you directly.
Letter from Steve Bundred, dated 26 July 2007:
I am writing in response to your parliamentary question asking why the Audit Commission decided to change the indicators used to assess comprehensive performance assessments prior to their replacement with comprehensive area assessments.
The Commission published a consultation document on the framework for CPA 2007 in April this year. In this document a small number of changes were proposed to the performance indicators used in the Audit Commission service assessments for housing, environment and culture, to ensure that CPA remained relevant and continued to drive improvements in public services. The proposals included supplementing the existing set of indicators with four newly available indicators that measure outcomes recognisable by local residents or vulnerable people. It was also proposed to remove four indicators (where there are issues with data availability, data quality or national consistency) and replace three indicators with more meaningful measures of performance. These represent only a small proportion of the total number of indicators; in 2006 there were 31 indicators included in the environment service assessment, 20 in housing and 18 in culture.
The majority of consultation responses expressed a strong desire for stability in the CPA framework and the Commission considered these at its meeting this morning. We will be publishing a document within the next few weeks setting out our final decisions and explaining the reasons for them. I am able to confirm at this stage, however, that a number of the changes proposed in our consultation document will not now go ahead.
It is worth noting that the Commission is also considering the framework and transitional arrangements that it puts in place for 2008, as this is the last year they will carry out assessments under the CPA methodology. The new CAA framework is due to be in place from April 2008.
A copy of this letter will be placed in the House of Commons Library.