CPA - performance information
The Audit Commission assesses the performance of councils and
the services that they provide for local people.
Their assessment helps us to focus on improvements we need to
make. The assessment comprises evidence from other external review
bodies plus the Commission's own judgements.
We are a council that is improving adequately and
demonstrating three star overall performance.
Read the Comprehensive Assessment Performance (CPA) report and
other reports at the Audit Commission
Direction of Travel - Progress made in 2006
Rochdale has achieved good improvement in
services to local people in priority areas.
It retains a strong commitment to improving
the quality of life, working through wider partnerships and
delegating more independence to local townships.
Children’s services and, in particular,
educational attainment have achieved substantial improvement, with
key stage 2 results the most improved nationally between 2003 to
2006. Other improvements include the quality of housing, recycling
rates, library services, reductions in some crime types and
evidence that regeneration is visibly benefiting the area. There is
a strengthened focus on addressing health inequalities.
Challenges remain to achieve long-term crime
reduction targets, raise educational attainment at A level,
continue to drive improvements to libraries and leisure facilities,
deliver further recycling improvements and maximise the benefits of
regeneration for all citizens.
Strengthened internal capacity and good use of
external expertise are helping deliver ambitions. While there is
more to do, the Council has improved staff management including
workforce planning and absence management and is enhancing
performance management arrangements. It has a sound approach to
managing finances but scope to achieve better value for money.
Summary of the comprehensive assessment report - December
2005
Rochdale is an ambitious Council with sound political and
managerial leadership. It is determined to create the best possible
quality of life for local people by addressing the deprivation in
the Borough. In support of this objective it is steadily improving
its capacity to deliver improved performance and outcomes. However,
at the moment these are not matching the ambitions and the effort
being invested. Overall the Council’s performance is adequate.
Rochdale can be characterised as a Council which believes in the
importance of focusing on its local communities. It is strong on
community engagement, including the involvement of its diverse
black and minority ethnic communities. Considerable efforts are
made, especially at township and neighbourhood levels, to involve
local communities in decision-making and planning the direction of
service developments.
Rochdale takes issues of inclusion very seriously. It was a
Beacon council for community cohesion in 2003/04, and has worked
constructively with the Home Office as a community cohesion
pathfinder and civic pioneer. It has made good progress on
equalities and has firm plans to make further progress during the
next three years.
Operationally, the Council demonstrates focus on users and local
communities through its range of one-stop shops and joint service
centres, where capacity is enhanced through combined provision
with, for example, Connexions and health services. Staff
demonstrate commitment and detailed concern on the ground, showing
innovation in delivering a wide range of service initiatives in
often difficult contexts. Despite this there are low rates of
satisfaction among residents with a number of services and with the
Council itself, even allowing for Rochdale’s level of
deprivation.
The Council and its partners have worked to establish and
clarify high-level priorities and these are widely recognised among
the Council’s members and staff. Prioritisation processes below
headline level are less robust. While the Council shows a strong
corporate response to most national and local priority areas, it
does not explicitly prioritise health.
There is some evidence that the Council is performing better in
its own headline priorities than across the wider range of
services, though the picture is still a mixed one. The Council has
enjoyed particular success with its housing programme, and has used
external funding to build community capital and lay out the ground
for economic improvements, though the full impact has yet to be
felt. There is now a successful momentum in tackling non-violent
crime and reducing anti-social behaviour. Educational attainment at
secondary level has improved, but primary pupils generally achieve
less well than pupils from similar areas, and less well than found
across the country. Primary school attendance is satisfactory but
problems of secondary school attendance persist. There has been
investment in environmental improvements, with a notable rise in
recycling rates. The Council is working with partners to improve
health outcomes, and its recently completed Older People’s Strategy
is a sound basis for considering this cross-cutting area.
Financial management is sound but the Council has not
demonstrated a systematic focus on value for money (VFM), which is
adequate rather than strong. However, there are examples of major
initiatives which have the improvement of VFM at their core,
including the development of a strategic partnership, the major
reorganisation of special education through a private finance
initiative (PFI) contract and the pursuit, under Rochdale’s
leadership, of a sub-regional approach to child care placements.
Spending was generally higher than the average per head of
population in 2004/05 but this level of spending reflects
relatively high social deprivation and the related favourable
treatment for Rochdale in the national settlement in that year.
The Council has been slow to progress some human resource
issues, such as workforce planning. Staff sickness levels remain
stubbornly high. An extended timetable for the introduction of an
appraisal system across the wider workforce is handicapping the
Council’s ability to embed prioritisation and performance
management across the organisation. Performance management is
improving, with examples of action being taken to address weak
performance, but some significant elements are still missing.
Rochdale has had no overall control politically for a number of
years, but there is a well developed system of working across the
political parties to reach consensus on major issues. The published
vision of the Council and its partners is owned by all political
groups. A recent restructuring at senior management levels has
consolidated managerial leadership across a tightly-focused
executive leadership team (ELT) and eighteen service heads,
introducing clearer accountability lines and better
cross-organisational working. The Council is acknowledged by its
partners in the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) as providing
leadership and momentum.