The toolkit is designed to help local authorities assess how well they are meeting the ethical agenda and to improve their arrangements. It is jointly badged by the Standards Board for England, the IDeA and the Audit Commission. The toolkit consists of four key elements, each of which is administered by either the Audit Commission or the IDeA.The toolkit includes guidance on a full audit with an in-depth assessment of the council’s compliance with the Code of Conduct and a light touch health check with a quick assessment of the roles and responsibilities of standards committees and monitoring officer roles and responsibilities.
Local councils have been told they can learn from Britain’s leading businesses when it comes to delivering improved services and better value for money. The message came from Sir Simon Milton, the Local Government Association’s improvement spokesman at the ‘Improvement Summit’ in Gateshead, where councils were urged to challenge the view that they naturally lag behind the private sector in the use of customer data.The meeting was told that research had shown councils could learn from leading firms such as Tesco, Virgin Holidays and First Direct in understanding the kind of services people want and their satisfaction with those services. The LGA and the Improvement and Development Agency want such an approach to be central to finding a replacement for the inspection system used to assess council performance at the moment. The Association is in talks with the National Consumer Council to develop the plans as part of its framework for replacing the Comprehensive Performance Assessment
Read more on COUNCILS TOLD THEY CAN LEARN FROM BIG BUSINESS…
The first of a series of Regional Roundtables on the future of local governance, including possible local government reorganisation will take place today in Birmingham. The full programme of events has now been published with the final details of dates and venues being completed yesterday.Invitations to the Roundtables have gone to council leaders in shire England who will get the chance to take part in face to face debate on governance and structure. All the events will be attended by ministers from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. Today’s will be hosted by the Under Secretary, Jim Fitzpatrick.
Read more on REGIONAL DEBATES ON FUTURE OF LOCAL GOVERNANCE BEGIN TODAY…