Comprehensive area assessment (CAA).
Overview
Introduced in April 2009, the CAA examines how well councils and their partners have improved quality of life outcomes in their locality. It also examines the performance of key local agencies- replacing the judgements previously made under the comprehensive performance assessment (CPA). There are two types of assessment, area and organisational.
Area assessment
This assessment looks at how well partners work together to deliver better quality of life outcomes for their area. They are based on local priorities around health, economy, housing, environment, community safety, etc. There is no score for the assessment, but a series of green flags (to show best practice) and red flags (areas to be addressed) is given to each of the areas.
Organisational assessment
This assessment covers the effectiveness of key public agencies in the area. For Liverpool this means the city council, the Liverpool Primary Care Trust (PCT), Merseyside Police and the Fire and Rescue Service. The assessment is divided into two sub-elements - 'use of resources' and 'managing performance' scored from 1 (lowest) to 4 (highest), where:
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level 1 is poor performance.
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level 2 is adequate performance.
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level 3 is good performance.
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level 4 is excellent performance.
These assessments are undertaken each year by joint inspectorates using 'key lines of enquiry' (KLOEs). You can view information on these and all aspects of CAA on the CAA section of the Audit Commission's website. This section includes information on:
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'what is CAA?'.
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CAA 'frequently asked questions'.
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the 'CAA framework and guidance'.
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'One Place' the CAA reporting tool.
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the 'Use of resources' framework and guidance.
2009 results
The first set of results have been published on the 'One Place' website. The headlines for Liverpool are:
Area assessment
The council, working with partners, was awarded:
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a green flag for the outstanding work done by Citysafe in reducing crime and anti-social behaviour.
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a red flag for private sector rented housing, where there is more work to do.
Read the area assessment full report![(PDF [165Kb] opens in new window)](/images/PDF.gif)
or the area assessment summary.
Organisational assessment
The council achieved for:
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managing performance - performing well (good) i.e. 3 out of 4.
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use of resources - performing adequately (average) i.e. 2 out of 4.
Read the organisational assessment full report or the organisational assessment summary.
Overall we are performing well (good) i.e. 3 out of 4.
This briefing![(MS Word [506.5Kb] opens in new window)](/images/Word.gif)
gives more information about how the council has achieved its '3 star' rating and the improvement journey we are on. Particular recognition is given to adult social care and services for children and young people.
Self-assessment
Earlier this year, the council completed a series of self-assessments against the inspector's key line of enquiry. This was done to assist the inspection process and also help the council plan future improvements. Go to the 'CAA self-assessment' page to view these.
Other inspections
The council is regularly audited and inspected to ensure that its services are performing to appropriate standards. Visit our 'service inspection results' page to see the latest inspection reports.