What Our Priorities Are and How We Are Doing : Cumbria County Council

The Council Plan (together with a Delivery Plan that sits alongside it) is designed to let everyone know how Cumbria County Council will make a positive difference to the lives of the people and communities it serves. Previous Plans are also available.

Details of the Council’s major strategies can be found on the Key Plans and Strategies page.

Business Plans (Service Based)

Each service area publishes various policies and strategies which are available to download from the relevant Directorate website.

Performance Information - Best Value (BVP)

The Annual Review and Best Value Performance Plan (BVPP) is one of the Council's key planning documents and is structured around our Council Plan themes and the Council's improvement priorities. The BVPP has been published in two parts. Part one of the BVPP 'Building Pride in Cumbria', our Council Plan 2008/11 was published in March 2008 and contains the Council's improvement priorities, designed to address opportunities and weaknesses identified through peer review and Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA). Further information can be found on the Performance page.

For details about the main external organisations that review and inspect the services provided by the County Council, and for links to their websites so you can search for inspection reports and performance information go to the External Review and Inspection page.

The Cumbria Strategic Partnership (external link)

(CSP) is the countywide partnership in Cumbria which brings together partners representing the public, private and third sector organisations in Cumbria. It is responsible, on behalf of the County Council, for developing a Sustainable Community Strategy and for developing and implementing the Local Area Agreement. All the Council's key policies and strategies can be found on the Key Plans and Strategies homepage.

The Council's Economic Development Strategy focuses on business support services, maximising funds for regeneration and co-ordinating inward investment and development. The Regeneration Support Team is a partner-led organisation embedded within the Regeneration Unit of Cumbria County Council's Community Economy and Environment Department (CE&E). Formerly the European Liaison Unit (ELU), the Regeneration Support Team (RST) has been strengthened and extended to meet the demands of European Union Funding, the funding streams of the North West Development Agency and the two Cumbrian Regeneration Companies. Our purpose is "To maximise the benefits of economic regeneration in Cumbria by supporting partners to develop and deliver effective regeneration projects". For more information visit the Regeneration Support Team (external link)

page.

The Forward Plan is a list of key decisions that the Cabinet expects to take in the near future. The Forward Plan is updated following the closure of the call-in period after each Cabinet meeting.

Capital Strategy

The Capital Programme and other financial information can be found in the Publication Scheme under the class What We Spend and How We Spend It.

Best Value Performance Indicators

2007/08 was the final year in which the Council's performance would be measured using the Government's Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPIs). The Council is committed to delivering improved performance against all the Government's National Indicators and has set challenging targets for the period 2007/08. Part 2 of our BVPP contains an analysis of our performance in the year ended March 2008, showing how we have performed in terms of our own year-on-year improvement and how we compare with other County Councils. Click on the link below to access part 2 of the BVPP.

Best Value Performance Plan 2008 (part 2)

Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA)

Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) was introduced by Government in 2002 and seeks to provide the public with one overall judgement on the performance of Councils. The CPA is carried out for Central Government by the Audit Commission, and independent body responsible for ensuring that public money is spent economically, efficiently and effectively, to achieve high-quality local and national services for the public. Following a CPA, Council's are categorised as 4 stars, 3 stars, 2 stars or 1 star, with 4 stars being the best. Along with the overall category the Council is also given a direction of travel score which highlights whether a council is making arrangements to secure continuous improvement. The direction of travel is categorised as improving strongly, improving well, improving adequately, and not improving adequately or not improving. To access CPA Scorecards go to the Comprehensive Performance Assessment page.

Inspection Reports

Inspection reports by the following organisations can be found on the External Review and Inspection webpage:

· Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE)

· Corporate Assessment and Joint Area Review 2006

· Corporate Assessment Self-Assessment

· Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI)

Local Area Agreements (LAA)

The Cumbria Agreement is the name of the Local Area Agreement (LAA) for the county. The Cumbria Agreement is a 3 year plan that sets out key improvement targets for Cumbria. Achievement of these targets will reflect significant progress towards achieving the long-term vision and outcomes agreed in the Cumbria Community Strategy 2008 - 2028. The Cumbria Agreement is developed and delivered through the Cumbria Strategic Partnership (CSP). The Cumbria Strategic Partnership (CSP) is the countywide partnership in Cumbria which brings together partners representing public, private and third sector organisations. It is responsible, on behalf of the County Council, for developing and implementing the Cumbria Community Strategy and the Cumbria Agreement.

Cumbria County Council is the ‘responsible authority’ for the development and delivery of the Agreement, and for ensuring appropriate arrangements are in place across the partnership to effectively monitor and manage performance. The second Cumbria Agreement was agreed with partners in the first half of 2008 and went into operation from 1 April 2008. The Agreement runs for 3 years ending on 31 March 2011. The Agreement comprises of a number of targets. Thirty-five of these targets were negotiated with Central Government, through Government Office North West (GONW). These are the 'designated' targets. There are 16 statutory targets included that focus on education and early years. There are also a number of 'local' targets included that have been agreed as priorities amongst partners in Cumbria.

For more information go to the Cumbria Agreement (LAA) page.

Statistical Information Produced in Accordance with the Council's and Departmental Requirements

Statistical information detailing how the Council has achieved against priorities can be found in the Best Value Performance Plan 2008 (part 2). Information on how the Council has performed since 2008 can be found at Our Performance

Impact Assessments

An Equality Impact Assessment is like a risk assessment we carry out to make sure that we are being fair to all groups. Every unit in the County Council has to carry out an Equality Impact Assessment and to demonstrate how they are addressing the findings. For more information visit the Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) page

Service Standards

The Council has set a number of service standards to ensure it provides a quality service to its customers. Details of the services standards, the Local Government Ombudsman and the Standards Board for England are available on the Service Standards page.