CPA Assessment 2009

Audit Commission rates Broxbourne as a good council

An independent report released in June 2009 by the Audit Commission shows that Broxbourne residents continue to get a ‘good’ service from the Borough Council.

The Council’s comprehensive performance assessment (CPA) rating from 2004 was confirmed following an inspection by the Commission which looked at the Council's ambitions, its ability to improve and what it has achieved.  As five years had passed since the original CPA assessment in 2004, the Council asked the Commission to undertake a fresh inspection so the comments received from the assessment can be fed into the Council’s improvement programme.

The report notes that the Council's strengths include:

- Concentrating on local needs has led to good council services
- The Council’s ambitions are in line with its local partners, such as the police, and its priorities match those of local residents
- The Council has invested wisely in areas for which it is not directly responsible, such as health and child care 

The report also identifies areas for improvement, including:

- Improving its approach to partnership, so that its voice is heard more clearly at county and regional level
- Developing programmes that address deprivation and diversity in the Borough
- Doing more to link up its priorities with their cost and how well they are being met 

Reports are being prepared by the Council to address issues raised in the assessment and to identify new priorities as a result. From this year, the CPA has been replaced with a new nationwide inspection regime called the Comprehensive Area Assessment.

The full CPA report is available in the related links section or from the Audit Commission's website.