Initially proposed separate direction of travel assessments and use of resources judgment for all partners. Now combined into an organisational assessment. This assessment plays a pivotal role in the ratings of individual organisations.

There will be single organisational assessments of councils and of fire and rescue services. These organisational assessments will focus on:

• How well they deliver value for money through the use of resources

• How well it manages performance

The Audit Commission have said they will use the following evidence -

"We will rely mainly on our shared inspectorate evidence base and knowledge gained from routine dealings with the Council and other local partners”. And we "will comment on each Councils effectiveness as a Community Leader".

There are four themes – three themes on use of resources and one theme on managing performance.

Use of Resources:

Builds on UoR from CPA - but with a substantially enhanced scope. The three themes are brought together into a single score to enable comparability across the sector.  A Value for Money judgement will be included.

• How the council manages Finances

• How the council governs the business – governance

• How the council manages resources, based around Key Lines of Enquiry (KLOE) – natural resources, physical assets and people

There will be separate judgements for key local partners.

Managing Performance:

Includes current performance and also an assessment on future prospects. There will no longer be a separate direction of travel assessment for councils and fire and rescue services, this will be incorporated into the managing performance theme.

• How the council manages performance – how well are things going, do they have capacity to maintain and improve.

Partnership working will be a key factor.

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