Joined-up in Halton
The comprehensive performance assessment regime, including a corporate assessment and joint area reviews, all come to an end this December. By this time each of the 150 local authorities in the UK will have been inspected.
We take a closer look at the approach of the joint area review team to the inspection of Halton Borough Council in the North West. Halton is one of only six local areas to receive an outstanding grade for safeguarding (out of the 57 joint area reviews published so far). It also received an outstanding grade for ‘capacity to improve further’.
Joined-up in practice
By their nature, joint area reviews bring together a variety of professional backgrounds and areas of expertise, and the team usually includes inspectors with backgrounds in children’s services, education and learning and skills, together with colleagues from the Audit Commission and the Healthcare Commission. Similarly, the corporate assessment team, led by the Audit Commission, brings different professional perspectives to the process.
This diverse approach enabled the inspection team to see the bigger picture of provision for children, young people and residents of Halton. Inspectors from a broad range of experiences were involved, enabling more focused judgements to be made. Judgements might include how 
well families experience health services, to what extent the needs of looked-after children are being met, and whether the diverse needs of the community in Halton are being served by the council.
As in all joint area reviews and corporate assessments, Halton’s inspection team were conscious of the need to work in a way which complemented each others skills. In addition, the openness and willingness of Halton’s corporate assessment and joint area review teams were equally matched by that of the authority’s, in particular David Parr, Chief Executive, and Gerald Meehan, Director of Children’s Services, Halton Borough Council.
Mary Varley, in her first role as lead inspector, along with Vipul Thacker of the Audit Commission, were keen to establish effective teamwork right from the start.
They identified five key aspects:
- shared values – ‘children and residents of Halton deserve the best’ was the shared aim and core value to the review
- effective communication that is honest, regular and appreciative of differences in opinion. Clear boundaries between the inspectors and inspected
- professional respect from both sides, given the testing circumstances they were experiencing
- professional rigour and challenge – the team should be supportive about making judgements and open about findings.
It was the teamwork between all involved in the review that closely knitted the above principles together.
Data and people
Data alone doesn’t reveal the full picture of a local authority’s services. It was crucial the team met staff and, most importantly, service users face to face. Such evidence adds value to the inspection.
As an extra to the inspection, some of the inspection team were invited to attend a children and young people’s celebration event at Stobart Stadium in Halton. This was a chance to meet some 300 children and young people celebrating their achievements and contributions to the community.
The inspectors’ view
In summary, Mary and Vipul say of their team, 'It was a privilege to work with such able and resourceful colleagues, and with a local authority which worked so openly and professionally with us. We all shared the same belief that children and residents in Halton deserve the best.’
Halton’s view
Feedback from the local authority was extremely positive. At the end of the inspection the Director of Children’s Services commented it had been conducted ‘rigorously, thoroughly and fairly and with the interests of children and young people at heart.’ Tony Crane, Halton’s Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership Manager said, ‘The interaction with the inspection team allowed a mature exchange of ideas to take place throughout our joint area review experience. This will be of great benefit to Halton as we plan for the future’.
The background to Halton’s joint area review
Halton’s review reflected a relatively high-performing local authority in a socially and economically challenging area. During the planning stage, as in all reviews, the team took into account Halton’s last annual performance assessment and other previous inspections carefully, in order to spot areas of risk.
Only four years ago Halton’s youth service was graded ‘unsatisfactory’ by Ofsted, therefore it was clear to the team the council’s Integrated Youth Support Services needed special attention. All local authorities are preparing for changes in this area as part of the Government’s Ten Year Youth Strategy, launched in summer 2007.
The team met with approximately 203 children and young people and over 400 staff in 51 groups and conducted over 75 interviews with managers and elected councillors
For the first time in a joint area review, instead of a separate youth service inspection, an additional investigation on the Integrated Youth Support Service was included. Principally this looked at the impact of integrated youth support provision on young people’s involvement in the planning and delivery of local services. Also, it looked at Halton’s engagement in youth work and in addressing the high level of young people who are not in education, employment or training.
The report notes there is, ‘a wide range of responsive and locally based services for children and families’. In the area of improving outcomes for children and young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, Halton has made ‘rapid progress over the last three years in developing a well-planned strategy for inclusion’. And in measuring the impact of the evolving integrated youth support structure on young people’s engagement, the review found, ‘sustained improvements in provision over time’. Halton was, ‘very responsive to young people’s views and opinions, enabling more effective joint work and planning’.
Halton’s corporate assessment
The Audit Commission found that Halton Borough Council is performing strongly in tackling the borough's significant local challenges. Its visionary leadership, strong partnership working and a track record of delivering major projects has led to good outcomes for local residents. The council’s efforts are improving the quality of life in Halton, which still faces major challenges in addressing high levels of deprivation and meeting the needs of its diverse communities.
To give you an idea of the work involved during the review, here are a few statistics. During the inspection the team met with approximately 203 children and young people and over 400 staff in 51 groups and conducted over 75 interviews with managers and elected councillors. Inspectors took part in front-line duty observations, looking at over 30 case files, and the team produced over 1,000 records of evidence.
The future
How can the experience gained from the last three years be taken forward with the joint area reviews coming to an end in December 2008? From April 2009 the answer lies with the new comprehensive area assessment.
The Audit Commission has been given overall responsibility to lead, but Ofsted and other inspectorates are working closely together on its development and delivery. The comprehensive area assessment will assess outcomes for children, young people and adults across a local area; it will be an innovative way of using information to show how well residents are being served by their local public services. Like the combined work of the joint area review and corporate assessment, the aim of the comprehensive area assessment is to give a clear and impartial evaluation of how successfully local organisations are working together to improve the quality of life and value for money in their areas, but on an even bigger scale. As the Halton experience shows, inspectors are well equipped to meet this challenge.
Links and glossary
Halton's joint area review can be found at this link
Joint area reviews are a three-year programme running until December 2008 and all 150 local authority areas will have had a joint area review during this time. A review judges the contribution the council and its partners in the local area are making to improving outcomes for children and young people.
Enhanced youth inspections are carried out where a local authority youth service hasn’t been inspected since 2005.
More information on joint area reviews and annual performance assessment can be found at this link.
Further links
Audit Commission page for corporate performance assessment and joint area review
Healthcare Commission
www.healthcarecommission.org.uk
