The Audit Commission has published the first results of CAA, but is poised, ready to change

The results of the first CAAs were published on the ‘Oneplace’ website in December and have been met with mixed views, once again raising questions about its added value and its prospects for lasting beyond the general election in May.

The results clearly show that considerably less councils (14) have been scored ‘four’ in their organisational assessment compared to the 59 councils achieving ‘four-star’ status under the predecessor CPA. A number of councils have even fallen from four-star ratings under CPA to a score of three and even two under CAA.

It also remains to be seen whether CAA is delivering the more strategic regulation the Audit Commission set out to achieve. Several London Boroughs, including Camden LBC the top performing council in England, have criticised CAA for its administrative burden stating that it was costly and ineffective.

CAA has also been criticised by the Local Government Association and SOLACE for redirecting the time of public servants away from their frontline duties. Some elected members have felt disengaged from the process and there has been a lot of feedback from chief executives saying that CAA hadn't told them anything new about their council or partners. Merging the work of six different inspectorates has also proved problematic and in fact independent consultants have been appointed to analyse CAA with their findings due to be published in March.

While the new Oneplace website – the CAA online tool – appears to be useful and user-friendly with all the information about public bodies now being accessible on one website rather than buried in PDF documents on a host of different websites, the big question remains as to whether it will really impact on the public’s perception of their local council?

In fact it has been confirmed that officials at the Audit Commission are already preparing for an alternative inspection system to CAA in case the Conservative Party wins power as they would immediately abolish it as part of their pledge to de-centralise power and create a "post-bureaucratic state".

However, while it is almost certain that CAA will be scrapped under a change of government, the website Oneplace is likely to remain as a portal to public service performance having received a warm response from shadow ministers.

Click this link for further information on the Oneplace website