Abolition of the Comprehensive Area Assessment is good news for Surrey taxpayers (20th July)

Fewer and more targeted inspections will cost less and reveal more

Surrey County Council today endorsed a motion from David Hodge, Deputy Leader, welcoming the abolition of the Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) as the new Government seek to cut the costs to local government of Labour’s costly inspections regime.

“The CAA is dead. Long live the Surrey Way.

Under the previous government, inspections were seen almost as an end in themselves, rather than a means to improving outcomes for residents, and this was a mistake. Of course it is important that residents and businesses can see where their taxes are being spent, and local government is and should be accountable, but under Labour local government was forced to spend millions of pounds a year preparing for inspections, providing data and all the while seeing funding settlements sending monies around the country regardless of how well a council was judged to be performing. This was a huge bureaucratic and financial burden that the last Government imposed on local authorities and was unnecessarily costly.

There was also a feeling that local government was being judged on its ability to implement Labour policies, rather than on our ability to implement the priorities of residents and businesses.

We are glad that Eric Pickles has recognised this, and we believe that being able to deliver value for money services and make Surrey County Council a World Class local authority depends on having robust performance management and Quality Assurance systems driven by and within the council – not on costly external set-piece inspections – as well as by following the Leader’s commitment to openness and transparency. We were ahead of the game on this, and even before the new government was elected we had pledged to open up our books, publishing details of goods and supplies purchased by the Council with a value of £500 or greater. This allows our residents and businesses to see where their monies are actually being spent without the costs of external inspections, and it shows that local government has nothing to hide. Surrey’s Conservative Group welcomes the scrutiny that open government provides.

We also welcome external inspections, particularly in the areas of social care, and we acknowledge that it is right we are inspected.

I am grateful that the Council endorsed this motion today”.