Thurrock Council - 'Our Environment' Audit 2001

Thurrock Council

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Thurrock Council'Our Environment' September 2001Best Value InspectionVersion: FinalThurrock Council – 'Our Environment'Best ValueThe Government has placed a duty of best value on local authoritiesto deliver services to clear standards – of cost and quality – by themost economic, efficient and effective means available. Best value isa challenging new performance framework that requires authorities topublish annual best value performance plans and review all theirservices every five years.From 1st April 2000, best value authorities are conducting best valuereviews for all their functions over a five-year cycle. The AuditCommission has the responsibility for inspecting these reviews todetermine whether authorities have complied with the requirementsof the best value legislation and associated guidance.Authorities must show that they have applied the 4Cs of best value toevery review: Challenging why and how a service is being provided.! Comparing their performance with others’ (including organisations!in the private and voluntary sectors). Embracing fair competition as a means of securing efficient and!effective services. Consulting with local taxpayers, customers and the wider business!community.Authorities must demonstrate to local people that they are achievingcontinuous improvement in all of their services. The Governmenthas decided that each authority should be scrutinised by anindependent inspectorate, so that the public will know ...

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• Publié par: Anjo
• Nombre de lectures: 219
• Langue: English

Extrait

Thurrock Council

'Our Environment'

 September 2001

Best Value Inspection

Version:

Final

Thurrock Council – Our Environm ent' '

Best Value The Governm ent has placed a duty of bes t value on local authorities to deliver s ervices to clear s tandards – of cos t and quality – b y the m os t econom ic, efficient and effective m eans available. Bes t value is a challenging new performance fram ework that requires authorities to publis h annual bes t value perform ance plans and review all their s ervices every fi ve years . From 1s t April 2000, bes t value authorities are conducting bes t value reviews for all their functions over a five- year c ycle. The Audit Comm iss ion has the responsibility for ins pecting thes e reviews to determ ine whether authorities have com plied with the requirem ents of the bes t value legis lation and ass ociated guidance. Authorities m us t s how that they have applied the 4Cs of bes t value to every review: !    andChallenging why ervice is being provided. how a s !    ations (including organisCom paring with others ’ their perform ance in the private and voluntary s ectors ).   Em bracing m as a petition fair com efficient and eans of s ecuring ! effective s ervices . !    , with local taxpayers tom ers cusCons ulting and the wider business community. Authorities m us t demons trate to local people that they are achieving continuous im provem ent in all of their s ervices . The Governm ent has decided that each authority s hould be s crutinised by an independent inspectorate, s o that the public will know whether bes t value is being achieved. The purpos e of the ins pection and of this report is to: !   Enable the public to see whether bes t value is being delivered. !   Enable the ins pected ee s to body how well it is doing. !    how well its policies are working on ee to s entEnable the Governm the ground. !   Identify failing necess ary. services where remedial action may be !    practice. inate dissem t besIdentify and

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Thurrock Council – 'Our Environm ent'

Contents Bes t Value Contents Summary and Recomm endations Summary Scoring the Service Recomm endations 1 Profiling Thurrock Council Profiling 'Our Environm ent' in Thurrock Council 2 Findings : How Good Are the Services ? Are the aims clear and challenging? Does the s ervice meet the aims ? How does the perform ance com pare? 3 Findings : Are The y Going to Im prove? Does the Bes t Value review drive improvement? How Good is the Im provem ent Plan? Will the Council deliver the im provem ents ? 4 Appendices : What Did the Ins pectors Do? Appendix 1: Documents exam ined Appendix 2: Reality checks undertaken Appendix 3: Lis t of people m et

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Thurrock Council – 'Our Environm ent'

Summary and Recommendations

Summary 1 of London. t Withalong the River Thames to the EasThurrock lies over 18 m iles of riverfront it co vers an area of 64 square miles with m ore than half class ified as Green Belt. Main s ettlements include Grays , Stanford Corringham , South Ockendon and Tilbury. Thurrock has som e contras ts with 10 sites of s pecial s cientific interes t and 33% of derelict land in Ess ex. 2 135,000 living in 58,000 homes tThurrock has a population of almos and its black and ethnic minority population accounts for 2.4% of the local population. The area is ranked as 113th m os t deprived from 310 in the Departm ent of Environm ent’s index of deprivation (2000). 3Much of the population and commercial activity is centred along the riverfront and the econom y is dependent on a range of indus trial and commercial activities including 2 oil refineries , m anufacturing indus tries and the regional s hopping centre, Lakes ide. Thurrock Council 4 form Council unitaryA new Review; ent in the 1997 Local Governm ed Thurrock has 49 electoral wards with Labour having a m ajority with 43 seats , Cons ervatives 5 and one vacancy. The Council holds elections by ‘thirds’ in May each year. 5 2001During February pected we ins a range of services reviewed by the Council and entitled it ‘Our Environment’, which included a range of regulatory and enforcem ent s ervices pertinent to environmental s ocial and econom ic concerns and are the duty of this Authority to provide: !   Building control. ! Trading Standards .    !    ent.Planning Enforcem   Food Safety. ! !   Anim al Control. !   Pollution Control. !   Private Sector Housing.

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Thurrock Council – 'Our Environm ent'

!   LicensSafety and ing. Scoring the Service 6 :We were interes in m ted two judgements aking !   Does the Council provide a good s ervice to local people? !    prove?Are the s ervices likely to im ‘ ’ We have ass ess ed the Council as providing a stargood 2s ervice which willprobably judgem entsim prove. Our on the are bas ed evidence obtained during the inspection and outlined below. Good Service? 7 offer a wide range of ervices s ervicesThurrock Council’s regulatory s in an area of m ajor tens ions between environm ental protection and m aintenance of a s trong local econom y in an area of relatively high deprivation. 8 arily by a good balance between the two prim trike s ervices sMos t forging proactive relations hips with potential ‘violators ’ particularly bus iness . However, the public perception is that the Council m ay not use its enforcem ent powers s ufficiently or equitably. 9 a high dem oney m eeting for andThe s ervices offer good value for m s ervices but operating at an average cos t and levels of s taffing. Ease of access varies between som e units but users are generally s atis fied with high s atis faction in Building Control, Environm ental Health and Trading Standards . By its very nature Planning enforcem ent has a difficult job to do, however, we think the pos ition is not helped by lower s tandards of cus tom er care and s ervice planning in this unit. 10We found the services provided agood 2 star serviceto local people and our detailed evidence includes : !    and trategicThurrock has designated the environment as a top s resource priority and services link positively and clearly to local objectives with positive outcomes , for exam ple, environmental improvements through trans port s afety checks and pollution impact s tudies in des ignated regeneration areas . !    proving im of local issues with ent the environm difficultIt balances its res pons ibilities to enforce regulations fairly, for e xam ple it provides more licens ed Traveller sites than required in recognition of the his torical links that different groups have with the area.

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Thurrock Council – 'Our Environm ent'

!   proactive projects , for exam ple, Taxi ervices sMos t e som ue purs regulation and enforcem ent and als o in Building Control where, with good cus tom er care and working jointly within the Council; good s ervice outcomes are regularly achieved. !    of any exam ples m had pected we ins ervicesThe s tomer good cus s ervice and achieving pos itive outcom es for individuals . This ranged from individuals being s upported in the sm all claims court, to a localised Trading Standards advice point within Lakes ide Shopping Centre run in co-operation with the centre m anagement. !   Good us is m e for ade of complaint data to identify priorities , exam ple, car s ales that prom pts proactive work with ‘Home Authority’ com panies (firms with their head office in Thurrock) as well as sm aller local firms . !    ers is generallySatis faction of us high in good and particularly Building Control as evidenced from local firms . !   Thurrock operates an ‘info shop’ allowing phone enquiries to be m anaged imm ediately with s ervice advice and responses made at a central s ource and is being developed to res pond to all s ervice reques ts in these regulatory and enforcement services . !   is good in terms of nationalPerformance by these services Performance indicators and local indicators . 11 environm of and ental tsThurrock is in the top quartile for cos cons um er protection per head of population, but one which matches its local profile of indus try and ass ociated public/cons umer ris k. Local people also receive a diverse and good quality of s ervice for the level of inves tment. 12 ple,The Council has progressed its education role through for exam the developm ent of the ERICA s oftware, considering local characteris tics and environmental impacts , it also runs a range of public safety/education cam paigns such as under age sm oking and ‘Heart Beat’ - a healthy eating cam paign. 13 s found weakness om e in Thurrock’s es ervices : s oHowever, we als !  viewed as of planning regulations is widelyEnforcem ent   inconsis tent, unclear and unfair. This s ervice received m os t negative comm ents through our reality checks from individuals and business . !   Thurrock’s enforcem as uch approach is ent clear in areas s not nuis ance and pollution. The Council has not address ed ongoing complaints from 2 hous ing areas with poor follow up to local

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Thurrock Council – 'Our Environm ent'

residents on action. Many local people that we contacted cons idered that their view was s econdary to bus iness . !    always s Health have not ervicesThe Planning and Environm ental worked well together and not shared critical inform ation on planning applications , for exam ple, large chem ical process es , new indus trial s ites s uch as the power s tation, thus preventing full cons ideration of the Council’s pos ition and ability to plan. !    ervices access to s erExperience of us of ber is mixed with a num reality checks evidencing us e of ans wer phones , failure to res pond to taped mess ages , lim ited follow up with com plainants and failure to s tick to ‘duty officer s lots ’. !    press ionUsers and other partners have the im ervice that the s is ‘s tretched’. !    upport to be ill defined and not inis trative sWe found the adm s ufficiently integrated with key cus tom er contact and service process es preventing a s atis factory us er experience. This was particularly m arked in Planning. !    out of hours s ervice, although the highes tThere is currently no num ber of com plaints /s ervice reques ts are received for nois e – commonly concerning problems outs ide of office hours . Will the Service Im prove? 14 ervicesThe s adopt a in ‘Our Environment’ generally tomer good cus focus and have more ideas to make their s ervices better and work to avoid problems developing s uch as with m ajor indus try. The planned improvements should im prove access and the experience of users . 15 practice across all t its bes preadThurrock has a clear agenda to s s ervices in this review, but it needs to cons ider the public’s bigger concerns over the environm ent and in particular, the Council’s s tance on enforcement should be clarified and articulated. 16 we believe Thurrock’s s ted, in ervices the weaknessDes pite lis es ‘Our Environment ‘ willprobablyim prove and our detailed evidence includes : !    many Plan contains provem entThe Im items we found would of the improve m atters , for exam ple, clos er work with es tates / communities affected by s pecific environm ental effects . !   The Council plan to build on work with key partners such as the health authority to deliver m ore environm ental im provem ents for

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Thurrock Council – 'Our Environm ent'

local people, for exam ple, further health impact s tudies in the m os t deprived wards . !    reorganised all the regulatory s ervices into one area toIt has increase good practice and provide users with a one-s top service to access s ervices . !    from a ervice’ exploring how to commIt is an ‘Out of Hours s iss ion neighbouring local authority with financial growth s upported at the tim e of the inspection. !    access for the public through the Council’s ervice s extendingIt is webs ite. !    new food ple,Thurrock is planning for the future, for exam regulations ; treatm ent of contam inated land and is clear about its future dem ands . !   We also believe Thurrock has the capacity to as it has im prove s hown it can attract additional funding for initiatives . It is open to views from local people and organisations to s hape s ervices and is willing to look at a range of ways to deliver s ervices for local people. However, Thurrock needs to pay s om e further attention to: !   Being clear with local people about its s on enforcement of tance regulations in particular em issions /nois e from local indus try. !   Joining up effort between Council services ple, fly tipping , for exam is evident and weakens the Council’s pos ition that the local environm ent is a key priority.    s hortage,Creating a clear taff s bat resource plan to com taff s ! concerns about m arket rates of pay and having clearer contingencies to deliver services in times of s hortage. !    role within a clear fram eworkManaging its Planning enforcem ent of planning objectives and des ired outcom es for a range of problems , from domes tic infringem ents to traveller occupation and large s cale developm ents . The s coring chart dis plays perform ance in two dim ensions . The horizontal axis s hows how good the service or function is now, on a s cale ranging from no s tars for a s ervice that is poor (at the left-hand end) to three s tars for an excellent s ervice (right-hand end). The vertical axis s hows the im provem ent pros pects of the service, also on a four-point s cale.

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Scoring Chart

ThurrockCounc il

ouncil – 'Our Environm ent'

Recommendations 19 recommend that Thurrock Council:Cons equently we !    of on enforcem entMakes clear the Council’s pos ition environm ental nuisance and hazards and ens ure s ufficient cons ideration is given to local resident’s views on practical outcom es on s pecific problems . !   Builds upon bus unication to clarify its iness liais on and comm enforcem ent pos ition. !    provide a  servicesjoined up approach to planning forEnsures that and guiding large-s cale business and indus trial developm ent in the borough. !  and knowledge in planning enforcement toBuild capacity, s kills   increase bas ic efficiency and im prove public and bus iness confidence. !   Support s taff in their enforcement roles through clear procedures on safety and develop a ris k-based approach to guide difficult actions .

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Thurrock Council – 'Our Environm ent'

T his report has been prepared by the Audit Commission (“the Commission”) following an inspection by the Commission under Section 10 of the Local Government Act 1999 (“the 1999 Act”). T his report is issued by the Commission in accordance with its duty under Section 13 of the 1999 Act. Dorothy Welsh Jon Barber Inspectors

Best Value Inspection Service, Audit Commission, Central Region, 690 Melton Road, Thurmaston, Leicester, LE4 8 BA. Tel: [phone]

www.bestvalueinspections.gov.uk

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Thurrock Council – 'Our Environm ent'

1 Profiling Thurrock Council 20 the importance of es idering consThe ins process recognis pection local context and its im pact on the s ervice under inspection. The Borough of Thurrock lies on the River Thames to the eas t of London and covers an area of 166 square kilometres – more than half of which is Green Belt. The Borough has approxim ately 234 hectares of derelict land – repres enting almos t 33% of all derelict land in Ess ex. However, there are als o 7 designated conservation areas totalling 117 hectares and 620 archaeological s ites . Thurrock has a wide-ranging and divers e econom y including m any large and important indus trial sites such as Tilbury Docks . Lakes ide regional s hopping centre is als o located in the Borough. 21In m ately as being approxim tim ated 1998 the population was es id 134,962 with m inority groups com prising 2.4% of this total. The Borough has over 43,800 private s ector dwellings , 3,600 privately rented properties and an es timated 150 properties in m ultiple occupation. In addition, there are approximately 3,400 commercial properties reflecting the comm ercial/indus trial setting of Thurrock. The DETR’s Index of Deprivation (2000) ranks the Borough as 113 th out of 310 local authority areas . 22 1997 in May tatusThurrock became unitary s and the current political compos ition is as follows : Labour 35 Cons ervative 10 Cons ervative As s ociation 1 Independent 2 Vacancies 1 23 hasThe Council currently budget of £121 million (February a net 2001) of which £1.3 m illion is s pent on the services within the s cope of the ‘Our Environm ent ‘ review. £13 m illion is s pent on other Council s ervices charged with the care and improvement of the local environm ent. 24 place where everyone will have theThe Council’s vision is ‘A opportunity to reach their full potential and lead a full healthy s atis fying life’.

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