Thurrock Council - Libraries, Heritage and Culture Audit 2002

Thurrock Council

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Thurrock CouncilLibraries, Heritageand Cultural ServicesMarch 2002© Audit Commission, 2002March 2002 Thurrock Council – Libraries, Heritage and Cultural ServicesBest ValueThe Government has placed a duty of best value on local authorities to deliverservices to clear standards – of cost and quality – by the most economic,1efficient and effective means available. Best value is a challenging newperformance framew ork that requires authorities to publish annual best valueperformance plans and review all of their services every five years.Authorities must show that they have applied the 4Cs of best value to everyreview :! challenging why and how a service is being provided;! comparing their performance w ith others’ (including organisations in theprivate and voluntary sectors);! embracing fair competition as a means of securing efficient and effectiveservices; and! consulting with local taxpayers, customers and the w ider businesscommunity.Authorities must demonstrate to local people that they are achievingcontinuous improvement in all of their services. The Government has decidedthat each council should be scrutinised by an independent inspectorate, sothat the public w ill know whether best value is being achieved. The purpose ofthe inspection and of this report is to:! enable the public to see w hether best value is being delivered;! enable the Council to see how well it is doing;! enable the Government to see how well its policies are w orking ...

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• Publié par: Soim
• Nombre de lectures: 19
• Langue: English

Extrait

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March 2002

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March 2002

Thurrock Council – Libraries, Heritage and Cultural Services

Best Value The Governmen t has placed a duty of best value on local a uthorities to deliver services to clear standards – of cost and quality – by the most econo mic, eff icient and ef f ective means availab le.1wen gnignels a chal value ieBts perf ormance f ramew ork that requires authorities to publish annual best value perf ormance plans and review all of their services every f ive years. Authorities must show that they have applied the 4 Cs of best value to every review : !   halle nging w hy and how a service is being provided; c !   comparing  ormance wtheir perf in the nisations ith others’ (including orga private and voluntary sectors); !   embracing f air com pe tition  and ef f ectiveas a means of securing eff icient services; and !   consulting w ith local taxpayers, customers and the w ider business commun ity. Authorities must de mo nstrate to local peo ple that they are achieving continuous improve ment in all of their services. The Government h as decided that each council should be scrutinised by an independen t inspectorate, so that the pub lic w ill kn ow w hether best value is being achieved. The purpose of the inspection and of this report is to: !   enable the public to see w hether best value is being delivered; !    uncil to see howenable the Co it is do ing; w ell !   enable the Govern ell w to see how ment its policies are w orking on the ground; !    f ailing services w hereidentif y remedial action may be necessary; and !    and disseminate best practice.identif y

1 This report inspection the has been prepared by an Audit Commission (‘the Commission’) f ollowing under Section 10 of the Local Government Act 1999, and issued in accordance with its duty under Section 13 of the 1999 Act.

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Contents Best Value 2 Conten ts 3 Su mmary and recommen dations 5 Su mmary 5 Scoring the Service 6 Reco mmenda tions 8 Report 10 Context 10 The locality 10 The Council 10 The Council’s best value review 11 How good is the Service? 12 Are the aims clear and challeng ing? 12 Does the Service meet t hese aims? 15 How does the perf ormance compare? 22 Su mmary 27 How likely is the Service to improve? 28 Does the best value review drive improveme nts? 28 How good is the Improve ment Plan? 30 Will the Council de liver the improve ments? 32 Su mmary 34 Appendices 35 What the inspectors did 35 Docu ments review ed 35

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Rea lity checks undertaken 35

List of those interview ed 36

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Thurrock Council – Libraries, Heritage and Cultural Services

Summary and recommendations

Summary 1 e just to th mes Authority that lies on the River Tha itary is a UnThurrock Council east of London. Services w ere f ormerly provided by Essex County Council. The populat ion is 135,00 0, of w hich 2.4 per cent are f rom ethnic min ority communities. Main settlements include Grays, Stanford-le-Hope, Corringham, South Ocke ndon and Tilbury.

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The Council is Labour led w ith 43 of the 49 seats. The opposition ho lds f ive. There w as one vacancy at the time of our inspection.

The Council e mp loys 5096 staff across all services (part time and f ull t ime) w ith 25 f ull time an d 39 part time staf f w ithin the services covered by this inspection.

The L ibraries, Heritage and Cu ltural Services    Libraries,review covered Museu ms, Tha meside Theatre an d the Tourist Inf ormation Centre. The Service is estimat ed to cost £2,429,400 (net) f or 2001/02. The Service is currently manage d in house and has not be en subject to co mpetit ive tendering.

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Scoring the Service ‘ ’ 5We have assessed the Council as providing a fair , one star service that has uncertain  are based on the me nts improvement. Our judge orprospects f evidence obtained d uring the inspection and are o utlined be low . Scoring chart 2  Libraries, Heritage and Cultural Serv ices: Thurrock Council –

‘a fair service that has uncertain prospects for improvement’

6We have judged this service as ‘f because: air’ !    f or has a w ide range of library, heritage and cultural f acilitiesThe Council users w ith know ledgeable, he lpf ul staff in all areas of the service. !    theThe service is developing a n u mber of innovative projects includin g Co mmunity House, Tilbury, Chaf f ord Hundred Library and the Deaf Inf ormat ion Centre at Grays. !   It provides services to a range of local people via libraries includ ing children, babies and the ho usebound. !    of 18The library service meets 13 out of Library Standards. lic Pub the

2  the two dimensions. The horizontal axis shows how good displays performance in chartThe scoring Serv ice or f unction is now, on a scale ranging from no stars for a service that is poor (at the left-hand end) to three stars for an excellent service (right-hand end). The v ertical axis shows the improv ement prospects of the serv ice, also on a f our-point scale.

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Thurrock Council – Libraries, Heritage and Cultural Services

!    the key indicators w ith the exceptionThe service compares w ell on some of of the Museu m Service w here perf ormance is poor. How ever, a number of aspects require f urther attention: !    kin g it d if f icult toThe a ims of the service are not clear and challenging, ma measure the service against the a ims. !    itude a mult aims and ofThe service is struggling to meet resources are thinly stretched. !   There is a lack of service and the guide the w ork of coherent strategies to commun ication nee ds to be improved. !    not co-ordinated w ithin the w as Council. Reader develo p ment, lit eracyFa mily literature w ork and attempts to attract new users, such as teenagers, are dealt w ith in a piece meal w ay. We thin k that th e prospects f or improve ment are ‘u ncertain’ because: !    ibrary decision to close the School L e thThe Council has already made Service. !    provide some w hich w ill external f undin g additionalThere is evidence of improveme nts to services. How ever: !    or aims set f it, as as w e poor in that it did not meet thThe Best Value Review it did n ot: !    unda mental purpose of these services andCha lleng e the f consider w hat services should be provided in the f uture. !   Estab lish w ho the users and potential users of the services are and the reasons f or non-use of the services. !    Ident if y w hich w illthe best practices in service provision, help bring a bout service improvements year af ter year. !   Exa mine w hich service provider, in the pub lic, private, independe nt sector, or cross sector partnership, can best improve perf ormance and give value f or money. !    and cha llenge toThe BV R did not use the 4 Cs of consult, compete, co mpare deliver an improved service.

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!    it does not ma is in place but clear w hat an improved keAn improve ment p lan service w ill look like f or customers or w hen this w ill be delivered. The Improve ment Plan w ill not de liver a step change in th ese services. !   The Council deal w ith considerable change but has show n that it is able to the manage men t systems are not in place to ensure improvement ta kes place. !    ments w ill be or all the requ ired improveIt is not clear if Council f unding f available, especially w ithin a situation of reducing budgets. Recommendations 10 councils need inspectionTo rise to the challenge of , continuous improvement reports that off er practical pointers f or improvement. In this context, the inspection tea m f eels that the Council should n ow take action to resolve a number of general, political, ma nageria l and partnership issues. 11 that the Council: ndWe recomme !    to concentrate on those actions that Plan ment ImproveShould revise its directly contribute to gettin g the service into the top 2 5 per cent of library services. This should mean step change rather tha n sma ll increme ntal improveme nts. Actions should also be revisited to include rea listic resource implications. !    of Thurrock Council by iorities orDevelop a vision fthe service linked to the pr  April 2002. !   Integrate Council p lann ing processes, thereby linking library plans, business plans and the best value review to ensure common a ims and outco mes. !   Improve perf to ensure targets are monitored and poor ment manage ormance perf ormance is acted upon. !   Develop a market ly state ing strategy that w ill explicit and w hich groups markets the service w ants to target and devise a promot iona l and pricing strategy to reach these groups. !   En gage staf f and users of the service on a regular basis to inf orm decisions about how the service is delivered and improved. !    meside Co the Tha uture ofMa ke a decision on the f services e and th mplex currently w ithin the building by March 2002, and develo p a contingency plan if f unds do not become available.

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12 w e nkWe w ould like to tha f the staf Council, particularly of Thurrock eople the p interview ed w ho made us w elcome and w ho met our requests eff iciently and courteously. Ste phen Baile y Claire Be ll Ins pe ctors Date s of ins pe ction: 12 Nove m ber – 16 Novem be r 2001 Em ail: s -baile y@audit-comm iss ion.gov.uk c-be ll@audit-comm iss ion.gov.uk

For more information please contact Audit Commission Inspection Service Central Region 690 Melton Road Thurmaston Leicester LE4 8BA www.bestv alueinspections.gov.uk 0116 250 4100

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Report Context The locality 13 London. The east of e to th mes, is situated on the River ThaThurrock Council populat ion of the Co uncil is 135,000, living w ithin 58,000 househo lds. 2.4 per cent of the population are f rom b lack and ethnic minority commu nities. 14 being inSixty f  our ork in Thurrock, the largest areasper cent of the population w transport and communicat ions:w hich account f or27   per cent of the w orkf orce. Une mp loy ment stands at 2.9 per cent per cent compared to the na tiona l average of 3.7 per cent (as at October 2000). The manuf acturing sector only accounts f or 19 per cent of employ ment in Thurrock, althou gh this is tradit iona lly an in dustrial area. Une mploy ment is theref ore high in areas of Thurrock such as Tilbury and South Ocke ndon. The DETR’s Index of Deprivat ion (2000) ranks the Council as 113th out of 354 local au thorities. 15 erspective, Thurrock has a poor record in ked at f rom a national pWhen loo achievement in its schools and adult atta in ment. The Council 16Thurrock became a 8. Services w ere Unitary Council in April 199 f ormerly provided by Essex County Council. Th e Council co mprises 49 Councillors and is controlled by the Labour party. Currently a Cabinet w ith a Leader governs the business of the Council. 17The Council’s revenue budget f or the year 2001/02 is £131 m, current projections indicate a net overspend of £2.9m. 18 iesThe Council’s priorit ied as identif ormance in the Best Value Perf or Plan f 2001/02 are: !    all. f orA quality of lif e !   A pleasant environme nt. !   A skilled w orce. orkf !   A vibrant economy. !   A supportive infrastructure.

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19 mands de legislation, of new ly particular the dit ionIn ad to the to responding requirements of best value, the Council has recently undergone transf ormation into a un itary authority and is e mbracing the move tow ards lif elong learning and e-government a mon gst others. The Council s best value review ’ 20 school library service), museums, libraries (includingThe Service consists of support f or heritage, Tha meside theatre, support f or arts and the Tourist Inf ormat ion Centre. 21 ury, East Tilb Grays,There are nin libraries based at Aveley, Belhus, Blackshots, e Chadw ell St Mary, Corringh a m, Sta nf ord-le-Hope, and Tilbury, w ith Grays acting as the central library. In addit ion, the Co uncil operates a mo bile library, library f acilities at Orsett hospital and opene d a new combin ed school and pub lic library as part of the Chaf f ord Hundred co mplex in February 2002. 22 had run aThe Council L School  ibrary asService, but a decision to close this w taken in Ju ly 2001, during t he best value review . 23The 303 seat th eatre is based in th e Th a meside Co mp lex in Grays. This is the same bu ild ing that h ouses the central library and the museu m. The Co uncil a lso ow ns Coalhouse Fort, a Victorian f ortif ication based in East Tilbury. 24 ormation Centre is based in the motorwThe Tourist Inf ay services at junction 30 of the M25. 25 services in this review the orm the fAlthough some of majority of services delivered f rom the Tha mesid e Co mplex, the f uture of the Tha mesid e Co mplex build ing w as not considered as part of this review . How ever, as the review progressed it w as clear that the f uture of the buildin g is inextricably linked to the services and a numb er of building and service options w ere produced. 26 etThe budg or f or the Services f rom 2001/02 is £2,429,400, a rise of 4.7 percent f the previous year. 77 percent of this is spent on the library service. Net expenditure per head on libraries f or 2000/01 is estimated a t £12.26. 27 review The Service in 2000/01. the carried out a best value review ofThe Council concluded that there are high levels of interest in these services and that there are possibilit ies f or the services to expand and develop. The Tha meside Co mp lex build ing is in a poor state of repair and a decision on its f uture needs to be made, although th e Council w as keen that the decisions about the building shou ld f ollow service requirements rather than the other w ay around. 28Me mbers are looking to the Service have accepted the review and Improvement Plan (SIP) to deliver improvements in the service.

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