Performance Information for Scottish Councils 1994/95
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CONTENTS CHAIRMAN’S FOREWORD 2 EDUCATION 13 ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH 31 SETTING THE SCENE 3 ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES 47 Background 3 FIRE 54 Services Covered In This Report 4 Indicator Selection 4 HOUSING 60 Reliable Information 5 LEISURE AND RECREATION 84 Economy, Efficiency and Effectiveness 5 LIBRARIES 94 Using The Information 6 Making Comparisons 7 PLANNING 100 The Way Forward 8 POLICE 111 UNDERSTANDING THE ROADS AND LIGHTING 120 PERFORMANCE INFORMATION 9 SOCIAL WORK 130 Presenting The Information 9 TRADING STANDARDS 157 Notes On Data Presentation 9 WATER AND SEWERAGE 164 COMPARING PERFORMANCE - HIGHLIGHTS 10 FROM THE 13 SERVICES INDEX OF INDICATORS 173 PERFORMANCE INFORMATION FOR SCOTTISH COUNCILS 1994/95 1 CHAIRMAN’S FOREWORD The services provided by Scotland’s councils touch all of our daily lives in councils to continue to improve performance in providing and delivering different but important ways. For example, those services might include the services and to make the best use of the resources available to them. education of our children, care of our elderly relatives, a prompt response to our request for assistance from the police or fire services, or collection of our The value of this information as a relative measure of performance will be domestic refuse. increased as further years information becomes available. The process itself assists councils in their drive to increase value for money and improve As citizens and taxpayers we rightly look to councils to provide quality services performance. The Commission does recognise, however, that it is vitally that are responsive to our needs and affordable within tight council budgets. We important to confine information gathering and reporting to key activities and to need information to judge if these aspirations are being met. ensure that chosen indicators satisfy rigorous appraisal of their value as performance measures. This will continue to be done in conjunction with all I am pleased therefore to have this opportunity to present to Scotland’s citizens interested bodies. the Commission’s report on 1994/95 performance indicators relating to the principal public services delivered by councils throughout Scotland. This report reflects in quantified terms the vast and diverse range of personal and technical services provided by councils to the public. It cannot capture the This is the second national report to be published by the Commission. Service personal commitment and expertise of those involved in service provision. I coverage in 1994/95 is extended to Environmental Health, Fire and Trading would, however, take this opportunity, on behalf of the Commission to thank all Standards. The report offers the opportunity for the first time to compare council officials, Commission staff and auditors, the Convention of Scottish performance on certain council activities over the years 1994/95 and 1993/94 Local Authorities, representatives of professional bodies, Inspectorates and the and for citizens to enter into a dialogue with councillors. Scottish Consumer Council for their contributions to this work. I am encouraged generally by the reported standards of performance achieved I believe that the emphasis which this report places on service standards and by councils. There are encouraging signs of improvement in many cases but performance is entirely appropriate. Judging from the commitment and the shortcomings in others. We must never be complacent. The report identifies positive approach taken by all involved in this process it is a view which is opportunities for better performance and for individual councils to look at how widely shared. they can emulate the achievements of others. Scotland’s system of local government has been reorganised with effect from Professor J P Percy CA April 1996, but changed organisational structures do not diminish the need for Chairman PERFORMANCE INFORMATION FOR SCOTTISH COUNCILS 1994/95 2 The Commission has also encouraged each council to make this performance information available in its annual report and accounts, and in its own newsletter SETTING THE SCENE if it produces one. Through these means, a member of the public can obtain information relating to his or her own council’s performance. In addition, the Commission has now brought this information together to provide a national BACKGROUND summary of the performance information published by all councils. Scotland’s local councils provide a diverse range of important services. The public is entitled to expect those services to be responsive to their needs and to The Commission’s report for 1994/95 is the first to contain information relating be provided cost effectively. Councils, within the resources available to them, to more than one year and, therefore, will help the public to see how council aim to meet such public expectations and to provide value for money to service performance has changed over time. users and taxpayers. Council performance in providing and delivering services is a matter of significant public interest. Access to soundly based information about the services provided, standards set and the results achieved by councils This report :- assists the public to judge how well councils are performing. ● helps the public to form a view as to how their own councils have Since 1993/94, local councils have been required by law to provide performed in 1994/95 information on how well they are carrying out their activities. The Accounts ● provides information on certain council activities to permit comparisons Commission has the task of deciding what information is to be provided. of performance over two years, 1994/95 and 1993/94; ● The Local Government Act 1992 places upon the Commission the duty each provides information that will help each unitary council (its councillors year to direct local authorities to publish information which will, ‘in the and senior managers) and other interested parties to identify those areas Commission’s opinion, assist in the making of appropriate comparisons - by where improvements in performance may be possible. Further study will reference to criteria of cost, economy, efficiency and effectiveness - between:- often be required to quantify the precise nature and scope for improvement; and ● the standards of performance achieved by different authorities in a ● seeks to stimulate interest in, and debate on, the performance of local financial year; and government services in Scotland. ● the standards of performance achieved by authorities from year to year.’ New unitary councils have replaced mainland regional and district councils from The Commission must issue each year a Direction which sets out the April 1996. These structural changes do not reduce the need for councils to information each council has to gather. The Commission published its first continue to improve the services that they provide to the public. The information Direction in December 1992. The Direction applied to the year which ran from in this report, enhanced by future years’ information as it becomes available, 1 April 1993 to 31 March 1994. The Commission’s Direction for 1994/95 was will assist the new councils to increase value for money and improve issued in December 1993. Each council had to publish in a local newspaper the performance. required performance information and all did so by 31 December 1995. It is the information for this second year which is presented in this publication. PERFORMANCE INFORMATION FOR SCOTTISH COUNCILS 1994/95 3 SERVICES COVERED IN THIS REPORT INDICATOR SELECTION In 1994/95, the year covered in this report, mainland Scotland had a two tier Where possible, an indicator should measure an aspect of the performance of a local government structure. The public received services from the nine regional council service which is of interest to the public and of importance to relevant and 53 district councils. The three islands councils provided most services in service managers. A number of the indicators measure quantity and the their areas. This report covers the following services:- expenditure on a service. The Commission believes that indicators based on quantity and expenditure do assist in making comparisons of performance, but Regional and District and will continue to work with councils and other bodies to improve the focus and Islands Councils Islands Councils range of performance measures in future years. Education Environmental Health (*) Fire (*) Environmental Services The Commission has had to strike a balance between selecting sufficient Planning - Strategic Housing indicators to reflect the diversity of council services whilst not overwhelming Police Leisure and Recreation the public. Also, regard has to be given to the amount of work involved for Roads and Lighting Libraries councils in putting in place sound systems for information gathering and Social Work Planning - Local reporting. Difficulties continued to be experienced in 1994/95 for a limited Trading Standards (*) number of service indicators. Water and Sewerage (*) service added in 1994/95. There is a number of separate Government charters which also require the publication of important performance information. For example, school Each service covers a range of activities. The education service, for example, examination results are published under the Parents’ Charter, and the Justice embraces pre-school, primary, secondary and special education, as well as adult Charter requires police forces to report how quickly they responded to education, and community development.