That's an increase of more than half: the existing list of performance indicators includes only 11 that concern housing or homelessness.
Performance indicators feed into the Audit Commission's comprehensive performance assessments of councils. The better a council performs against the national performance indicators, the better chance it has of gaining a higher CPA rating and, as a reward, more flexibility in setting its own spending plans.
The proposed new performance indicators for housing include:
- a measure of the effectiveness of repairs and maintenance planning systems
- an indicator of the average time taken to re-let council properties
- an assessment of the housing market within a local authority area
- a calculation of the number of homes built for sale at market price as a percentage of the total homes built in a council area
- a calculation of the average density of new housing developments.
The proposals buck the recent government trend of scaling back the number of performance indicators for councils.
The proposals buck the recent government trend of scaling back the number of indicators for councils
The plans are intended to give the government a "more rounded view of local authority performance", according to the consultation paper.
The government wants to see the number of performance indicators across all public services increased to 110, a rise of more than 23 on the existing list.
However, a council source described the announcement as "fair" and said the existing indicators are too narrow. The source also called for the government to introduce a requirement to measure performance on antisocial behaviour, an area the government has identified as a national priority.
Responses to the consultation, which can be viewed at www.odpm.gov.uk, are due by 31 August.
Source
Housing Today
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