New public service initiatives 'to boost local accountability and economic viability'

Chairman of the Audit Commission Michael O'Higgins has introduced a triangle of initiatives - Area Scrutiny, government initiative Total Place and new public services website Oneplace - to boost local accountability.

Oneplace and Total Placeare working together to provide an independent overview of the quality of life in a range of pilot areas, assessing how well local public organisations, such as councils, police forces, volunteers and local business and community groups, work together to meet local needs.

Oneplace launched on 9 December, recording over a million page views in its first 19 days. An instant hit with those who use, pay for, provide and report on local services, it is the user-focused and user-friendly reporting site for the new CAA assessments that began last April, carried out by six inspectorates working in partnership. Total Place measures the economic inputs to areas of England, and seeks ways of streamlining to save taxpayers money.

Michael O'Higgins says: 'Oneplace doesn't exist in a vacuum. It is not the only tool for accountability... Say you want to increase local accountability, what do you need? You need effective leadership and scrutiny. You also need to know what resources there are in an area. Well, Total Place takes care of that.'

'Finally, you need an assessment of local outcomes - Oneplace!'

Communities Secretary John Denham said in July that council scrutiny powers should be extended to cover all local public services spending in an area. Michael's vision is of well-informed Area Scrutiny able to check and challenge, Total Place measuring each area's inputs and resources, and Oneplace assessing its service outcomes and the way resources are used. The government white paper 'Putting the Frontline First: Smarter Government' asks the Audit Commission to develop proposals for assessing use of resources over whole areas before the 2010 Budget.

'We introduced Oneplace to fill an accountability gap, to ensure that all local public services are brought to account through assessment, to make the quality of service delivery transparent, and to protect the vulnerable.'

'Oneplace, Total Place and Area Scrutiny together offer better accountability, which in today's economic climate is more important than ever.