The first Audit Commission report into how Liverpool’s public services are performing is released today through the new Oneplace website.

The report tells a story of a city in transformation - regeneration, improvements to its economy and the city's reign as European Capital of Culture raising its national and international profile last year.

It states that GCSE results are improving at a faster rate than elsewhere and the participation of young people who go on to further training or employment is good. Levels of crime and anti-social-behaviour are falling and the city centre has become safer.

As well as telling a story about an area, Oneplace sometimes uses green and red flags: green to indicate exceptional performance or improvement that other public services could learn from; red to signal significant concerns about performance and where more, or something different, needs to be done.

The Liverpool area has a green flag for 'A Safer City', and a red flag for 'Private Sector Housing'.

Organisational assessments

Alongside the area assessment, the Audit Commission has also published its organisational assessments for Liverpool City Council and Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service.

These assessments feed into the overall area assessment but focus on the performance and value for money of individual public services, as well as how effectively they work together.

Liverpool City Council is judged to perform well receiving the equivalent of 3 stars. Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority is judged to perform well receiving the equivalent of 3 stars.

More detailed information is available on both the area and organisational assessments on the Oneplace website.

CAA Background 

In April 2009, the Audit Commission introduced a new way of assessing how public services are delivered locally.

Called the Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA), it replaces the previous performance assessment regime - the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA).

The new assessment framework will provide an annual picture of how effectively local partnerships are working together to deliver residents’ priorities and improving their quality of life.

How does CAA work?

Liverpool has been judged as an area and the City Council, LIverpool PCT, Police and Merseyside Fire & Rescue assessed as organisations. This replaces the previous CPA regime. Liverpool will have an ongoing dialogue with the Audit Commission to provide evidence around us achieving our targets.

The Liverpool assessment is based around our five key ‘drivers for change’, which have recently been published in the Sustainable Community Strategy, ‘Liverpool 2024: a thriving international city’.