Member News
People are able to check the quality of public services across England through a new website set up by the Audit Commission.
Going live today, the pioneering website 'Oneplace' is designed to provide a consumer guide to the performance of local authorities, police, schools, NHS services and prisons.
Bringing together the work of six national inspectorates to provide a plain-English guide, the website enables users to examine the performance of each service, in what the Audit Commission has dubbed a "comprehensive area assessment".
The service has already sparked controversy over its cost and accuracy, with the Conservatives having vowed to scrap the site, which divides England into 152 areas using a coloured flag system to rate performance.
The Commission's team judged every area based on twelve locally-set priorities, worse performers against their targets receive a red flag ("significant concerns, action needed") and best received a green flag ("exceptional performance or innovation that others can learn from").
Areas rated as excellent in "organisational assessments" include six of the most affluent boroughs in London. Hampshire, Leicestershire, Sevenoaks and Tameside were also praised.
Dissimilar to previous inspection reports, the site allows an area's resident to identify places that are doing things better, something the Audit Commission believes will create powerful pressure for improvement.
The Commission says the system could be extended to provide details of all items of local spending, as proposed by the Conservatives.
Have your say...
Please enter your comments below.