Audit Commission

Here you will find brief descriptions about all Audit Commission cross-cutting national studies that are currently in progress.

Financial implications of an ageing population (Summer 2009)
The study will explore how local authorities plan their resources for an ageing population, and how they take account of the financial impact on local services. It will consider how their strategic objectives in relation to services for older people influence financial decisions, and how services work with finance departments to achieve these objectives. The study’s outputs will show how local authorities can make best use of demographic and service cost data to plan ahead for an ageing population.

Contact: Louise Gitter, 0844 798 2462

Making better use of information to drive improvement in public services (Summer 2009)
Debates on improving public services often focus on the use of financial, natural or human resources. However, information can also help enable public bodies to work more effectively. Local public bodies are required to collect large amounts of information for government departments and agencies as well as the information needed to support local decision making. This study will look across local public bodies at how information is analysed and presented to decision makers, the skills they have to use that information well, and how these skills are organised. By examining the enablers and barriers to better information use we aim to support the capacity of councils to exploit the full business potential of the information at their disposal.

A discussion paper setting out our thinking to date was published in February 2008.
In the Know - Using information to make better decisions
In the Know - Work in Progress (PDF, 91Kb)

Status: In research
Contact: Natalie Penrose, 0844 798 1114

Local strategic partnership - managing performance and resources (Autumn 2008)
Local strategic partnerships (LSPs) face new challenges. They are central to local area agreements' success in delivering improved outcomes for local people. LSPs' performance will be crucial to the area-based risk assessment of the Comprehensive Area Assessment. Local area agreements influence how large sums of public money are spent. But risks are often inadequately managed and accountability is unclear.
Our study 'Local strategic partnerships - managing performance and resources' will focus on how local partners ensure that financial and other resources are used to deliver improved outputs and outcomes. This study will build on our report, 'Governing Partnerships: Bridging the Accountability Gap' (2005) and the current study on procurement through partnerships. It will explore the challenges involved in managing the resources available to the partnership and to the partners and in managing the delivery of the local area agreement.
This study will learn from good practice, and identify areas for improvement. It will develop tools that local areas can use to improve the management of performance and the use of resources in local strategic partnerships and local area agreements.
National Study: Local Strategic Partnerships - Managing Performance and Resources (PDF, 137Kb)

Current studies: Cross-cutting