Councils face star rating tests

Failure to meet minimum performance levels for 11 key
performance indicators will automatically prevent councils from
being judged as providing a good service under the new star ratings
system, writes Lauren Revans.

Current performance will be assessed on meeting national
priorities, cost and efficiency, effectiveness of service delivery,
quality, and fair access to services.

Separate performance judgements for adults and children will be
based on whether people are currently being served well using a set
of performance ‘descriptors’: “no”, “some”, “most”, or “yes”.
Prospects for improvement for adults and children services will be
described as “poor”, “uncertain”, “promising” or “excellent”. The
four resulting judgements will then be converted into the final
star rating.

The principles underlying the set of rules are that current
performance is more important than prospects for improvement; adult
services and children’s services are considered of equal
weight; and “a ‘failure’ in either adult services or
children’s services will result in zero stars, no matter how
good the other services are”.

Councils will be informed of their star rating four days before
they are published in May. There will be no special appeal process
for any disagreement about star ratings, but councils can write to
the chief inspector of the Social Services Inspectorate if
disagreements cannot be resolved regionally.

Smaller councils with a very small number of cases will be
exempted from the 11 key performance indicators where one service
user could have a significant affect on the value of an
indicator.

A guide to social services performance “star” ratings from www.doh.gov.uk/pssratings/guidance

Key Performance Indicators

Maximum judgement: “some” people served well on current
performance for children if one of the following applies:

More than 20 per cent of looked after children had three or more
placements

Child protection register re-registration levels exceed 24 per
cent

Less than 85 per cent of children on the child protection
register had their case reviewed every six months

More than 20 per cent of children on the child protection
register were there for two years or more

Not all children’s homes were inspected

Maximum judgement: “most” people served well on current
performance for children if one of the following applies:

Less than 25 per cent of all looked-after children leaving care
aged 16 or over had at least one GCSE or a GNVQ

The number of adoptions of looked-after children increased by
less than two per cent compared to the previous year

Maximum judgement: “some” people served well on current
performance for adults if the following applies:

Less than 99 per cent of adult care homes were inspected

Maximum judgement: “most” people served well on current
performance for adults if one of the following applies:

Less than eight households received intensive home care per
1,000 population aged 65 or over, and there were more than 140
supported admissions of older people to permanent
residential/nursing care per 10,000 population aged 65 or over

Less than 100 per cent, but more than 99 per cent, of adult care
homes were inspected

Less than 80 per cent of items of equipment costing less than
£1,000 were delivered within three weeks