Sutton LBC has called on the Audit Commission to rethink its plans for Comprehensive Area Assessments (CAA), in light of the economic downturn. Sutton chief executive, Paul Martin, told The MJ: 'There's much in the CAA that we welcome, but there is an entirely new set of circumstances and challenges facing the country now from the ones when the CAA was being designed.' As a result, he is asking the commission to go back to the drawing board. 'Councils will always aim to change quickly to respond to different circumstances, but the regulatory framework has less agility. 'What councils want is to have the maximum amount of freedom to prioritise to changing circumstances. My hope would be that the CAA would have the latitude to make it flexible and responsive to the challenges we have to respond to.'
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