Key To A Fairer Assessment

摘要

What seems like a long time ago - about 2001 - in a land far, far away - the Audit Commission, I was party to the creation of what are now known as key lines of enquiry (KLOEs). At the time, we were focusing on bringing consistency to the questions that housing inspectors asked. Over time, those questions were joined by scoring descriptors, known as 'criteria for judgment'. I was reminded of these halcyon days when perusing the new Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) consultation from the commission, which aims, laudably, to be flexible, tailored, proportionate, and forward-looking - a regulatory regime that is bespoke to each authority, which we should all applaud, even if remaining unsure about some points of detail. But, looking back with the benefit of hindsight, we can spot a trend that first best value inspection, and then CPA, followed which, in seeking to learn the lessons of the past, we can work to avoid in the future. The pattern starts with accusations of'subjectivity' in findings - not surprising in what is a 'qualitative' assessment. This is followed with the challenging of written or scored judgments by comparison with other authorities' judgments -interesting when we all claim to be 'unique'.