Working well together for North Somerset communities

Public sector organisations in North Somerset are working well together according to a new report (December 09).

The Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) assesses partnership working between North Somerset Council, the police, fire service, NHS and other services.

The report, which has been published on a new oneplace website, considers how important local issues, such as clean streets and people's health are being tackled and the prospects for them improving.

The CAA also includes an assessment of how public sector partners use their resources and manage performance.

Cllr Nigel Ashton, Chair of the North Somerset Partnership and Leader, North Somerset Council said: 'The CAA is designed to give people an overall view of all services in their area and there is some fantastic work being done across North Somerset'.

Successful areas highlighted in the report include:

• Public satisfaction with how clean and green the area is
• The quality of life for most people is good, with 85% satisfied with the area they live in
• Local public services together with voluntary and community organisations have been successful in helping more people live at home longer
• Public services and partners are working together to help local people and organisations cope with the impact of the recession

Areas for improvement include:

• Local people are not very satisfied that they can influence local decisions
• Local people are not very satisfied that local public services seek their views

Cllr Ashton said the NSP and the council have ambitious plans to improve this. 'I think the key word from this report is 'partnership'. No one public body can change everything for the better on its own. We have excellent and effective partnerships which are delivering strong performance'.

More information on CAA can be found on the Audit Commission website