Sheffield First - Audit Commission praises partnership working in Sheffield

Audit Commission praises partnership working in Sheffield

The Audit Commission has carried out Sheffield’s first Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) which looks at how local people view living in the city and the services they receive from public sector agencies. It assesses how well they work together to meet the needs of local people.

Cllr Paul Scriven, Chair of Sheffield First Partnership, said: “There are many positives in this assessment and it underlines that working together to make a difference to the lives of local people lies at the heart of our work in the city….

“There’s no room for complacency and there are areas we need to improve which we will work together on in the months ahead.”

Inspectors say that Sheffield’s public services have ‘many positives’ including:

Developing the local economy and responding to the recession
Reducing crime and keeping Sheffield safe
Tackling key issues such as developing skills and teenage pregnancies
Making progress in improving health

The Audit Commission acknowledges that partners know: what needs to improve in Sheffield; what is important to local people; and what actions they need to take.

Areas of excellence identified in the report include Sheffield’s support for local businesses and helping young people into work.

The report states: “The Council and partners have worked hard to minimise the impact of the recession in Sheffield by supporting residents in Sheffield”.

Other positives in the report include: praise for the support provided for young people in the transition to adulthood – the number of young people entering the youth justice system is falling significantly for the first time, and the partners’ commitment to improving the health of all local people.

The report summarises that: “There are challenging targets for Sheffield’s future. It is too soon to clearly assess progress in some areas, but there are grounds for confidence. Partners work together very well and regularly review what actions they are taking and how well they are doing in achieving their ambitions for the city. They make sure that the decisions about key issues in Sheffield, including crime and the achievement of children and young people are based on a good understanding of what the problems are, what local people think and what action is most likely to work to make things better.”

Areas for improvement include continuing to improve educational attainment, tackling health inequalities and homelessness and affordable housing.