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Download star ratings publications
In October 2001, the Secretary of State Alan Milburn announced the introduction of star ratings for social services, based on the full range of available evidence. A letter to Director of Social Services from the Chief Inspector of the Social Services Inspectorate (SSI) in April 2002 (CI (2002)4) described how the ratings would be produced. On 30 May 2002 the Department of Health published the first set of social services 'star' ratings. A second 'refreshed' set of star ratings published on 15 November 2002 including more up to date performance indicators and inspections. On 13 November 2003 a third set of star ratings was published. This publication presents the third performance ratings for councils in England with social services responsibilities. The star ratings summarise the Social Services Inspectorate’s independent judgements of performance across all social services, on a scale of zero to three stars. Supporting this, separate judgements for services for children and services for adults are also given. Why are ratings being published? The ratings are intended to improve public information about the current performance of services, and the prospects for improvement at local, regional, and national levels. Social services have wide responsibilities for the care and support of families in difficulty, and the protection of children at risk of harm: for helping older people to live as independently as possible, and for supporting people with disabilities. People have a right to know how well their councils are performing in meeting these responsibilities, whether they are receiving such services themselves, have a family member receiving such services, or are a council tax payer. Central government needs to know how well each council is meeting the aims and objectives for improvement it has set for social services. Who produces the ratings? The Social Services Inspectorate works independently of the councils to assess their performance, drawing on evidence from inspections, reviews, monitoring and performance indicator data. For the first time, a summary of this evidence is being published in a way that is both accessible to all and soundly based on all the available evidence. What the ratings will mean for councils The ratings provide an objective starting point for planning, carrying out and reviewing improvements to services. This is important for all councils, whether their performance is good or poor. The best performing councils will have an increasing level of freedom in the way they use centrally provided grant funds. They will also have a lighter touch programme of inspection and monitoring, and reduced requirements for planning information. At the other end of the scale, councils with zero stars can expect increased levels of intervention, and will be subject to more rigorous and frequent monitoring. How the ratings are presented As well as the overall star rating, judgements for children and adults services are given, and these carry equal weighting. In both cases, a judgement for both current performance and prospects for improvement is also shown. The categories for judging current performance (serving people well?) are – no, some, most, and yes. The categories for judging prospects for improvement are – poor, uncertain, promising, and excellent. Current performance is weighted more heavily than the prospects for improvement. This results in a total of four judgements underpinning the overall rating, as shown in the table of examples opposite. Once the judgements have been reached, a set of rules is used to combine them with the weightings to produce a final star rating. The rules are detailed in the Chief Inspector’s Letter CI (2002)4, and are also available electronically (see the list of downloads below).
Additional information about local performance In addition to the judgements and star ratings, summaries of SSI’s annual review of each council’s performance are being published on these pages. These are letters sent by SSI to the council following the Annual Review meeting, and will be entered onto the website once they have been seen and considered by local councillors. The letters highlight performance strengths, areas for development, and priorities for improvement for the coming year. How the ratings have been produced Star Ratings are a product of a wider performance assessment process bringing SSI and the councils into continuous contact throughout the year. Assessment includes evidence from inspections and reviews, monitoring and performance indicators, to form an overall picture of performance over time on both qualitative and quantitative aspects of performance. The assessment culminates in an Annual Review meeting with each council, normally completed by the end of March. The meeting focuses on the high-level challenges to the council in improving the quality of care to service users. Following the Annual Review, provisional judgements of performance are formed and then subjected to a series of consistency checks before final determination is made by the Chief Inspector of SSI. Criteria used in reaching judgements The criteria for judgements are set out in a set of published Performance Descriptors. These are statements describing good and poor performance, and encapsulate the standards and criteria needed to judge both current performance and prospects for improvement. The specific evidence sources for 2001-02 have been listed for each aspect of performance, and circulated to local councils. The role of Key Performance Indicators In order to ensure that performance indicators have sufficient weight in the star rating system, and to provide an additional consistency check to ensure that councils are treated in the same way, a subset of eleven performance indicators were defined as the Key Performance Indicators. For these, a council could not be judged to be performing well if it failed to reach a specified band of performance. Links with performance ratings for NHS and other local government services Social services are provided or arranged by local councils, but are often planned and delivered in partnership with the NHS and other council services. The social services star rating is designed to be compatible with performance information for both the NHS and other local government services. A new Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) for all local government services was introduced in December 2002. This will fulfil the same function as the social services stars, but for all local government services. The social services star rating will feed directly into the local government CPA. The social services star rating will appear in the CPA report card, alongside assessments of other council services. A council must receive a good star rating for their social services in order to receive the highest comprehensive performance assessment rating.
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