Oneplace assessment

First Oneplace assessment published for Salford

A unique report on how well Salford's public services are performing has been released through the new, independent Oneplace website on 9 December 2009.

James Foster, Oneplace spokesperson for Salford, said:

‘Local public services and partner organisations face challenges in improving life for all Salford residents. They are doing well in many areas - school results are improving and absences have been cut. The Council and other partners are having some success to help residents get jobs - including at MediaCityUK. But, too many residents still do not work.

‘We will continue to focus on areas where progress has been slower. These include improving the quality, choice and affordability of homes and reducing crime levels. Most children achieve good standards but some services for vulnerable children and young people need to be improved. This includes private fostering services and the assessment of vulnerable children's needs.'

Oneplace (www.direct.gov.uk/oneplace) provides an independent overview of local public services. It will help people see how well their local services, including councils, police and the NHS, are serving their needs and how well these services are working together to improve an area's quality of life.

The assessment for Salford is one of 152 covering all areas of England. These assessments combine the views of six independent inspectorates to create a single snapshot of an area. They look at how important local issues, such as crime, affordable housing and people's health, are being tackled - and the prospects for improvement.

As well as telling a story about an area, Oneplace sometimes uses green and red flags: green to indicate exceptional performance or improvement that other public services could learn from: red to signal significant concerns about performance and prospects for improvement where more, or something different, needs to be done.

Salford has no red or green flags

Alongside the area assessment, the Audit Commission has also published its organisational assessments for councils and fire authorities. These assessments feed into the overall area assessment but focus on the performance and value for money of individual public services, as well as how effectively they work together.

In Salford this means that:

Salford City Council is judged to perform well
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority is judged to perform well

More detailed assessments of social care, education and police services can be found on the websites of Care Quality Commission, Ofsted and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary.