Best Value
What is Best Value?
The Government is keen to modernise local government, along with other public services.
Under the Local Government Act 1999, councils have to meet a duty of "Best Value". This means that we must continually work to improve our performance, consulting local people on what we are aiming to achieve and the individual services we provide.
The Act requires us to advise you of our annual performance and to commit ourselves to challenging targets to improve our work and the services we provide.
Since 2000/01 we have been conducting "best value" reviews of our services to ensure they are in line with what local people, service users and partners want. This helps to ensure that we provide services in the best possible and most cost effective way.
Each year we publish an annual Best Value Performance Plan or Corporate Plan. It is like an annual report which sets out what we aim to achieve, how we are performing, what we are doing to improve, and how we involve you in the process, in order to ensure that what we do is in line with your priorities and needs.
Comprehensive Performance Assessment
In 2003, the Government introduced "Comprehensive Performance Assessments" (CPA) to build on Best Value and provide people with an overall assessment of how their local councils are doing.
The County Council went through its first CPA in 2002 and an updated CPA in 2004. The Council then underwent a 'harder test' CPA in 2005, which has been update each year after this.
Past Corporate Plans and Best Value Performance Assessments
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Corporate Plan 2007-10.pdf (65 pages, 5768kb) (Please note that this plan was produced in 2007 before the announcement of the development of the unitary council in County Durham. The 2008/09 Corporate Plan takes the place of the 2007/10 plan.)
Best Value Performance Plan 2006-07
Best Value Performance Plan 2005-06
Best Value Performance Plan 2004-05
Best Value Performance Plan 2003-04
