Thanks to our friends at Urban Forum for putting together the following ‘Jargon Buster’. The ‘Jargon Buster’ is a list of acronyms and technical phrases, along with an explanation of what they actually mean.
If you’ve come across a piece of jargon which you want explaining, please e-mail us and we’ll add it to the list. CAA: COMPREHENSIVE AREA ASSESSMENT is the new measurement of public sector performance to be introduced from 2009,replacing the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA). An annual publication measures performance against the 198 national indicators. wide range of services and products aimed at supporting strong and sustainable anchor organisations. COUNCILLORS COMMISSION: the independent Commission on the role of local councillors is looking at the incentives and barriers to serving on councils, due to report to Ministers in December 2007. COMPREHENSIVE SPENDING REVIEW (CSR): a Treasury-led review of all government spending, starting with a ‘blank piece of paper' and setting the budget for all Departments for the next three years. CSR07 has just been completed – for the period 2008-2011. NETWORK OF EMPOWERING AUTHORITIES: two local authorities in each of the nine English regions who are considered to have good practice in empowering local citizens. The 18 ‘Empowering Authorities' will in the coming months embark on a programme of sharing their experience with other localities. PUBLIC SERVICE AGREEMENT (PSA): these are the outcomes that the Government wants to achieve over the period of the spending review (up to 2011). 30 new PSAs were announced alongside the CSR, each with a delivery plan and targets. new Local Area Agreement targets. and Wales. QUIRK REVIEW: the report is about community management and ownership of assets by Barry Quirk, Chief Executive of Lewisham Council. The Government accepted fully the findings and introduced a delivery plan to implement the Review's recommendations.
CALL FOR ACTION: a process for councillors to raise an issue causing concern to the community. This may be as a result of information from individuals, community groups or their own observations.Using the ‘Call for Action', the councillor should be able to trigger a response from service providers.
COMMUNITY ALLIANCE: is a partnership of bassac, Community Matters and the Development Trusts Association. Their vision is to have a community anchor in every neighbourhood and provide a
COMMUNITY ANCHORS: are independent community-led organisations. They are multi-purpose and provide holistic solutions to local problems and challenges, bringing out the best in people and agencies.
COMMUNITY COHESION: concern about community cohesion came out of the recent unrest in some northern cities such as Oldham. Although there is no current universally accepted definition of this, the aim of various community cohesion initiatives is to appreciate and celebrate diversity between people in local communities, promote understanding and reduce hostilities.
COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT ACTION PLAN: the Action Plan, produced jointly by Communities and Local Government and the Local Government Association. It sets out 23 actions that will deliver the Government's commitment to bring about greater devolution and empowered communities.
CLG: DEPARTMENT FOR COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT (previously called the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister) with responsibility for areas such as; local government, housing, planning, community cohesion, empowerment and regeneration. Headed by Secretary of State Hazel Blears
DUTY TO INVOLVE: a new requirement placed on local authorities through the 2007 Local Government Act, to ‘inform, consult and involve' local people in decisions about their area, particularly the Sustainable Community Strategy and Local Area Agreement.
DUTY TO CO-OPERATE: all ‘best value authorities', which includes police, health services, fire service, district councils and other public sector bodies, are now required to co-operate with the unitary or county council in producing the LAA. This duty does not cover the voluntary and community sector as it is not possible to pass a law requiring something from a non-public sector body.
EHRC: EQUALITIES AND HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION (previously known as CEHR) is a non-departmental public body (NDPB) established under the Equality Act 2006, bringing together the Disability Rights Commission, Equal Opportunities Commission and Commission for Racial Equality. The aim of the EHRC is to eliminate discrimination, reduce inequality, protect human rights and ensure that everyone has a fair chance to participate in society.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION (LGA): membership body for local authorities set up in 1997 to represent local government. Political leadership (as opposed to staff) reflects the overall make up of local authorities in the country. The current Chair is Sir Simon Milton the Conservative leader of Westminster Council.
NATIONAL IMPROVEMENT AND EFFICIENCY STRATEGY: a soon to be published plan from CLG setting out the Government's expectations for improvements in local government. Each region has a Regional Improvement Partnership that are responsible for developing their own Regional Improvement Strategy. Community Engagement is likely to be a key theme in the Strategy.
NEW LOCAL AREA AGREEMENTS (LAAS): The 2007 Local Government Act made Local Area Agreements statutory (ie local authorities are now legally required to have an LAA). The LAA sets out the action that a local authority and other LSP partners will undertake to achieve the goals in the Sustainable Community Strategy.
PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING (PB): a method for citizens to decide how (public) funds should be spent. Pioneered in Port Alegre in Brazil, it has become increasingly popular in the UK. The Participatory Budgeting Unit, based in Manchester, supports and promotes the use of PB.
PERFORMANCE INDICATOR: These explain the way that the Government will measure its progress against the PSAs. There are 198 indicators (around six for each PSA) which will for the basis of
PERFORMANCE FRAMEWORK: the structure that sets out how central government and the local public sector will measure and improve performance. Targets and action will be set out in the Sustainable Community Strategy, Local Area Agreement and the Local Development Framework with progress reported against these.
PUBLIC REQUEST TO ORDER DISPOSAL (PROD): PRODS are a very useful, but little used, legal power that anybody can use to force the sale of publicly owned empty homes or abandoned land in England
PRINCIPLES OF THIRD SECTOR REPRESENTATION ON LSPS: the Local Government White Paper committed the Government to producing standards for how the Third Sector should represent itself on LSPs. The Principles, developed jointly by Third Sector representatives and civil servants, will set out the expectations that Third Sector representatives will follow in their roles on LSPs.