Are peer reviews by area the future

The peer review system, set up by the IDeA, has been one of its great success stories. Indeed, when peer reviews were first launched a decade ago, the Audit Commission approached the IDeA to ascertain whether they might form part of the inspection regime.
The IDeA wisely declined on the basis that the peer review system’s strength was that of ‘a critical friend’, and the commission subsequently set up the CPA.
But now, with a strong likelihood that a new government will scrap the CAA, peer reviews are back in the spotlight, not least because the IDeA recently held its first Total Place peer review.
A group of leaders/chairs and chief executives from councils, PCTs and the police were invited last month by Warwickshire’s public service board to examine partnership working across the county, rather than in just the council itself. Some of the results are described in our feature on pages14-15.
Such whole area reviews are the shape of things to come because the thrust of public policy, as outlined in the Budget Total Place report, is about streamlining public services away from silos. It is also clear that partnerships are a mixed picture. Indeed, Warwickshire called in a review precisely because it was concerned its partnership networks were inhibiting good delivery.
The question is whether such reviews may fill the space evacuated by the CAA, should the latter be scrapped. It would be unwise to replace one regulatory regime with another.
The peer reviews still need to be a voluntary process, with councils and their partners inviting them. Their value is that they have no statutory backing and allow the reviewees to be transparent about their weaknesses, rather than tick the inspectors’ boxes.
But if the commission’s statutory remit to monitor performance is reduced or scrapped, greater onus will be placed on the local government ‘family’ itself to ensure standards are maintained consistently across the sector, not easy at a time of budget cuts and increased cross-sector working. The peer review process could, therefore, well be the answer.
Michael Burton, Editor, The MJ