The Audit Commission has defended its update of the Comprehensive Performance Assessment. The watchdog rejected claims by London Councils that its new Comprehensive Area Assessment did not take into account local issues. A spokesman said: ‘We have proposed some minor amendments to CPA for the coming year in order to bring the methodology up-to-date, and to reflect changes to the performance indicators set by the Government. ‘Although we appreciate different types of council face different pressures and challenges, CPA is based on a legislative framework which requires us to make comparative judgements nationally, on a consistent basis, for councils in England. ‘Therefore, under CPA, we cannot consider introducing bespoke targets for individual areas or types of council.'
