The Audit Commission's new inspection regime ignores council staff, heads of HR have claimed. PPMA president, Phil Badley, claimed staff had been relegated to a ‘sub-section' of ‘other resources' in the commission's consultation on Comprehensive Area Assessments (CAA). Under ‘use of resources' in the document, there are sections on managing money and managing the business. Under ‘managing other resources' there are three subsections – natural resources, physical assets, and people and information technology. Speaking at the All Ireland personnel Conference in Northern Ireland last week, Mr Badley called on the commission to give staff the more prominent role they deserved in the assessments. Others questioned how accountability would be resolved between other local partners. Paul O'Brien, chief executive of Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) backed the new direction but also raised concern over what dispute resolution processes would be needed. He said: ‘Local authorities being accountable for local partners performance means they must have control over them. It's a bit like a ringmaster being asked to manage the circus without a stool or whip.'
