Planning Reviews
Section 6(6) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 requires that responsible authorities
keep under review progress on implementing the strategy. Not all partnerships have
undertaken this requirement during the first audit/ strategy process but many did
complete annual or mid-term reviews. The review should provide a range of benefits:
enable the partnership to see what progress is being made on implementation
of the strategy and individual initiatives
show progress on individual initiatives
enable re-assessment of individual programmes or the strategy itself
provide the basis of informing the local community of progress
The review process is best planned alongside the initial audit planning. There
are significant benefits in planning this process during the audit stage when partner
agencies are focused on the audit.
An annual (or shorter) review is recommended but the frequency of the review is
a matter for local discretion. In reaching that decision, consideration should be
given to the need for completion of annual performance plans by partners agencies.
There are various options depending on resources and need:
an annual (or more regular) re-collection of key data from key agencies to
link to a review of strategies or specific action plans / projects
an annual or more regular re-collection of specific key data from agencies
that form part of the assessment criteria of specific action plans / projects (this
needs to be done anyway, but could be part of an audit review)
an update report to accompany the initial audit and provide updated data and
information, priorities, details on projects etc. this is a cost-effective option,
maintains impetus and provides useful benchmarking and assessment information.
It is important to clarify exactly what information will be required, who will
provide it, who will gather and analyse it and when. Resources need to be set aside
or planned for this process.
Consideration should be given to keeping the core audit team together and planning
less frequent meetings, preferably quarterly. This will enable the review to take
place, continue ownership and momentum, ensure gaps/data difficulties are resolved
and accountability for the production of the next audit.
The review stage may look to provide data and information unavailable in the full
audit. For example, if IT issues prevented effective information gathering and analysis
from specific partners in the original audit, it will be an objective to provide this
information in the review. This will not be achieved unless early action is taken
to solve the problems of these as yet unknown tasks. Actions will need to be tabled
to address these issues once the initial audit is complete.
It is worth keeping a record of difficulties experienced through the audit process
(such as agencies unwilling to share data, incompatible data sets etc) so that they
can be tackled as part of a planned process during the review period.
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