How will climate change performance be assessed?

Local areas' performance on climate change will be assessed within Comprehensive Area Assessments (CAA) wherever climate change adaptation and / or mitigation has been identified as a priority in the Local Area Agreement or Sustainable Community Strategy. If the CAA Area Assessment reveals either exceptional successes or poor climate change performance, this will be considered in more depth within the CAA Organisational Assessments.

Area Assessment (applies to the local area as a whole) will consider:

• How well priorities for climate change adaptation and / or mitigation, as expressed in Local Area Agreements and Sustainable Community Strategies, are being delivered.
• The prospects for future improvement for climate change adaptation and / or mitigation. Do local partners have the capacity and capability to deliver on their climate change priorities?
• If the evidence suggests that climate change adaptation and / or mitigation should be identified as a local priority in areas where currently it is not a priority

The Assessment will draw on a range of evidence including: the climate change national indicators; self-evaluations by councils and their partners; performance management information available from councils and other public bodies; views of residents; community groups and other local organisations. The aim will be to primarily draw on available evidence, but CAA staff may request additional evidence where there are gaps.

Organisational Assessment (applies to councils and fire & rescue services) will look in more detail at areas of exceptional success or poor performance identified in the Area Assessments. The Assessment combines themes on managing performance and use of resources. It will draw on the same sources of evidence as the Area Assessment.

If climate change adaptation and / or mitigation are identified as areas that warrant further investigation at the organisational level, the Assessment may consider:

Managing perfomance theme:

• Is the council delivering its contribution to local climate change adaptation and / or mitigation priorities, as expressed in Local Area Agreements and Sustainable Community Strategies
• Does the council have the leadership, capacity and capability to deliver future improvements in local climate change priorities
• Is the council providing the necessary leadership for the delivery of local climate change priorities across the locality

Among the evidence that the Audit Commission will take into consideration is whether the council (perhaps with partners) has developed and implemented an effective climate change action plan or plans.

Use of Resources theme

Is the council:

• Planning its finances to effectively deliver its climate change priorities
• Shaping and commissioning procurement to support climate change priorities
• Managing its performance to reduce its impact on the environment, including its carbon emissions
• Managing the environmental risks it faces, including the risks of a changing climate

Among the evidence that the Audit Commission will take into consideration is whether the council can demonstrate that it is satisfactorily managing carbon emissions from its own estate.