Best Returns

Best Value Guidance
for
Library Authorities in England

4 Best value performance plans

Local authorities are required to prepare and publish a best value performance plan (BVPP) for each financial year.  The BVPP is an overarching plan that brings together high-level performance and financial information from across all services, and focuses on the strategies and corporate priorities of the authority as a whole.

Authorities must publish their BVPP for the forthcoming year by 31 March.  Information made publicly available through the BVPP will allow local people to see how well their council is performing and how it intends to improve, and to hold their council to account.

The BVPP should include:

• the authority’s strategic aims and main objectives;
• a summary of past and current performance against national and local standards and targets, and compared with the performance of other best value authorities;
• future priorities;
• targets for improvement for all services - not just those that have been subject to a formal best value review (BVR); and
• the outcome of BVRs carried out in the year just ending, and the programme of BVRs for coming years.

The future programme of BVRs should set out when reviews covering all functions will be carried out during the five-year period ending 31 March 2005.  There is no common review timetable.  But authorities will need to explain how their review programme has been drawn up and be able to justify why.

The review programme should include a mix of service-specific and ‘cross-cutting’ reviews.  It is Government’s view that cross-cutting BVRs based on themes or issues that reflect strategic choices - and that tackle the ‘wicked issues’ such as social exclusion, regeneration, equal opportunity, sustainability, or issues facing specific communities such as young people, older people, ethnic minorities - are more likely to make a real and lasting difference locally.  It expects at least one cross-cutting review in each year of the five-year cycle. 

Authorities should have decided when they will carry out reviews of their library services.  If there has not been an opportunity to influence how and when the BVR of library services will be conducted, it is not too late.  It is possible to change the review programme providing changes are justified.  Alternative approaches to carrying out BVRs are discussed in the next section of this guidance.

5. Best value reviews