• the improvement plan resulting from the BVR has identified those areas in most need of attention, and has prioritised these accordingly
• the improvement plan is clearly linked to the overall aims of the service and corporate priorities
• the plan for improvement identifies actions to address all significant areas of service weakness and addresses the concerns identified through public consultation and member decisions
• the improvement plan should ensure that the authority will be among the top 25% of authorities within five years – both in terms of performance against relevant government standards and national performance indicators, and against the main critical success factors for good services
• sufficient leading members of the key controlling committee (or cabinet) support and are committed both to the improvements, and what needs to be done to deliver them
• it has identified barriers to improvement and has put in place plans to overcome them
• its assessment of procurement options has critically reviewed the best way to achieve the improvements
• the authority actively involved key stakeholders in the BVR where their engagement was likely to be essential to making improvement
• these stakeholders are committed to their role in the delivery of service improvements
• the capacity and capability of members, management and staff to deliver the improvement plan has been assessed, and responsibility taken for addressing any shortcoming
• the BVR identified how to make best use of existing resources (whether through better management, procurement or innovation) to fund any improvements that require additional resources
• it has a track record of delivery in the past, and has successfully managed major change programmes of a similar scale in the past
• there is clear evidence of regular monitoring of performance against targets and policy objectives for the service within a wider corporate context
• instances of under-achievement are investigated and the cause identified and necessary action taken

Source: Audit Commission, Seeing is Believing, 2000 (extract)