Resources >

Resources//

Self-Assessment Tools: Supporting your continuous self-improvement journey in Sport and Cultural Services

The self-improvement agenda in local government is now well established. Within sport and cultural services we have a number of self-assessment tools which can help local authorities evaluate the scope, quality and value of the services provided.

The Local Government White Paper offers real opportunities for culture and sport to be placed at the heart of the community agenda and importantly calls for this to reflected in the way local authorities prioritise their work and aspirations for their communities. The White Paper also favours less external scrutiny and a greater emphasis on self-improvement – including the use of self-assessment tools.

Importance of Self-Improvements, Journey of local authorities

External assessment of the services provided by local authorities has been a long established method of checking the quality and value for money of them for local communities. There is now a much stronger focus on self assessment and self improvement i.e. continuous improvement of services is supported from within. This is described as a ‘journey’ because self-improvement and the pursuit of providing excellent services to local communities is an ongoing process rather than a process with a defined destination.

Culture and Sport Improvement Toolkit (CSIT)

CSIT was developed in response to local authority feedback for a more coherent approach to improvement tools, was piloted from the end of June 2007 across eight local authorities. It was rolled out nationally in 2008.Each of the sub regional partnerships in the East Midlands has planned or is using the toolkit, either as individual authorities or in a collective approach.  Contact the CIPEM Cultural Leads for more information. The toolkit is available here