London Development Agency (London): New Ratings Promoting Better Performance

The London Development Agency is using new star ratings for its employment and skills projects as part of its continued drive to get better results for London.

The star ratings provide a draft assessment of the projects’ performance towards their targets. The London Development Agency’s performance-based contracts mean that these ratings show those running the projects where they need to improve to secure their full payment.

Twelve lead grant holders and 32 sub-contractors have been awarded a star rating between zero and four based on their overall contract performance and outputs for the last six months. Ratings will be reviewed and finalised in May 2011.

Stephen Evans, Director of Employment and Skills at the London Development Agency, said:

“The London Development Agency has been completely overhauled over the last 2½ years. This new approach to measuring project performance is part of the Agency’s renewed drive to increase openness and transparency, get better value for money and deliver increased benefits for London.”

“We have also adopted a number of other drivers to ensure our projects are a success, including paying for results as they’re achieved.”

“These ratings demonstrate that many organisations are meeting the targets set by the London Development Agency, for others, it identifies areas for improvement to enable them to secure a better rating in May 2011 when organisations are given a final assessment.”

The project ratings have been calculated on a number of criteria including overall contract performance, diversity targets, contract compliance, client satisfaction and self-assessment.

One provider to achieve four stars is Haringey Council’s Employment Action Network. Based at the Neighbourhood Resource Centre in Northumberland Park, Employment Action Network advisors support out of work adults to address their individual employment needs, overcome barriers in their job search, and arrange guaranteed job interviews with employers.

Cllr Toni Mallett, Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration at Haringey Council, said:

“Haringey’s Employment Action Network offers invaluable support to local adults to help them to tap into employment opportunities, and we’re delighted that the service has performed exceptionally well to earn a four star rating from the LDA.

“Congratulations are due to all the officers whose commitment to their challenging and valuable work, contributed to this excellent performance.”

The initial Employability Performance Ratings provide a benchmark for future delivery. They enable contractors to improve their performance before they are given a final rating in May 2011. It is then proposed that contractors will be ranked on an annual basis.

Details of the performance ratings for grant holders are available on the London Skills and Employment Observatory website http://lseo.org.uk/content/1248.

Notes to editors

Employability Performance Rating

• The Employability Performance Rating was developed by West London Working and piloted by London Development Agency grant holders over an 18 month period from May 2008.

• The London Development Agency implemented the Employability Performance Ratingsystem in April 2010 as a comprehensive tool to benchmark the achievements of employability service providers in London.

• The rating system awards a star rating based on three key areas: delivery performance, quality and contract compliance. It is currently being used by 12 London Development Agency lead grant holders and their 32 sub-grantees and has also been adopted by London Councils and the National Offender Management Service.

• The London Development Agency has committed to rolling out use of the Employability Performance Rating with all learning and skills grants from April 2011.

• Further information on the Employability Performance Rating can be found on the‘Information for Delivery Partners’ section of the LDA website.

• Current data is based on a six month stock-take of ratings, providing an indication of performance trends from April to September 2010.

• The final 2010/11 Employability Performance Ratings will be published in spring 2011.

• The majority of grants are in their first year of delivery, and could have been subject to delay in operation start-up in some cases. In the process of calculating the six month rating, a number of changes have been made to the rating methodology to ensure comparability. Further information on this can be found in the Guide to the Six Month Performance Rating.

Contacts

NDS Enquiries 
Phone: For enquiries please contact the issuing dept 
ndsenquiries@coi.gsi.gov.uk