FAQ
Greenspace Performance Management System
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any other questions regarding the service
How does the system link in to Green Flag, CPA, PPG 17 and CABE Space?
Green Flag assessment is carried out for those sites that are considered by the auditors to be capable of winning a Green Flag. The consultation and comparison information provided by the system enables the CPA diagnostics to be easily completed, and the fact that you will have a performance management system that is capable of national comparison on qualitative issues such as cleanliness and safety is clearly an advantage too.
PPG 17 requires local auditing and an assessment of needs - this System provides what is required.
The links to CABE Space are many. The goals and aspirations of CABE are already taken into account in this System. The Community is actively engaged in setting and monitoring standards, and the standards are based on customer needs and requirements.
What is included in the reports?
Two reports are provided - one from the auditing and one from the consultation.
15 page (approx) mini management plans are provided for the major sites audited, including recommendations for improvement. All your sites audited are scored and a database is provided with hundreds of sites scored for national comparison purposes.
What is included in the report from the consultation? The simple answer is cost, quality, satisfaction and usage information at any level that you require. The report runs into several pages, and includes information on who uses what, when, why, how often, etc. MORE THAN 540,000 people have been surveyed already.
Information is provided on satisfaction ratings for CLEAN, GREEN AND SAFE as well as information from several hundred non-users. What people wish to see by way of improvement and whether or not you have improved are also included.
How does the system work?
The system's methodology has two parts: 1) A professional audit, and 2) A consultation exercise. But is also contains other useful management tools such as a Data Mapping Tool and a Usage Calculator. For full details, please review the whole website or simply contact us.
The Audit:
The audit procedure is based on a system that has been tried, tested and improved by KMC Consultancy over the past ten years. It can be summarised as follows
Create a Hierarchy of Parks, Open SpacesAudit/Benchmark the quality of the sites within the Hierarchy, using a pre-determined checklist as an aide-memoir
Accept that not all sites are able to achieve excellence, and that some are going to be of a higher standard than others
Set targets for the quality of each of the categories in the Hierarchy
Compare the quality results from the audit with the set targets
Compare the amount being spent on each site with the quality provided
Combine the quality and the price to obtain the value of the site to the customers
Compare this to the target
Review, and make appropriate changes to quality and/or expenditure to ensure cost-effectiveness
Repeat and analyse for trends
The Consultation:
The consultation exercise asks the views of the public on the same issues as those that are being professionally audited. This in turn provides quality scores for Key Performance Indicators for Cleanliness and Safety from users and non-users and provides much more information, such as:
Scores for satisfaction
Who is using the sites
How often they are used
How they get there
What they do
How they think the sites could be improved
Total number of visits to individual parks and/or total parks
How are catchment areas for the consultation defined?
The questionnaire is sent out to a random 10% of households at the same time every year to ensure that everyone has an equal chance of being consulted, that sufficient people are consulted to make the process statistically valid and that most will not get `pestered' more than once a decade.
How big are the consultation samples?
That clearly depends on the size of the Authority - 10% of households could range from 3,000 to 30,000
How are the sites chosen for auditing?
Either at random, or on the basis of the results from the consultation where the best and most visited sites can be audited together with a selection of the worst.
Is there a limit to the number of parks that can be included?
The number of sites audited will normally be 10. This seems to be the optimum number to ensure that the quality and standard of provision is adequately assessed.
What is the usual timescale, from commission to receipt of report?
3 months in Year One, less time in subsequent years.
Why do you have to do more than One Year?
We are trying to measure continuous improvement and consistently engage the public in the setting and monitoring of standards. To do this means a commitment to compare and consult on a regular and consistent basis.
How do you ensure consistency in the auditing process
Up to now about 95% of all sites audited have been undertaken by us in order to ensure total consistency. However, the number of clients now means that the task is becoming too large for our organisation. We are therefore now offering training in the auditing process to ensure that all those engaged in the System undertake Peer Review and are capable of assessing on a like for like basis as far as possible.
How many councils/companies/housing associations are using it?
More than 30 (very different) councils, and 8 housing associations are using the System, and some are even linking it to Ken's true performance based contract, which takes the results from this system and provides financial incentives to the contractor to motivate improvements on the ground still further.
How much does the service cost?