NATURALLY we all want the best value possible for our hard-earned cash, but sometimes ensuring that happens can be extremely wasteful.

There is now a national obsession with league tables and performance indicators - they are seen as the best way for the public and the Government to ensure best value.

The problem comes when the criteria on which these tables are based is faulty. The old saying that a camel is a horse devised by a committee comes to mind.

The major performance indicator for the police used to be detecting crime. As a result, certain chief constables took the view that their force could not actually reduce the crime rate. In truth, many of them didn't care if crime rose as long as the percentage of offences they detected remained at an acceptable level.

Consequently, you could have area A where 1,000 crimes a week were committed and half of them detected. In Area B, 400 crimes a week were committed and 160 detected.

Under the old system area A would be leading the table, but where would you rather live?

Now, thankfully, the Government has tasked police forces with actually reducing crime as well as catching the culprits, which makes far more sense.

In local government I am experiencing similar problems and my major concern is that staff have been brought up in a culture in which performance indicators are god, and common sense goes out the window.

One of the major complaints people have with public bodies concerns the service they receive when they have a query or complaint. This surprised me as the figures show that many councils register 100 per cent success in answering calls within the prescribed number of rings.

In fact, what happens is the member of the public rings up and gets an answer machine. They can be holding on for ages, offered a range of numbers to press, and asked to call back later or to leave a message.

The public body is happy because it has met the statutory requirement to respond to the call. The member of the public, who just wants to speak to someone, is now even more dissatisfied than when first ringing.

We have a number of very able and committed officers at Middlesbrough Council but I know the public must sometimes be exasperated when they contact us for basic information because sometimes I cannot get it and I'm the mayor!

Over the years the introduction of the Citizens Charter, Best Value and Performance Indicators were supposed to improve efficiency and performance. Instead, they have, in some cases, resulted in the haemorrhaging of resource hours. Common sense has gone out of the window as staff desperately try to meet sometimes irrelevant targets.

I could quote expert after expert who have identified how public bodies can become genuinely consumer friendly. But in truth, it starts with the simple process of a human being picking up the phone or writing a reply. A council or utility company showing it cares. That is what performance indicators should encourage.

Published: 21/03/2003