Short summary
It is important to understand that councils doing self-evaluation to a higher level will not necessarily save staff time compared to undergoing external scrutiny. Indeed, it is likely that it will cost more staff time, especially in the early stages. That is why it is important that councils are doing self-evaluation primarily for themselves in their desire to become a self-improving system.
This resource is designed to minimise bureaucracy and the requirement for staff time, but doing self-evaluation robustly and consistently takes time and effort. This is minimised when it is built into normal processes and not seen as an “added task” to be completed. Minor amendments to existing processes and reporting can reduce the time spent considerably. But it is important that these mechanisms are seen within an overall desire to create a culture of self-reflection and improvement within the council, where it is everybody’s responsibility to seek out opportunities to improve and not a paper exercise conducted by a central team that staff are compelled to do.