Andrew Cozens

Andrew Cozens CBE is Strategic Adviser (Children, Adults and Health Services) for the Improvement and Development Agency for local government and a member of its Executive Leadership Team. In this role he advises central and local government and partner agencies in relation to children's services, adult social care, public health and local government's relationship with the NHS. Andrew is also the LGA Group's Strategic Lead for Adult Social Care, managing the whole Group's activity in this area and he oversees the Agency's work on culture and sport, and its relationship with the Centre for Public Scrutiny.

Turning curves and not missing targets: an introduction to outcomes based accountability

This session will introduce delegates to the principles of outcomes based accountability that has informed the work of the Improvement & Development Agency (IDeA) in children's services and adult social care but with much wider applicability. Outcomes-based, or results-based, accountability is a conceptual approach to planning services and assessing their performance. It focuses on the results, or outcomes, that the services are intended to achieve. The results-based accountability approach was developed by US economist Mark Friedman. It can be much more than a tool for planning effective services. It can become a way of securing strategic and cultural change by moving organisations away from a focus on efficiency and process, towards making better outcomes the primary purpose. In this session Andrew will encourage delegates to think about how it could inform their work, particularly in the context of Local Strategic Partnerships, the Comprehensive Area Assessment and Total Place developments.