Glossary of terms

This glossary provides a brief explanation of some of the common terms used by and relating to council departments and services.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Accessibility - The ease with which different services can be accessed and used by a range of people.

Access to Leisure Card - A discount scheme to enable those on benefits to access leisure facilities owned by Allerdale Borough Council.

Affordable housing - Low cost housing for sale or rent, often from a housing association, to meet the needs of local people who cannot afford accommodation through the open or low cost market, or subsidised housing.

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) - Along with National Parks, AONBs are designated under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. Their purpose is the conservation and enhancement of natural beauty, landscape, natural and historic heritage.

Assistance schemes - This provides financial assistance (on a means tested basis) to households which may struggle to meet the costs of home improvements.

Audit Commission - The independent body responsible for ensuring that public money is spent economically, efficiently and effectively, to achieve high-quality local services for the public. Covering local government, health, housing, community safety and fire and rescue services.

Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPIs) - A statutory set of 90 indicators developed by government to measure the performance of local authorities. The data is collected and audited annually by the Audit Commission.

Building Control - A council service to ensure that new building, extensions or alterations comply with national building regulations including safety, energy efficiency and accessibility.

Capital expenditure - Money spent on purchasing or improving a property and enhancing its value over a longer period of time.

Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) - Local authorities are now responsible for enforcing on-street parking controls instead of the police. This was introduced by the Road Traffic Act 1991.

Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) - the way that the Audit Commission assess how well public services are performing in their area.

Council Tax Benefit - This can be claimed by the person responsible for payment of the council tax for their accommodation dependant on circumstances. The council tax bill will be reduced by the amount of benefit due.

Crime and Disorder Partnership - The 1998 Crime and Disorder Act established partnerships between the police, local authorities, probation service, health authorities, the voluntary sector, and local residents and businesses to reduce crime and disorder in their area.

Decent Homes Standards - These are a range of recognised benchmarks set by government designed to ascertain the standard and quality of living accommodation.

Direct debit - A payment method allowing an organisation to instruct their bank to collect varying amounts directly from customers' accounts for regular or occasional payments.

Electoral register - A list of the name and address of everyone who has registered to vote.

Electronic forms - Forms which are completed and submitted online from a web page to avoid the need for paper forms.

Electronic government - Refers to the council providing services electronically, e.g telephone, internet, mobile devices, and kiosks to give citizens a range of choices in the way a service can be accessed,

Energy efficiency and Standard Assessment Procedure Ratings - These relate to the energy efficiency capacity of a property and underpin both Decent Homes and HHSRS.

E-procurement - The use of electronic methods in the purchasing process. Includes for example; electronic orders to be dispatched to suppliers, electronic invoicing, electronic tenders, supplier portal (single platform to conduct business with suppliers), contract management.

Equality Standard - A standard designed to make sure that all local authorities consider disability, gender and race equality at all levels of council policy, procedure, services and practice.

Grant facilities - These relate specifically to disabled facilities grants which are intended to provide appropriate adaptations for disabled people wishing to remain at home.

House of Multiple Occupancy - These are homes occupied by more than one household with shared facilities such as bathroom, kitchens etc. Some of these may need to have a mandatory license in place.

Housing Benefit - Financial assistance to help meet the cost of renting a home for people on low income.

Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) - These are a set of measures that determine the standard of safety in homes and applies to elements such as the structure and services of the property.

Housing Market Assessments - A housing market assessment is a central piece of research and analysis that informs both housing and planning policy at a range of different levels.

Housing Market Renewal - This is an ongoing scheme that aims to provide more balanced housing markets and improve the tenure mix where there is an identified need to do so.

Investors in People (IIP) - A quality standard that recognises the contribution made to the success of the organisation through its people and helps the Council to improve performance. ‘Profile’ is an in-depth assessment and rates performance beyond the baseline standard.

Invitation to tender (ITT) - An invitation to contractors, suppliers or service providers to bid for the provision of works, goods or services.

Key Performance Indicators (KPI) - These help an organisation define and measure progress toward organisational goals.

Local Area Agreement (LAA) - Local Area Agreements set out the priorities for a local area agreed between central government and a local area (the local authority and Local Strategic Partnership) and other key partners at the local level. LAAs simplify some central funding, help join up public services more effectively and allow greater flexibility for local solutions to local circumstances.

Local Development Framework - A folder of documents, which includes all the local development documents of the planning authority, such as the Council or Lake District national Park. It will be used to guide planning decisions.

Local Strategic Partnership - A way of working that brings together, at a local level, the different parts of the public sector as well as the private, business, community and voluntary sectors so that different initiatives and services support each other and work together. The Partnership is responsible for developing and driving the implementation of community strategies and Local Area Agreements (LAAs). The Local Strategic Partnership that covers the Allerdale and Copeland areas is the West Cumbria Strategic Partnership.

Mapping service - Interactive maps available on the Allerdale website to provide information on a property, its immediate environment and local services.

Neighbourhood Management - A way for communities to become more involved in developing their own solutions to local problems. It provides a focus for making services more 'joined up'.

Ofsted - The Office for Standards in Education. The government department that inspects and regulates care for children and young people, and inspects education and training throughout England.

One stop shop - A one stop shop is a council building, where all council business can be dealt with in one place. Customer service advisers are specially trained in the wide range of services on offer and will, wherever possible, try to resolve queries on the spot.

Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) - Notice of a penalty issued to vehicles that contravene parking restrictions.

Procurement - The process of purchasing goods works and services from both private, public and voluntary sector organisations. The process spans from identification of needs, researching the market, developing a specification, advertising the opportunity, evaluating the tenders, agreeing a contract through to the end of a services contract or the end of the useful life of an asset.

Polling station - The building where voters go to cast their votes during an election.

Quality of life - A descriptive term that refers to people’s emotional, social and physical well being, and their ability to function in the ordinary tasks of living.

Regeneration - The development and redevelopment of land, buildings and transport systems, often to improve an area socially, economically and environmentally.

Rolling registration scheme - The scheme under which electors can apply to have their name added or details changed on the register of electors throughout the year.

Scores on the Doors - 5 star rating scheme for food safety and hygiene standards in food business operations. The score is a reflection of food hygiene conditions found at the time of the last inspection.

Safer Food Better Business - an approach to implementing a food safety management system, which is a legal requirement for food businesses. Safer Food Better Business was devised by the Food Standards Agency and is a suitable method for small food businesses.

Street Trading - any person who wishes to sell, offer, or expose articles for sale on designated streets needs a street trading consent from the Council. On some streets trading is prohibited and on others there are no restrictions.

West Coast Masterplan - A report that identifies transformational projects and initiatives to underpin the economic, social and environmental well-being of West Cumbria.

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