National Indicator: 195

Changes For NI 195

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Printable version

Briefing For Councillors

Changes For NI 195

Deprivation Indices

Land Use Selection

Transect Selection

Detritus Grading

Graffiti Grading

Flyposting Grading

Downloading The Form

Completing The Form

Calculating Results

Creating Reports

Making The NI 195 Return

Using The Results

Glossary of Terms

Link To BV 199 Website

Download the manual

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CHANGES FOR NI 195

1.2.2	The Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) has announced that from 1st April 2008, NI 195 will cover four elements – litter, detritus, graffiti and flyposting.
1.2.2	Each element will be measured in a similar way, but will be reported separately.
1.2.3	This Guidance Manual is designed to provide a comprehensive and straightforward guide to planning, carrying out and reporting on the four elements of NI 195. It also provides information on how to use analyses and graphics based on the survey data as a management tool.
1.2.4	There have been a number of changes from the previous Guidance Manual for the Cleanliness Performance Indicator, BVPI 199. The key changes are as follows: Litter and detritus will in future be reported as two separate elements, rather than combined (Section 1.3). The seven-point grading system, with Intermediate grades, has been retained but the B/C grade has been relabelled as B –, to make the grading system more consistent. A detailed explanation of the grading system used in assessing standards for litter, detritus, graffiti and flyposting has been added (Sections 1.3 – 1.7). Authorities will be given credit on sites where standards fall just below a satisfactory level (Grade B), by halving the weight given to these sites in calculating the overall Indicator scores for litter, detritus, graffiti and flyposting (Section 1.3). A new ‘Photo Gallery’ has been provided on the website, to help surveyors make their grading assessments. The definitions of Housing Land Uses have been updated to reflect changing conditions including the impact of new planning policies, ‘right-to-buy’ and a continuing increase in car ownership (Section 4.0). The labels ‘Primary’ and ‘Secondary’ attached to Retail and Commercial Area have been changed to ‘Main’ and ‘Other’ to reflect the way most people see them and to make them more easily understood (Section 4.0). The processes of data input and analysis, and of making returns to Government, have been streamlined (Sections 13.0, 14.0 and 15.0). Advice is offered on the likely margins of error associated with NI 195 Survey results at local authority level. (Section 15.0). A separate website (www.localenvironmentskills.org) has been developed which authorities can use to carry out skills audits and to find out what skills development and training opportunities are available for staff at all levels involved in environmental management. Advice will be provided (on a separate website) by the end of March 2008 for authorities wishing to carry out surveys of wards, groups of wards, individual neighbourhoods and other small areas. The Guidance Manual and Website for BVPI 199 will remain accessible until April 2009.

1.5	The Importance of Intermediate Grades In NI 195
1.5.1	The seven-point grading system for NI 195 is designed to provide management information for local authority managers, and to give them a more accurate picture of variations in standards than would be possible using the basic COPL&R four-point scale.
1.5.2	The Intermediate grades play an important part in the system - particularly in the case of the B – grade, which indicates just a small shortfall from a satisfactory standard. The explanation of Intermediate Grades has therefore been expanded in this Guidance Manual.
1.5.3	The NI 195 Cleanliness Performance Indicator score is based on the percentage of sites surveyed where standards fall below a Grade B.
1.5.4	However, where there is only a small shortfall (B –, rather than C, C – or D), the NI 195 score will now benefit by including only half of the proportion of sites rated B –. For example, suppose the crude percentage of sites falling below a Grade B is 50%, but 40% of the sites surveyed are B – . In this case the NI 195 score is reduced by 20%, from 50% to 30%.
1.5.5	This is designed to give credit to authorities for raising standards above a Grade C, while still indicating that there is more work to do to achieve a satisfactory standard.

1.6	Feedback from Consultations With Local Authorities
1.6.1	During discussions with local authority officers by Defra in July and August 2007, three main criticisms were made of the grading system used for BVPI 199.
1.6.2	In calculating the BV 199 Cleanliness Performance Indicator score, authorities were penalised just as much for a small shortfall in standards as for a large shortfall. A B – assessment was given the same weight as a Grade C, or a Grade D. This criticism has been addressed by changing the way in which the score is calculated (see above).
1.6.3	The labelling of grades was felt to be confusing – A, B+, B, B/C, C, C – and D. This criticism was directed in particular at the B/C grade.
1.6.4	The B/C grade has been relabelled as B –, to make the grading labels more consistent. In addition, the website contains a new section – a ‘Photo Gallery’ – which contains a series of grading photos, to assist surveyors in making their assessments.
1.6.5	Lastly, some authorities felt that using only the four defined COPL&R grades would be simpler. After careful consideration, it has been decided that the seven-point grading system should be retained, because of the improved management information that it provides.

1.7	How The Grading System Should Be Used?
1.7.1	The grading system is designed to tell local authorities what proportion of sites in each of their standard Land Uses falls below a satisfactory standard in terms of cleansing, and whether that shortfall is large or small. It is also designed to tell authorities what proportion of sites exceeds a satisfactory standard, and if so, by how much.
1.7.2	If authorities concentrate on tackling the problems on the worst sites, while maintaining standards elsewhere, then there will be a progressive shift in the pattern of grades. Over a period of time, there should be fewer sites with unsatisfactory standards, and an increasing proportion where standards are satisfactory or better.

1.8	How Many Sites Must Be Surveyed?
1.8.1	300 transects should be surveyed in each of three 4-month periods during the year.
1.8.2	These will be: April - July August - November; and December - March
1.8.3	A sample of this size (900 transects over a full year) will give results that can be used to assess the performance of local authorities in terms of the NI 195 national indicator and, if required, in the context of a Local Area Agreement.
1.8.4	30 transects should be surveyed in each NI 195 Land Use Class in each four-month period. These should give a useful indication of variations in standards, which an authority can use to review cleansing resource levels, priorities and strategies.
1.8.5	Why Does NI 195 Not Reflect the Variations In The Proportions Of Land Uses In Different Authorities? Although the proportions of the Standard Land Uses that are present may vary widely between one authority and another, the NI 195 survey does not attempt to reflect this. This is because there is at present no simple way in which those proportions of land uses, and those variations, can be measured or weighted accurately for every single authority.
1.8.6	The use of a ‘standard basket’ of 30 sites in each of the land uses that are present in an authority is a practical alternative which enables systematic comparisons to be made between authorities – the prime requirement for a national perfomance indicator.

1.9	How Long Should Each Four-Monthly Survey Take?
1.9.1	Based on the rates of work achieved by the local authorities involved in piloting the original BV 199 Cleanliness Performance Indicator (which preceded NI 195), which covered litter and detritus, it was estimated that each survey of 300 transects for a four-month period should take about 10 working days. This included survey planning; carrying out the survey; and data input. Much of the time involved in surveying is spent in travelling to, and between, survey sites.
1.9.2	The addition of graffiti and flyposting will have led to a modest increase in this effort.
1.9.3	Although the reporting format for NI 195 has changed from that for BV 199, the effort involved in surveying should remain roughly the same. However, the rate of work is heavily dependent on the way that surveyors operate. It is strongly recommended that surveyors do not combine surveying with other duties on survey days as this slows the survey down considerably. If it is not practicable to spend whole days on NI 195 surveying, then surveyors should devote a minimum of half a day at a time.

1.10	NI 195 Skills Development and Training
1.10.1	A website has been developed (www.localenvironmentskills.org) which will enable staff and managers to undertake skills audits, to see where they need to develop their skills; and to search for skills development and training opportunities available from different providers within their region and elsewhere. The website includes opportunities for skills development and training in relation to NI 195.
1.10.2	This website will be managed by the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA), with support from the stakeholders involved in its initial development. The stakeholders have included Defra, the Asset Skills Sector Skills Council, the Local Government Association (LGA), the Waste Management Training and Advisory Board (WAMITAB), the Chartered Management Institute, the Chartered Institute of Waste Management (CIWM), the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE), Jobs Go Public, and ENCAMS. The website can be accessed at: www.localenvironmentskills.org

1.11	Feedback From Users
1.11.1	This Manual and Website will be updated regularly, at least once a year.
1.11.2	If you have any queries or comments on any aspect of the guidance, please send your comments to the following email address: info@ni195.com
1.11.3	If you have any comments on the operation of the website itself, please use the feedback facility on the Homepage of the website.

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