The document discusses benchmarking and transparency in public services. It outlines that the purpose of benchmarking is to drive improvement, increase efficiency, raise service quality, and make best practices common by strengthening accountability. It notes that effective benchmarking indicators should be relevant, unambiguous, data-driven, accessible, statistically robust, consistently applied, and cost-effective. The document also states that benchmarking helps open discussion, considers context, and looks at the relationship between costs and benefits. Reporting should be public, transparent, and consistently presented at both the national and local levels.