The document discusses the transparency and productivity challenges faced by local governments, emphasizing the need for publishing comprehensive data, including spending and performance metrics. It highlights ongoing efforts to improve data accessibility while navigating issues of data security and standardization, and the aim of promoting citizen engagement and accountability. The initiative seeks to foster innovation and efficiency in public services through systematic assessment and sharing of performance data, although it acknowledges the cultural shift required in the public sector.

1. KNOWLEDGE HUB: CONNECT, COLLABORATE,
LEARN AND INNOVATE CONFERENCE:
1st March 2011
Transparency, Data and Productivity
George Garlick: Chief Executive
Durham
www.local.gov.uk/inform

2. 1. Transparency: The Immediate Task
For Local Government
Commitment to:
• January publication of:
– £500+ spend data (all but 1 councils have or will shortly
publish)
– Senior salaries (most councils have published)
– Contracts over £500 ((just getting to grips with this one)
• Initially, injunction don’t let best be enemy of the good but
subsequent shift to wanting ‘machine readable’ format (ref.
Government Transparency Guidelines).
• Underscored by (Central) Government Public Data Principles.

3. 2. The Immediate Task For Local Government
Is this proving difficult:
• Practicalities vary depending on systems, but achievable
• Issues around:
– Achieving comparability and consistent data quality: e.g. potential for using
CIPFA categories for spend data.
– Helping others make sense of the information
– Ensuring security of personal data and certain types of confidential data;
– Fraud protection: conflicting views and still to be resolved
– Pragmatic details for example who is named in publishing salaries and
related data.
• Practitioner help available from the Local Government Group:
http://lgtransparency.readandcomment.com
• Also a Local Open Data community of practice

4. 3. So is this the end of that story?
No:
• There well be a legislative basis to the local transparency
agenda with extensions to Freedom of Information and
Environmental Information Regulations; and
• A current consultation on a ‘Code of ‘Recommended’
Practice under Section 2(11) of the Local Government, Land
and Planning Act 1980 ref publication of information by
local authorities about the discharge of their functions and
other matters – a significant extension to the range of data
and information to be open and public, includes
performance.

5. 4. Where is this headed?
Underlying this:
• A different form of accountability: less top down and target
driven.
• More about direct accountability to citizens with armchair
auditors as catalysts.
• Driven initially by concern to reduce spend and encourage
challenge through scrutiny and question, but….

6. 5. Where is this headed?
Scope for:
• Developing the accountability agenda: opening up
performance and helping local politicians tell the local story;
•Using data and information to support participatory as well as
elective democracy – e.g. involving people in decisions about
where and what to cut as budgets are reduced (e.g. the London
Borough of Redbridge experience).
•Using information as an enabler for Big Society: the process of
shifting the balance between state / citizen and unlocking
creativity: helping people do it for themselves.

7. 6. But some challenges in doing this…
• Shifting mindsets and culture away from accepted notions of
confidentiality and the use of statistics, whilst recognising the
role for example of:
– Data standards, e.g. for comparability purposes; yet
– Creating space for ‘mashups’ and experimentation.
• Fostering innovation at a time of austerity: e.g. generating the
market for ‘applications’ – not just an developer activity: this
should inform public service behaviour, e.g. real time
provision of service information and citizen engagement /
feedback;

8. 7. Productivity: the Other Side of the Challenge
Local government is experiencing substantial cuts which
challenges us to re-assess how local government and local public
services manage and report on performance, and at the same
time, do so transparently.
The Productivity agenda is supporting this through sector led
development of systematic approaches to assess productivity
and unit cost to give timely, robust, and comparable data to:
• Inform service performance and corporate overheads, support self
assessment, drive savings and improve efficiency;
• Offer a means to support challenge, e.g. from elected members; and
• Contribute to benchmarking, and help stimulate public scrutiny, e.g. by
offering quicker and user friendly citizen access to data, recognising that
transparency is more than publishing spend data but a shift to greater and
more open accountability to citizens and customers.

9. 8. Productivity: What Are We Delivering?
• Through the Local Government Group, we will offer a free of charge place
for councils to lodge data providing:
– Access to tools to systematically examine productivity and cost
– Easy access to demographic and socio-economic data
– On-line means to share experience
– Access to analytical expertise
• A facility to share and compare key data:
– Efficiency and productivity metrics
– Citizen satisfaction
– Outcome and achievement measures
• Help in offering citizens meaningful access to performance data.
• Use the Knowledge Hub as a platform.

10. 9. How Will This Work?
• Voluntary;
• A service to and for councils (not re-creating the previous centralized
system);
• Potential for council cost savings by reducing overheads in managing
data, but doesn’t stop councils using consultants if they wish.
• Currently working in in depth with a number of councils and aim to
launch the first stage in Spring of this year in what we see as a 2 – 3 year
project.
• If you want to know more contact: juliet.whitworth@local,gov.uk

11. 10. The Model: An Aid to Decision Making
Example of user path from headline metrics down to analysis
Data Insight
Insight Action
1 2 3 4
Monitor chosen Understand in Explore productivity Take action to
metrics context drivers improve
• “How am I performing” “How do I compare?” “How can I identify “What actions should
where to make I take?”
improvements?”
• Council leader or • Then click problem • Then explore • Use insight to
service leader area to see drivers of improve decision
selects summary progress over time performance by making and help
metrics they want to and comparison to combining metrics take action
monitor other councils
Question to explore
My metric over time, £’000 Driver A
Case Study
Driver B
My council versus
Driver C
Peers, £’000
10
5
0
Driver D Driver E Driver F

12. 11. The tool will continue to develop over time using Local Government
Group platform as the basis
Launch targets Spring 2012
Spring 2011
– Core, comparable metrics for – Further outcomes metrics
• Metrics and council and services available available for all service lines
data – National demographic and –New user satisfaction data
contextual data available available
– Further demographic / other data
functions available
– Best-practice and case study – Real-time data available
• Functionality ‘wikis’ start to be available where possible
and tools – Basic citizen feedback function – e-improvement network with
in place knowledge base
– Basic analysis capability – More sophisticated analytic tools
offered
– Raw data available for 3rd party
– Public facing dashboards available
• Transparency analysis
for use in council websites
and activity – Sufficient ‘mass of councils
– Substantial number of councils
participating
taking part

13. 12. Conclusions
• Transparency and productivity are an unfolding story
requiring a shift in culture within the public sector.
• But, we must make it work for citizens.
• Potential to be driver for innovation in public services.
• Remembering the Martha Lane-Fox point about digital being
a 21st century element to literacy: we mustn’t forget the 10%
who aren’t connected and find ways to draw them in.