LG Inform
The Local Government (LG) Inform prototype is a practical response to the sector's call for greater freedom to take responsibility for its own regulation and improvement. This free online service allows anyone in the sector to access, compare and analyse data, and present their findings. Such intelligence will help councils and fire and rescue authorities make the right decisions about their local areas and the services they provide to their residents.
Cllr Peter Fleming on LG Inform
Councillor Peter Fleming, Chairman of the LGA Improvement Board, speaks about LG Inform and outlines the opportunities for improvement that it brings to councillors.
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Cllr Peter Fleming on LG Inform.mp3 (MP3 file, 1.0MB large file)
Cllr Peter Fleming on LG Inform: transcript
Supporting the sector
Now that the national performance framework is a thing of the past, it is crucial that individual councils have the best possible tools to manage their performance and drive their own improvement. LG Inform is here to help.
Responses to our ‘Freedom to lead' consultation included a clear demand from councillors and officers to be able to make informed comparisons with other authorities and other areas. LG Inform offers this facility.
Transparency is an important tool to help citizens understand, scrutinise and challenge local politicians and public services. Used creatively, such dialogue should help councillors and service providers understand their local area and better meet residents' needs. Through subsequent phases of development, LG Inform will provide a way to help local authorities present data to the public in clear, helpful terms.
Why LG Inform?
LG Inform is a service designed to meet the needs of a very different, more self-driven era of local government performance management. The service gives you easy access to relevant data and information to, for example, understand the demographics of your local area or analyse your residents' needs and how your services are performing in response.
The service offers an easy way to tailor data and information to meet your specific needs. It allows you to create bespoke reports to make decisions using the best possible information. For those who require it, LG Inform can help you produce in-depth analysis and evidence where needed to underpin such decisions.
The service is built on a set of core principles:
- Owned and led by the sector.
- Available for use by anyone in the sector with no need for specialist knowledge.
- Provides accurate, reliable data in a standardised format.
- Allows sharing and collaborative working.
- Supports open data and transparency.
- It's free.
Our service: measuring what's important
LG Inform is now available as a prototype that we have developed in close collaboration with a cross-section of councils and fire and rescue authorities. It demonstrates what is possible and offers an initial suite of data items that local authorities have told us will be useful to them. We plan that the service will be developed to offer:
- expanded access to the latest published data
- collaboration to create and share sector metrics based on local needs but allowing comparability across areas
- the ability to upload locally-defined metrics
- more tools for bringing data together and presenting findings
- an expanded series of ready-made reports
- the ability for councils to publish their data in an open and transparent way for residents.
What's next?
We plan to work in collaboration with the sector to expand the prototype and develop its capability to support councils. We are working with the Chief Fire Officers Association (CFOA) and fire and rescue authorities to see how the prototype can be developed to meet their particular needs.
We invite you to take a look at the prototype, tell us what you think, and offer ideas for future developments. You can find out more and access the LG Inform prototype (for which you will need a .gov.uk email address) at:
If you have a question about LG Inform, would like to tell us how you would like to see the service developed, or you would like to speak to someone about how you or your local authority could be more involved, please contact:
Telephone: 020 7664 3000
Email: LGInform@local.gov.uk
