Better use of data

A pilot national project took place in 2019/20 facilitated by the LGA and supported by DCMS as part of the national strategy for loneliness. Its purpose was to trial ways of identifying and publishing information about local services (delivered by councils) and hyper-local services (delivered by partners such as health, community, voluntary and private sector groups) to make them more easily accessible to lonely people, to the health workers, advocates and support groups.

Councils already collect data to provide services and support for their residents, but this open-data pilot aims to kick-start a step-change in how people access services and support from councils and local partners, making it easier for people to get the help and advice they need and drive efficiencies and savings.

Three areas participated in the project to help test a newly emerging data standard, along with collection, publishing and assurance processes. These councils are: Elmbridge, Blackburn with Darwen and Hull City. Bristol and North Yorkshire are already collecting local services data to the LGA standard. South Gloucestershire Council, working with Bristol, is also looking to publish services data in this way.

As well as sample data being produced and an online open source data architecture to access these data, a portfolio of learning materials is being gathered to provide better evidence for business case development by other councils in future years. An example app is also in development to demonstrate how the local services can be discovered, verified and matched to the needs, locality and eligibility of citizens.

Publication and promotion of the outcomes from this work were planned for March 2020.  However, the Covid-19 pandemic interrupted progress and so full results are delayed.  The open data being created by the pilot authorities have not yet been published - only sample data is available.  We hope to restart work in 2021.

However, some intermediate materials have been released.

See the Comprehensive Project Report which is online in pdf form for download.

See also a collection of User Stories that document the issues we were trying to address and the benefits that are likely from this new way of working.

Also, we have a simple Exemplar Services Discovery App which is currently working with sample data (see the project report for more details).

Whilst this project is focusing on those local services that are particularly helpful in alleviating loneliness, the approach being developed is sufficiently generic to be capable of deployment for any local services in the future.

More details of this project, along with access to technical specifications and project plans.

This project is examining the key characteristics, processes and cultural factors present in an ‘Intelligent Council’ (that is, a council which uses evidence and information to inform decision-making and transform services) and the resources currently available that could support this. The work is being undertaken with an independent researcher and in association with The Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE) and the Local Area Research and Intelligence Association (LARIA).

Through desk study, interviews and surveys, the project aims to:

demonstrate the benefits of undertaking research in a structured, logical and well resourced way identify generic support and guidance materials to support authorities on their journey to become an ‘Intelligent Council’.

In 2018, the LGA was encouraged to develop a similar strategy to support an assessment and suggestions for improvement in council efficiency. Best practice in approaches to improved efficiency is aligned closely with the intelligent and better use of data for evidence in decision making. As a consequence, this project was expanded to be towards “efficient and intelligent councils” and work is underway to develop content, best practice and self-assessment tools to help councils assess their use of data and their efficiency. This project is aiming to report by March 2019 – see Efficient and intelligent councils.

While the focus is on councils, the outputs and lessons learned from this project will be applicable more widely to any local public sector organisation – particularly a fire authority, national park authority and voluntary sector organisation.

The project started in late July 2017 with phase 1 which reported initial scoping and market testing with a report and presentation. We will also consider the most appropriate means of presenting the findings and hope to develop an online resource for public sector organisations to understand the recommended research infrastructure to be encouraged and sources of materials, skills and tools to help them implement it.

During 2016, as part of NESTA’s local datavores programme, a project was undertaken in partnership with the LGA and local government to identify the characteristics of a “Wise Council” – that is one which makes good use and re-use of the data it holds. The project drew together many local case studies describing examples of good data use and these were presented together in Nesta’s Wise Council report published in November 2016.

Part of this work included the development of a Data Maturity Model that serves to identify the characteristics and the journey of progress that councils may travel as they improve the management and use of the data they hold.

During the second half of 2017-18 we progressed this work with in partnership with Nesta and with our technical partner, Porism Ltd., to transpose the analogue model above into an online data maturity self-assessment tool. This is designed for any officers and councillors within local authorities to respond to a series carefully chosen questions to determine their view of their organisations maturity in its collection, management and use of data. From the assessment results, the tool is then able to assess the organisation’s capability and compare the results with (a) others in the organisation, (b) other departments’ viewpoint in the council,(c) other councils of similar type or locality. From this comparison of assessments, we hope for councils to compare opinions and scores in order to stimulate discussion and options for further improvements. The tool also offers respondents with details of their assessed maturity within the improvement model, along with tips, case studies and sources of further guidance to move further along the improvement journey.

With the remarkable developments in IT technology and data practices in recent years, it is important that councils remain proficient and up-to-date in modern techniques and best practice. Those authorities that are making most progress with their data activities have a strong support and scrutiny from their elected members. The LGA, with other expert partners, has developed and runs training days for councillors designed to brief them on good data and digital practice with awareness, practical solutions and case studies.

A project has commenced in 2018 to review and overhaul the information sharing data standards that are used extensively within local government. These standards are facilitated and maintained by the Local Government Association and comprise a series of version controlled interconnected lists of definitions describing a 360 degree view of councils’ data and business operations.

The project is consulting widely and aims to revisit these standards that first appeared in the last decade. Some of the lists such as the list of all local government services are still critical to many data applications and sharing initiatives. Their links to the lists of citizen’s needs and circumstances or the powers and duties that authorise them are also still highly relevant. Other lists, such as the interactions lists and the channels lists are less relevant or have become out of date. This project is putting effort into these lists ensuring we overhaul and update those lists that people rely upon, dropping ones that haven’t taken hold, and leaving dormant ones which were used in the past but have now outlived their purpose.

Our opening strategy is a document titled Review of Local Government Business Model and Lists (also available as a MS Word, ODT or PDF download). This gives our first stab at changes we think are needed. It arises from a desk study of evidence and experiences collated by the LGA and supporting team. But everything’s up for grabs at present, so the Support Team if you want to propose something different or just to register an interest in a list that you’d like to see continue. Your feedback is important to the LGA’s project team to guide direction and priorities for the next steps. Ongoing discussion will happen here in the Knowledge Hub (sign-in required).

This opening project blog provides more background and objectives for this work.

Between 2014 and 2016, the LGA facilitated some £2.64 million in grant funding for local government through the “Open Data Breakthrough” programme and the “Open Data Incentive Scheme”. These two initiatives continue to deliver benefits today and were aimed to help authorities release and use more data in meaningful, practical ways – particularly by engaging with local people and improving the local services they deliver. Most of the projects' evaluation reports have been published and outline what councils did, the impacts and benefits. The LGA has also collated some good practice case studies to help councils realise the potential of using open data.

Find out more

During the 2016-2017 session, the LGA partnered with the Open Data Institute (ODI) to develop online practical aids and eLearning modules to promote good practice in local information management and to enhance the skills and knowledge of elected members and local government staff. An effective set of eLearning modules was developed and published to instruct on better data practices and to encourage a consistent approach to the use of data standards and publishing techniques. These modules were supported by a series of nine online webinars, where tuition and questions and answers were provided to users in live online sessions.

A summary of the eLearning modules and YouTube recordings of the webinars gives more information here.