Source · Select Committees · Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
Recommendation 23
23
There is a need for more data about combined authority and other sub-national areas.
Recommendation
There is a need for more data about combined authority and other sub-national areas. The Government, the Office for National Statistics, and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy should develop datasets to enable effective evaluation of combined authorities and other sub-national areas. The Government should also ensure there are resources to enable areas with devolution deals to undertake more thorough evaluation of their own work. (Paragraph 161) Progress on devolution in England 67
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
The UK Government is establishing a new body focused on local government data and transparency to enhance the Government’s understanding of place-based leadership, quality of local service delivery and organisational efficiency. Strengthening data will be the cornerstone of this body, demonstrating that robust data is required to achieve greater accountability and devolution. It will support councils to learn from one-another, be user-focused and self-identify areas for improvement. The key objectives of the body will be to: • Empower citizens with information about their local area, enabling them to hold leaders to account, input into service design and participate in building pride in their local place; • Strengthen local leaders’ knowledge of their services, share best practice, innovate and drive self-improvement; and • Increase central government’s understanding of the local government sector, measure efficiency and area variation and enable sector support to be better tailored. Bringing together this data provides an opportunity for central and local government to work in partnership, with a shared lens on reporting to support local and national decision making. This will enable the identification and sharing of best practice. This body will develop and publish data sets and other data tools that will assist local leaders in better understanding and evaluating their work. The new body will be iterative and will continually explore opportunities to incorporate additional data and analysis in response to the needs of its stakeholders. Further accountability measures for areas with devolution deals will be explored to ensure