Monday 10 March 2008

Stats? No, Best Value Performance Indicators

There are many requirements on local councils to measure and report on their services. Thankfully, in the new tax year the number of these mandatory statistics is reducing quite drastically to 198! (See this exec briefing paper)

At first glance some of them seem at worst useless, or at least out of the control of the council (i.e. crime numbers). However, being on the sub-committee that reviews the indicators for community issues (housing, maintenance, safety), I'm finding that these numbers do actually reveal a good understanding of how well our services are working out. Our performance isn't perfect, but in many areas we are well over the target, and where not, are working hard to be so.

The devil is always in the detail of course, and in these instances it's understanding the exceptions, and acknowledging the often personal circumstances of tenants (for housing indicators), or homelessness enquiries, that mean our actions are appropriate, but don't always result in a nice statistic.

You will find the housing performance numbershere.

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