The government has today (4 July) established the Office for Local Government (Oflog), which aims to increase “transparency” within the sector and identify councils “at risk of potential failure”.
In a written ministerial statement, levelling up secretary Michael Gove announced the establishment of the new local government performance body for England. He also announced Oflog’s official launch during a plenary session of the Local Government Association’s (LGA’s) Annual Conference and Exhibition in Bournemouth.
Gove outlined that Oflog will provide authoritative and accessible data as well as analysis of the performance of councils and support their improvement.
“Oflog will improve the transparency of local government performance by publishing data in a clear and accessible way on the new Local Authority Data Explorer.
“Initially, this includes a subset of service areas for data – adult skills, adult social care, finance, and waste management. These service areas will be expanded to cover the breadth of what local authorities do, and the initial metrics will be improved over time,” Gove explained.
Identify potential financial failure
Gove stated that whilst Oflog has been established to “recognise and celebrate” local government, it has also been created to help identify local authorities “at risk of potential failure”.
Talking about the launch of Oflog at the LGA event, Gove stated that one of the focuses of the body will be to identify potential financial problems in local government earlier.
He stated that the government “needs to be able to better respond to early warning signs of financial failure” and “where government intervention is needed, we must be able to take targeted action”.
The Oflog policy paper highlighted that the government has had to “intervene in an increasing number of local authorities” in recent years, with the most current example being Woking Borough Council.
The paper stated that: “Due to the impact these have and the fact that they are often avoidable, we cannot simply stand by without doing something to address them.
“As a department, we are addressing these instances of failure as well as taking additional steps to introduce greater accountability of local government.”
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Ensure checks and balances on devolution
In his policy statement, Gove also stated that Oflog will consider performance in areas with devolution deals so that it can reflect on their progress.
“The government believes that giving local leaders increased freedoms creates improved outcomes, but we have heard from colleagues that devolution needs to be matched with accountability.
“Given the scale of ambition of our devolution programme, it is right that we have the appropriate checks and balances in the system,” he added.
‘Not a resurrection of the Audit Commission’
However, DLUHC stressed that Oflog will not set targets or “conduct burdensome area assessments”. “This is not about re-creating the Audit Commission,” the policy statement said.
“The Audit Commission was regulating, micromanaging, and inspecting local councils forcing them to spend time ticking boxes and filling in forms rather than getting on with the business of local government.
“In doing so, it was hindering local transparency and scrutiny,” the policy statement continued.
The department stated that Oflog will not add new responsibilities onto local government or seek to establish “an expensive compliance regime, thereby safeguarding the principle of democratic accountability”.
At the LGA’s Annual Conference, Gove did promise to take “concrete action” on reforming the external auditing system in response to the current backlog in local authority audits.
Best Value Standards consultation
Alongside the establishment of Oflog, DLUHC has also launched a consultation into new statutory guidance on what constitutes “Best Value Duty” to “give greater clarity to local authorities – and help to identify potential failures”.
Gove said: “This new guidance sets out seven themes of good practice for running an authority to secure continuous improvement and provide value for money. These include the characteristics of a well-functioning local authority and those used to identify challenges that could indicate failure.”
The guidance also sets out the available models of statutory and non-statutory intervention when standards are not upheld. This consultation will end on 15 August 2023.
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