The Office for Local Government (Oflog) is consulting the local government sector on a proposed corporate plan that more clearly defines the role of the organisation.
The plan has been published alongside a remit letter from secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities Michael Gove to Oflog chief executive Josh Goodman. In it, Gove states that while Oflog remains formally part of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) “for now”, it should “act with a spirit of independence”.
Gove’s remit letter and Oflog’s corporate plan state that the organisation has three key purposes: to increase understanding about data on the performance of local authorities, to warn when authorities are at risk of serious failure, and to support local government to improve itself.
The first role, ‘inform’, is based on the premise that it is “currently too difficult for most people to find and interpret data on how well a particular local authority is performing relative to its peers”. Strategic priorities in this area between April 2024 to March 2025 mostly relate to improving Oflog’s Local Authority Data Explorer tool.
The Data Explorer will aim to cover all the main services offered by local government by mid-2025, Oflog said, while providing a “considerably more exciting and insightful user experience than at present”.
The second purpose, ‘warn’, is necessary because of “a small but significant number of cases of serious failure of leadership, governance or culture in local authorities”. Strategic priorities for the next year are to develop a new early warning system to identify local authorities that are at risk of serious failure but have not raised the alarm themselves, and to conduct the first ‘early warning conversations’ with local authorities at risk.
Oflog said an early warning conversation would involve a team of reviewers with “significant experience of leadership and management in local government”, typically including a serving or recent chief executive, a section 151 officer, and the serving or recent leader of a different local authority. They would review key documentation and interview a range of local authority staff, members and partners, before setting out their findings and recommendations in a published report.
The third function, ‘support’, is based on feedback from local authorities who “worry they are missing opportunities for organisational improvement”. In particular, many have said “that they spend less time than they would like learning from other authorities, and that they are not making the best possible use of data to manage their authority”, according to Oflog.
Strategic priorities in this area include continuing a programme of webinars to share best practice, and to “establish and if possible implement strategies for how Oflog will go further to identify, celebrate and propagate good practice; help local authorities to use data in their management and governance; and work with local authorities and government departments to encourage the release of public sector data that helps local authorities to act as true leaders of places while reducing burdens where possible”.
What isn’t on the agenda
The corporate plan also makes it clear what Oflog will not do. The organisation does not have a mandate to lobby central government, parliament or political parties on how government should change policy on the “expectations, regulation or funding” of local government.
It will also not arbitrate in disagreements between a local authority and government about levels of funding for individual authorities, and will not conduct routine inspections, nor issue summary scores for a local authority, as the Audit Commission would have done.
Oflog also does not have powers to intervene in a local authority, in the manner of a regulator, with DLUHC retaining these powers.
Oflog will, however, be part of an expert panel created by government to advise it on financial sustainability in the sector. This panel will review councils’ productivity plans, as recently outlined by Gove.
DLUHC said it would monitor, through a regular Assurance Board, whether Oflog is on track in delivering its vision, purpose and objectives.
The consultation period for views on the draft Oflog Corporate Plan 2024 to 2027 closes on 14 March 2024.
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