Councils cry foul after Oflog data used for Times article on ‘worst-performing councils’
The Local Government Association has written to the Levelling Up Secretary, Michael Gove, to express concerns about how data held by the Office for Local Government (Oflog) was used by The Times to compile a league table of what the newspaper claimed were England’s ‘worst-performing councils’.
The article, Worst-performing councils in England revealed — where does yours rank?, claimed that the statistics “expose huge variations in public sector efficiency across the country”.
In a letter to Gove and Oflog chief executive Josh Goodman, Cllr Shaun Davies, Chairman of the LGA, said he had “significant concerns about what this has demonstrated to councils and their leaders about the role of Oflog, underpinned by the lack of progress made in establishing Oflog as an independent body”.
Cllr Davies said: “All political groups and politicians at the Local Government Association have, since the inception of Oflog, been constructive in our approach whilst also highlighting our concerns about the currency of data, choice of metrics and the potential for data to be used in a way which is not helpful in providing the public with an accurate picture of the state of local government. We have been working closely with Oflog to seek to ensure that our work is complementary and not duplicative.
“I do not want to be labelled as a Cassandra figure, but our warnings about the use of data and Oflog’s ability to advise and brief the media about what the data does and doesn’t show have now come to pass. The fact that this happened during the pre-election period when the ability for councils to adequately respond is curtailed has made this situation worse.”
Cllr Davies said that while he appreciated that the league table was compiled by a media organisation, the LGA was “very concerned that neither Oflog, nor DLUHC, stepped in swiftly to correct inaccuracies and misleading content”.
He claimed amongst other things that the method used by The Times to compile these indicators into a league table was “fundamentally flawed”. He wrote: "For example, awarding average scores to councils who don't deliver a particular service automatically rates them higher than half of the councils that do deliver those services."
Cllr Davies also suggested that “significant nuances” were missed by the league table approach.
He added: “Oflog have consistently said that data should be used to ask questions and not to make judgements, and to use data to explore whether there are valid reasons for differences in performance, such as taking different approaches to the provision of services or recording of data or because of differences in local areas.”
Cllr Davies said councils took legitimate policy decisions which were not necessarily reflected in the data, and pointed out that Oflog’s data does not always include the most recent information.
He added: “Ultimately, it’s important to compare councils which are comparable to each other in terms of their characteristics, for example using relevant benchmarking groups which take into account differences like demographics, deprivation, or whether a council has its own social housing.”
Cllr Davies said: “I know that many of these issues are ones for The Times, but the question LGA Vice-Chairs and I are being asked is ‘What is Oflog doing to explain the limits of the data it publishes and how this should be used responsibly?’ And a question for you is how can we now rebuild the trust and confidence of the sector?”
The LGA chair called for an urgent meeting between DLUHC, Oflog and the LGA
Cllr Davies’ letter was co-signed by LGA Senior Vice Chairman Cllr Kevin Bentley and LGA Vice Chairs Cllr Nesil Caliskan, Cllr Joe Harris and Cllr Marianne Overton.
DLUHC, Oflog and The Times have been approached for comment.