Oflog to publish reports on at-risk councils

The Office for Local Government (Oflog) will publish reports on councils as part of its 'early warning system' aimed at spotting failing local authorities.

In a letter responding to questions asked by the Levelling Up, Housing & Communities Committee, Local Government Minister Simon Hoare MP and Oflog’s interim chair Lord Morse noted that the early warning system would have two parts.

Firstly, it will have a new internal desk-based early warning system using qualitative and quantitative data along with soft intelligence, to identify councils and combined authorities potentially at risk of developing serious problems of leadership, governance or culture.

Secondly, it will carry out a set of 'early warning conversations' with some councils and combined authorities identified as potentially  at-risk.

These conversations will establish the type and degree of risk, and allow Oflog to make recommendations for improvement, Lord Morse said.

Oflog plans for the first of these conversations to take place in mid-2024.

As part of this, it will publish a report setting out the evidence, conclusions and recommendations to the local authority.

The system will make it easier for Government to identify authorities that have financial problems but not flagged them to central Government.

Lord Morse emphasised that Oflog will "not be making any judgement about the necessity of formal intervention," which he said is the responsibility of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the Best Value Framework.

Oflog will begin a recruitment process for a permanent chair this month, ahead of Lord Morse's exit on 25 July 2024, the letter added.

Oflog was launched in July of this year with the strategic objectives to "empower citizens" with data about their council, increase local leaders' and councils' understanding of their performance, and increase central Government's understanding of local government performance.

Adam Carey