Councils risk making decisions based on inaccurate information, warns Audit Wales chief

Councils in Wales risk making decisions based on inaccurate information, according to a new report by The Auditor General for Wales – Use of performance information: service user perspectives and outcomes.

The report identifies that councils provide “limited information” to help senior leaders understand the views of service users and the outcomes which councils achieve. This makes it “difficult” to see whether councils know if they are meeting the needs of their local communities and achieving value for money in the work they do.

The review focuses on the performance information which is provided to senior leaders, and whether this helps them to understand the perspectives of service users and the outcomes of council activities. The review was undertaken at all 22 councils in Wales, with the aim of identifying if this process helped councils manage their performance effectively.

Because findings from the review were broadly similar across most councils, the Auditor General for Wales has issued variations of three recommendations to most of them, centring on “strengthening the performance information on the perspective of service users and outcomes, as well as strengthening data quality arrangements.”

Performance information not helping to answer key questions

While a few councils put service user performance information at the heart of their performance reporting, most included “very little performance information” to help senior leaders understand the perspectives of service users. Performance reports tended not to provide an evaluation on the key impacts of council activities, thus not answering key questions like what difference the outcomes made to the local community and whether the outcome was in line with the objectives of the council and what they were looking to achieve.

The report goes on to add that without understanding the key information, a council “may not be using its resources economically, efficiently and effectively (value for money).”

Limited arrangements in place to check the accuracy of performance information

Few councils were able to demonstrate that they had “routine and robust arrangements” to check the underlying accuracy of any service user data and outcomes data which they reported. While most councils sense checked data before it was reported and queried where anomalies were noted, where performance remained the same, councils did not necessarily check the data accuracy, which “may have been wrong for some time.”

Since councils use this data to shape their decisions about how to use their resources, the Auditor General for Wales argues that “there is a risk that councils may be making decisions based on inaccurate information.”

Wider implications for councils and the Welsh Government

The findings of the Auditor General for Wales raise “fundamental questions” about the effectiveness of the performance management arrangements, according to the report. It states that councils “would be unlikely to replicate the information they report now,” if they were to newly determine what performance information they need to understand the needs of service users and the outcomes of their activities.

The report subsequently recommends that councils build their objectives from scratch and develop performance indicators to help councils understand if they are meeting their key objectives. This would also help the Welsh Government better understand council performance.

Jack Bower, ICAEW Public Sector Audit and Assurance Manager, comments: “It is disappointing that many councils in Wales are not utilising performance information sufficiently to assist senior leaders in making key decisions which impact the local communities they serve. At a time of significant pressure on public finances, such information is vital to show that a council is achieving value for money and positive outcomes in the decisions they make.

Councils should ensure that their performance information goes beyond focusing on purely what they have achieved, by evaluating the impacts of their activities to ensure resources are being used economically, efficiently and effectively.”

You can read the full report here.