Hi there,

Following in the footsteps of last month's updates to LG Inform Plus, we're pleased to announce a range of updates to its sister programme, LG Inform. We're always interested to hear about your ideas for improving both the tools and would love to hear from you, so don't hesitate to get in touch by replying to this newsletter.

Summer updates to LG Inform

Over the course of the summer, the LG Inform team has received feedback from people regarding enhancements they'd like to see made to the tools. We've been working hard to deliver these and can happily announce the following new developments, which have been released alongside other features.

• Percentage change options: it's now possible to compare any two time periods, not just the immediately previous time period.
• Virtual metrics: create your own 'virtual' metric types in LG Inform by calculating rates and proportions live in reports.
• Embed reports: add public and private reports of any size to your authority's website or in Khub posts.
• Basic outliers report: show metric types for which your authority is an exception to others, choosing your own basket of metrics and comparison group.
• Text token editor: save time typing out names and figures by using dynamic text tokens in your report's narrative, previously only available in LG Inform Plus.
• Automatic data reference: show which metric types you've used to build your report with links to the source organisation.
• Copy and convert components: easily replicate components from other reports and convert them into other formats (maps, tables and charts).
• Predominance maps: displays the leading metric type from a group of metrics, e.g. the age group with the largest proportion in your authority.

For more details and examples of the recent developments, please see the update paper. If you have any suggestions for enhancements, send them over to the LG Inform team at lginform@local.gov.uk.

Benchmarking Club results: 2016/17 Q1

Thanks to those authorities that took the time to submit data for 2016/17 Q1 collection of LG Inform's benchmarking club. The final results are now live and you can see them in the tools now. (You'll need to be signed in to access the reports.)

You can also view the provisional rolling four quarters report. If you have not registered with LG Inform before, this is a quick, easy and free process and all the benchmarking information can be found here. Thank you again for all of your support, we hope that you continue to find these reports useful.

Announcing GOV.UK Verify pilot – invitation to collaborate

The new identity verification service, GOV.UK Verify, from the Government Digital Service (GDS) is looking for local authorities to join its #VerifyLocal pilot. The pilot will focus on two services: online applications for older people's concessionary travel passes, and residents' parking permits. This blog outlines the commitments and resources that councils will need to participate in the first pilots, in addition to outlining what GDS will contribute.

Training and events

• Tuesday 27 September, LG Inform training, London
• Thursday 6 October, LG Inform & LG Inform Plus training, Wirral
• Friday 14 October, LG Inform Plus training, London
• Tuesday 29 November, LG Inform & LG Inform Plus training, Swale