Newsletter, May 2017 No Images? Click here Hi there, In this month's newsletter, you can find:
Powers & Duties and Records Retention guidance updatedWe are pleased to report that, with the support of Kent County Council’s legal team, we have completed our update to our Powers & Duties and Records Retention tools. Records Retention is helping organisations 'work smarter', saving time and money in complying with Section 12 of the Lord Chancellor's Code of Practice. We recently conducted an annual review of the guidance which has now been released, including
As many records an authority keeps relate to the services it provides, we've also reviewed Powers & Duties to add and update the latest changes in legislation. We've added guidance related to Acts of Parliament from 2016 and introduced new services to the Local Government Services List (LGSL) including counter-terrorism, early intervention schemes for those at risk of radicalisation and corporate governance. We've outlined the key changes below.
There are over 350 powers and duties listed which are associated with fire authorities, with over 100 records specifically related to their activities e.g. attending fires, fire safety checks, water supplies, etc. By filtering the list in the online tool, those duties and powers which relate to fire authorities can be seen. Information is a key resource for organisations, making up its operational history and providing strategic insight. Good information governance can save local authorities significant amounts of time when trying to find historic records, and it can also save them from hefty fines for non-compliance. Visit Records Retention and Powers & Duties to look through the new guidance, and let us know if you have any questions about reviewing your own retention schedules. Ward packs for elected and prospective councillorsNow the local elections have been held, councils across the country will be welcoming new councillors to their wards alongside re-elected members. We reported in 2015 how Breckland and South Holland district councils had prepared information packs for councillors, and this year project officers at the Isle of Wight have also created packs with LG Inform Plus (LGIP). The packs contain various statistics regarding key local topics such as health, crime, school attainment, population, etc. which help councillors understand the particular issues that may face an individual ward – click here for an example. Dave Martin, Senior Project Officer at Isle of Wight, told us that they had produced similar packs in 2013 for each of the island's 39 wards, but at that time statistics 'had to be gathered from a plethora of data sources', which was extremely time-consuming. This year they decided to use LG Inform Plus to create the packs, which 'allowed [them] to look at what some other local authorities had done and adapt their work. [Their] final product was as effective as [their] previous effort but took considerably less effort.' Dave and his team were also able to make use of Natural Neighbourhoods to make comparisons between the authority's 6 ward clusters. 'It was incredibly easy to set up these clusters within LGIP and, once set up, it meant that [we] effectively just ran the same report 39 times,' said Dave. 'Using any other method at our disposal would have led to us having to put together 39 individual reports, which given our ever-increasing workload and ever-reducing workforce was not something we were looking forward to. The text token functionality was also invaluable.' If you'd like help putting together information packs or building custom areas on LG Inform Plus, get in touch with the support team who'll point you in the right direction. LG Inform Benchmarking Club – Q4 now open, with new metrics added!The LG Inform Benchmarking Club is now open for 2016–17 Quarter 4 submissions. Alongside the normal metrics in the benchmarking exercise, we're collecting data for new metrics for you to report on in LG Inform. Included in those are four dirty words – litter, fly-posting, graffiti and detritus – and collecting data about the levels of these in your area could help clean up the streets. If you're interested in using data to improve local services and would like to join the club, get in touch with us to take part. More information about the new metrics, and details on how to suggest your own, can be found on on our dedicated Benchmarking pages. New data from Local Government Workforce SurveyThe LGA runs an annual Workforce survey, typically completed by heads of human resources, which provides the LGA and councils with valuable information on key elements of the workforce within councils. For 2017, we have made a change to the way in which some data are collected. The change has been made in an attempt to reduce the current time lag in publication. We will now be collecting some of the data as part of our LG Inform Benchmarking Club. For more details please see this news article. Training and eventsLearn how to use LG Inform and LG Inform Plus with a live demonstration from the comfort of your desk. We'll take you through the most popular features of both tools and there's also opportunity to ask questions. They're a great way to refresh your knowledge, and for more information or to book your place, visit our Online Training pages. If you'd prefer a more in-depth and hands-on training session, book a place on one of the dates below.
As ever, 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. |