Hi there,

It's safe to say that autumn is in full swing now, which could mean more time spent indoors...giving you plenty of time to explore both sites and datasets! If you've started receiving the newsletter recently, you may not have seen the recent updates to LG Inform Plus. Please click here for a PDF detailing the developments. 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.

5 top tips to make the most of LG Inform & LG Inform Plus

We've been welcoming a lot of new people to the tools recently and you've been exploring the sites and their capabilities. With powerful reporting tools there's always lots to take onboard, so here's our 5 top tips to help you make the most of what's on offer.

1. Get started with LG Inform

Researching your authority's performance data through maps, charts and tables is easy with LG Inform. If you've just started, there's a few guides to help you along your way on the LG Inform help pages, and there's additional tips and presentations in our group on KHub (sign-in req'd).

2. Get started with LG Inform Plus

Now you've taken a look at authority-level data, you might want to discover the determinants for certain indicators at a local level. LG Inform Plus has lots of data at ward-level and below, and there's a useful guide to help you start exploring. You can find it here, and there's lots more step-by-step guides on the dedicated help site.

3. Tell a colleague about the tools

If someone has recently joined or a member of your team doesn't know about the tools, scroll down to the bottom of this message and forward the newsletter to them. If they'd like to sign up to receive the newsletter, they can do so at http://e-sd.org/URswU, and you can read previous newsletters here.

4. Get in touch with the support team

Got a query about the tools? Wondering how to use the more advanced features? If you need help using LG Inform and LG Inform Plus, there's a support team ready to help you from Monday to Friday between 9 a.m. and 5.30 p.m. You can reach them on support@esd.org.uk and there's no question too small.

5. Attend a training day

Take a hands-on approach and learn how to use the tools from the programme managers. We often run training days in different parts of the country but if you can't find one near you, let us know and we may be able to host one at your authority.

iNetwork Innovation Awards

We'd like to thank everyone who voted for us in the iStandUK category of the iNetwork Innovation Awards for our Standards work. We're delighted to say that we've been shortlisted as one of the finalists! We're truly grateful for your support.

Local benchmarking in LG Inform

The Benchmarking Club is now collecting data for Q2 2016–17 and you've got until 10 November to submit data. For more information, and to view the 2016–17 Q1 summary reports, please visit the dedicated Benchmarking Club page. For any questions about our benchmarking work, please contact us via email.

Training and events

Make sure you don't miss out on our remaining training days for 2016 as they've been very busy recently. You can book your place using the links below.

• Tuesday 29 November, LG Inform & LG Inform Plus training, Swale

We're putting together details for an LG Inform Plus training day in Bexley towards the end of November and early December. If you'd like to come along, please register your interest with us via email and we'll send more details once the day is finalised.