Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the data released by the Office for Local Government in April concerning the performance statistics of councils across England.

The Department is committed to resetting the relationship between local and central government. As part of this, in September the Government announced it would review the remit of the Office for Local Government (Oflog), to ensure that it is adding the greatest possible value to the system of transparency, accountability and support of local government. No decisions on the appointment of its Chair will be taken until this process is complete.

The Department is clear that data alone is rarely enough to assess any local authority’s performance and often needs context through further investigation. Oflog’s Data Explorer presents published data from across government and carries a prominent warning that it should be used to generate questions and not reach judgements.