Making our data come to life

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tableauHere at Audit Scotland we’ve been thinking about different ways to present our findings and data. The way people access information through the internet is changing, with greater use of attractive features. We wanted to bring some of these to our own work to make our information more interactive, engaging and accessible.

A perfect opportunity arose through our recent Major Capital Investment in Councils report. As part of the audit we had asked councils for information on all their capital investment projects over £5 million. We had also compiled information from the external auditors and the annual accounts on how these infrastructure projects are funded.

We used the data to give a Scotland-wide view, but there was a lot of extra material that wasn’t used in the report on specific  projects and individual councils’ funding methods which we thought others might find useful and interesting. There was a lot of interest in it when we presented the report’s findings to the 7th Annual Scottish Capital Investment and Infrastructure Conference. So we opted for the data analysis and visualisation software Tableau to create an interactive exhibit on our website – you can have a look at it here. The exhibit is made up of four dashboards that visitors drill deeper into the numbers in the report such as by clicking on council on the map or else the categories in the graphs.

What we found is that the interactivity highlights data and trends that might be missed in a big table of information. Not only does the software make data look great it also does the analysis quicker than what we have done in the past. We are now thinking of whether Tableau could be used to help us scope our performance audits.

We hope this gives people a better understanding of how the public pound is spent in Scotland. And it may help councils and other public bodies make useful comparisons and help sharing of best practice.

This is the first time Audit Scotland has tried a new output like this so it wasn’t without its challenges. As with all our work it is important that the information we present is accurate and because of the level of detail in the exhibit compared to the report we agreed the factual accuracy with all councils before publishing the exhibit.

We’re looking at other ways we might develop this format so it would be great to hear your feedback.

About the author

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Ashleigh Madjitey is an Audit Officer in Audit Scotland’s Performance Audit & Best Value group. She was part of the audit team on the Major Capital Investment in Councils report and has also audited Argyll & Bute Council and broadband infrastructure investment.

 

Exploring the scale of the challenge facing Scotland’s councils

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In our 2015 overview report on local government in Scotland, we said: ‘Councils tell us that they should manage budgetary pressures in 2015/16 but the years beyond pose a level of challenge not previously experienced.’

The Commission recognises the achievement of councils – both councillors and officers – in meeting these challenges to date.

What we say in this year’s overview is that the scale of the challenge in 2016/17 and beyond has significantly increased because of the local government funding settlement. This has substantial implications for services to the public, councillors and the local government workforce.

Next year councils and health boards, through health and social care partnerships, jointly have the responsibility to make a significant start in the shift from hospital care to care at home and care in the community. This is the most far-reaching public service reform since the establishment of the Scottish Parliament.

nr_160317_local_government_overview_cover And these challenges are compounded by: a one-year financial settlement, cost pressures and increasing demands on services from an ageing and growing population. The majority of our recent Best Value audits have highlighted a dependency on incremental changes to services, increasing charges and reducing employee numbers in order to make savings. But these are neither sufficient nor sustainable solutions set against the scale of the challenge facing councils. Cuts can only be part of the solution. What’s required is a more strategic approach, longer-term planning and a greater openness to alternative forms of service delivery.

It’s challenging for councillors and officers to fundamentally change the way a council has provided a service over a lengthy period of time. But there are significant consequences to not conducting comprehensive option appraisals: services may not be as efficient or effective as they could be and may not be achieving value for money, and resources may not be directed to priority areas such as preventative services. In considering all viable options, it’ll be essential that councillors are provided with comprehensive and objective information on the cost, benefits and risks of each option. Comparisons with other councils can be illuminating – for example in managing sickness absence. If all councils matched the best performers, there would be an equivalent gain of 200 teachers and 700 other council staff across the country.

Councils will need to ensure they have people with the necessary knowledge and skills to manage the changes that lie ahead, particularly in options appraisal, programme management, commissioning, finance and scrutiny.

And in a climate of reducing resources the importance of scrutiny has never been greater. Scrutiny arrangements must add demonstrable value in monitoring the planning, execution and follow-up of key decisions. The public needs to have confidence that their council’s arrangements are transparent, independent and effective. If they are not, the public interest is not being met.

The Commission hopes this report will be a helpful tool for councillors and officers, and as always, we welcome feedback

About the author

AuditScotland_P_001Douglas Sinclair is chair of the Accounts Commission for a term of office until 30 November 2017. He has held the position of Chief Executive in district, regional and unitary councils in Scotland, as well as being former Chief Executive of COSLA.

Planning for place: bringing together community planning and spatial planning

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Everyone knows that where you live has a major impact on your life chances, and that disadvantage is concentrated in particular geographies.

Charles Booth’s famous poverty maps of London were prepared in 1889. In Scotland, we’ve had decades of high quality research by places like the Glasgow Centre for Population Health (GCPH) into the impact that Glasgow’s industrial heritage and clusters of poverty and deprivation have on peoples’ health and life chances.

This is important information, affecting individuals and communities day in and day out across Scotland. Tackling the root causes of what drives these cycles of deprivation and poor outcomes is one of the country’s most pressing problems if it wants to create a fair and just society.

That’s why the Improvement Service ran a recent conference exploring the links between community planning – public bodies working with communities to improve their local area – and spatial planning, which has traditionally been about buildings and infrastructure. The conclusion from the event was that while these two activities have lots in common they’ve traditionally worked quite separately from each other.

nr_160303_community_planningAs budgets reduce that’s just not sustainable, and in the context of the Community Empowerment legislation, local people need to have more of a say in how their area should be developed and improved. We echoed that message in our third update report on Community Planning in Scotland, recommending that the Scottish Government and CPPs ensure communities are given a strong voice in planning local services.

David Martin, Chief Executive of Dundee City Council, and Colin Mair, Chief Executive of the Improvement Service, didn’t shy away from challenging planners of every stripe to really push the envelope and be ambitious in working together to address shared concerns around Jobs, Community Safety, Health and Well-being.

For me, it was a lightbulb moment. Obviously councils need local development plans. They also need a Single Outcome Agreement and locality plans, plus lots of other plans and strategies but streamlining and aligning activity has to make sense. So does making better use of the shared intelligence that community planners and spatial planners have about the needs and concerns of local communities.

Some places, like East Ayrshire already do this. They use their Community Plan as the sovereign document which drives everything that they do (including their work with partners). But for many at the conference there was a sense that this is a journey that they’ve yet to really embark on.

It won’t be easy. Community planning and spatial planning operate under different and at times potentially contradictory legislation and they have different cultures and perspectives. But, what was exciting was the strong commitment to try and work through those challenges to focus on what really matters, improving the lives of local people, and reducing inequalities.

About the author

aclarkAntony Clark, Assistant Director, held a variety of public sector posts in England before joining Audit Scotland in 2003. Since then he’s developed the Accounts Commission’s Best Value 2 audit approach in local government, led on Audit Scotland’s work on community planning and managed a national programme of Best Value audits in fire and rescue. Continue reading Planning for place: bringing together community planning and spatial planning