Reporting performance

Information presented to councillors, managers and the public influences their decisions. All performance reporting should help answer the question ‘What do I need to know to make sure things get better?’

Instead of reporting large volumes of data, successful councils build hierarchies of performance information that provide a balanced view of performance and are accessible to their specific audience – managers, directors and councillors, partners, the public and other stakeholders.

Performance reporting needs to be tailored for the information user. For example, a relatively small number of key indicators – 20 to 30 – are likely to be reported regularly to the senior management team and executive. These will be supported by a commentary that explains the information and tells a story. For other indicators, there may be traffic-light reporting (usually visual markers like colour or symbols to show where there has been underachievement or when a target is at risk of not being met) or exception reporting, when measures are reported only if performance differs from an expected standard. This can help to ensure that any problems are addressed early.

You need to agree the standards that trigger highlighting or inclusion in an exception report during the performance planning process and you will probably want to set tolerances for reporting. That is, understanding when under-performance becomes a problem that requires additional action and when, if ever, performance simply needs to be observed. Tolerances may be based on a variety of measures – for example, two reporting periods of declining performance; a cost overrun of a certain amount; measured performance declining by a certain percentage or falling in relation to other authorities’ performance. The appropriate trigger will depend on the type of service and measure.

The tolerance might be set very tightly, reporting under-performance for any decline in important areas, or more loosely, where variation is expected or does not pose a major risk to the council’s overarching priorities. In some areas, performance may dip due to seasonal or other types of variation, and you will need to adjust tolerances accordingly. For example, you may not want to report a decline in visitors to the outdoor pool in January!

Smart reporting

Simply reporting performance can’t explain success or failure. In some cases, extra analysis is needed, perhaps using statistical or graphical presentation to understand the trend, the history and probable future direction of performance. Service managers and local authority staff who collect performance information have a responsibility to identify areas where additional analysis can help. Equally, senior managers and councillors have a responsibility to ask for and provide resources for additional analysis if necessary.

Key decision-makers need to ensure not only that they are receiving the right information but also that they have the right skills to understand and make use of it. Importantly, those who receive reports need to ask questions about the information they see. Questions about performance need to be robust and answers need to be honest. The atmosphere should be supportive, with an emphasis on looking for solutions rather than apportioning blame. This productive atmosphere depends less on measurement and more on people and culture. For more on this, see the People and performance section.

In practice

Derbyshire Dales District Council uses its performance reporting to help manage risks to achieving its priorities and targets. Regular reports include comparison with national best quartile, whether a service is on track to meet its target, and performance trends. Reporting for ‘on track’ services is less frequent, while ‘at risk’ services are reported on more frequently.

At Wandsworth Borough Council, councillors and top managers expect to see performance compared to other London boroughs. This is an important means of highlighting where performance needs to improve or where others might have good ideas.

In Hastings Borough Council, if performance dips, relevant indicators are hot-housed with more frequent reporting and a requirement for action plans to ensure attention is focused on improvement.

IT-supported reporting

Some local authorities have used IT-supported systems, developed in-house or from a commercial software company to help with collecting, organising and reporting performance measures at all levels. In councils with well-developed measurement frameworks, IT systems can eliminate multiple entry of the same data, reduce error, enhance ownership of indicators and facilitate faster, tailored reporting. But they will not do the job of managing performance.

In practice

The London Borough of Harrow, Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council and Hastings Borough Council have implemented a commercially-available performance management IT system to improve measurement, reporting and engagement. .

For more information:

• see the PMMI Review of Performance IImprovement Models and Tools,
• the PMMI IT performance monitoring guidance and
• Choosing the Right Fabric: A framework for Performance Information
• Digging deeper into performance reports - a checklist for councillors and others