Agenda item

The Chairman invited Cllr Neil Prior, Ian Carbutt - Programme Manager LG Inform and Juliet Whitworth – Research and Information Manager, to introduce the report.

Cllr Prior said that use of LG Inform had increase 9-fold since the start of April as councils had accessed data and reports showing the impact of Covid-19 in their local area. He said that he was keen to receive feedback from Board members on plans to introduce an LG Inform App to try and improve the user experience.

Ian reminded members of the range of data available on LG Inform and gave a demonstration of how best to access this from the website.

Juliet described the plans for further developing LG Inform in 2021-22 to improve accessibility. These included:

·       Producing more ready-made reports, for example on EDI and planning, to bring more users to LG Inform.

·       Raising the profile of LG Inform through targeted promotional activity.

·       Improving accessibility though a new LG Inform App to reflect the trend towards greater use of portable devices.

Juliet then ran through the proposed timelines for introducing these plans:

·       Consulting with local authorities in the new year about what reports they would like to see added to LG Inform.

·       Developing a communication strategy to promote LG Inform.

·       During the first quarter of 2021-22, conducting a review of user needs and technology for an App and developing a proof of concept and, if successful, a full App during the rest of the financial year.

Following the introduction, there was a discussion during which members raised the following points:

·       Members were supportive of developing an App to improve ease of access to the wealth of data on LG Inform but considered that the current desktop platform should also be retained.

·       It was suggested that many councillors were either not aware of LG Inform or the wide range of information contained in it. Could officers therefore demonstrate LG Inform at Leadership Essentials courses? Ian said that he had led sessions at the Leadership Academy but would explore the possibility of expanding this. He also flagged up the 10 webinar sessions per month on LG Inform that members could sign up to.

·       Was the data on LG Inform able to take account of council reorganisations and boundary changes? Juliet said that data was adjusted to take account of this where possible and any anomalies were flagged up.

·       Some members felt that relevant comparative data between particular councils was not that easy to access and asked whether that could be improved. Ian responded that the App would simplify this considerably.

Decision:

·       Improvement & Innovation Board noted the update on LG Inform and endorsed the proposed plan for future development.