How LG Inform brings it to life
The Government published the first full Local Outcomes Framework (LOF) for England in February, setting out how ministers see central and local government working together to understand and improve outcomes for communities.
The framework also recognises that local government, as leaders of place, work in partnership with other local bodies, residents and service users to deliver local outcomes.
It sets out 16 national priority outcomes – across services including social care, housing, transport, the environment and economic prosperity – along with a set of metrics government will use to assess progress in every local authority area.
The Government’s stated aim is to ensure that national and local government measures success through the same lens.
The framework includes a set of principles for its use.
These include setting out how government will use the framework to understand local progress on national priority outcomes, highlight success, and target improvement support or challenge.
Departments will set expectations for delivery and outline how councils and partners will be supported and held accountable, with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government overseeing outcomes across each area.
Where data shows poor or declining results, government will work with councils to diagnose root causes and take appropriate action, from improvement support to enhanced oversight.
Councils are expected to use the framework to: monitor progress; inform strategic decisions; support self-assessment, benchmarking and sector-led improvement; and strengthen collaboration with local partners.
The framework can also support conversations between central and local government on the challenges and opportunities facing local partners in delivering improved outcomes.
While the LGA welcomes the ambition behind the framework, several key concerns remain.
Local accountability must come first: councils are primarily accountable to residents and businesses. Local priorities – shaped through democratic decision making – may not neatly match the LOF’s national outcomes.
Many of the LOF outcomes rely on systems beyond local authority control, meaning that councils cannot be solely held accountable for their delivery.
The LGA has consistently emphasised that delivery of outcomes depends on sustainable, long-term funding. Any assessment of performance must take into account local democratic choices and resource constraints.
Finally, we believe that cross-government alignment is essential. Councils face multiple frameworks from different central departments. The LOF must be aligned across government to reduce duplication and create coherent expectations.
The Government has plans to develop an official digital tool that contains the new set of metrics. However, the LGA’s Research Team has already taken action.
All available LOF metrics have been incorporated into our own data tool, LG Inform, thereby enabling councils to explore the data for their area immediately.
The new ‘LG Inform LOF Report’ allows councils to monitor and report against the framework, if they choose.
They can also see their performance as compared with other similar councils.
You can check your own council’s data, by selecting your authority at the top of the report.