The advent of the digital age has brought with it a wealth of data touching on almost every aspect of our lives.

The MJ and Capita convened a panel of sector experts for a round table discussion of the implications of data for local government, both in terms of its challenges, and also the opportunities to improve service delivery.

As one of the delegates enthused: ‘Give someone enough data and they can change the world.' But there was general agreement the local government sector has only just begun to scratch the surface of realising the full potential offered by exploiting the data at its disposal.

‘For some, the benefits of data are only beginning to be faced,' said one delegate.

‘We don't realise the amount of data we have and what we could do with it,' said another. ‘We have the data already, we just need to mine it.'

For others, it is about the application of the data that is still found wanting: ‘I'm not sure we always make best use of the data available. We need to think more broadly than just the data we collect. There's a context and story. Moving from analysing data to using it to make assessments is quite an uptick in scale.'

One of the other attendees in the room agreed: ‘For some of the data, without context, it is meaningless. Where it seems to be now is grasping data that's easy to collect but not very useful. We are seeing a transition from data used to measure performance to data used to predict the future. For example, people on the cusp of homelessness, on the cusp of debt, on the cusp of care. Data analysis in this context is incredibly powerful and changes the game for everyone.' A third participant added: ‘It's a changing space and we haven't cracked it yet.'

There are other pitfalls that have been encountered by the participants. One told the room: ‘The sector is generally getting more savvy and realising they have got to invest. But quite often people go chasing data to confirm something they have already decided on.'

Another pointed out pooling of data as a resource was key. ‘We have not been good at sharing information – there are lots of opportunities to do better.'

Describing the situation in their own authorities, there was a varied picture of progress.

One said: ‘You can generate data to your heart's content, but what do you do with it? Much of the data we have been generating has been shaping what we have been doing with businesses. Its usefulness is only what we then do with it.

‘There's a bottom line all the time with politicians – we are now able to give a reason why we are investing in something. The way to carry people is to help them appreciate what we are trying to do.'

Another had also seen success in persuading elected members of the potential benefits of using data: ‘At that level they get it, we have won that argument. It's just now rolling it out as fast as we can.

‘You start to win people over when they see how it works, when they start seeing the benefits and how it can work for them.

‘Taking data and turning it into insight has been slow, but it feels like we are starting to make progress. We are able to make informed decisions based on data and work in a more effective way.'

A fellow delegate said: ‘We use data all the time, our members want to see it.

‘There are a lot of opportunities around prevention and signposting people to help. We can reach out proactively and help people avoid becoming homeless, for example. The difference is huge.'

One participant said: ‘It's about maximising the efficiency and effectiveness of an organisation and making sure our executive can make evidence-based decisions.'

Another added of their elected members: ‘There was a tipping point, but I'm not fully sure they know what they are sold on. There's a real education piece to do here.'

Attendees said key barriers had been turning around a culture that had initially been reluctant to explore data, and a lack of resources available to turn will into actions.

‘We don't invest anywhere near enough in R&D [research and development] – we are barely able to plan beyond a 12-month horizon.

‘We've seen limited successes so far, but I don't think we've cracked the issue of data still.'

Another highlighted diversity of systems as ‘a big problem' in sharing data between organisations and even between departments within the same authority, and ‘multiple data protection gateways' to be negotiated.

This stood in contrast to a few years ago, when the sector found itself in the midst of the Covid pandemic. One of the participants said: ‘The watershed moment was the pandemic. We started sharing information because we had to. We had to support people we didn't even know existed. Now the pandemic is over, the quagmire of legislation starts.'

One of the delegates ruefully recalled the Government's approach little more than a decade ago appeared to be ‘you can do whatever legislation doesn't prevent you from doing'.

There was wide discussion in the room on the Office of Local Government or Oflog, the new data-gathering unit formed by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

At this year's Local Government Association conference, levelling up secretary Michael Gove announced the launch of Oflog with a remit ‘to work with local leaders, citizens and sector experts to establish a body to focus on local data, transparency and outcomes.' Critics say Oflog is a return to Whitehall monitoring and the Audit Commission with its league tables. Supporters say local government needs to vastly improve its use of understanding data to improve performance.

One of the round table delegates said: ‘At face value, who could argue against it? Concerns would be about who's running the show, is there sufficient independence?' Another added: ‘It's about them keeping an eye on us, not making things transparent for residents. It becomes about who puts on the best show, creating a whole new industry.'

One of the delegates observed: ‘A key challenge for Oflog will be to develop a regime that moves away from outputs to outcomes. This will respect and support the doctrine that priorities are set locally while serving as a useful mechanism that holds town halls to account on how good they are at achieving them. Given the vital role data has in driving life-changing outcomes for communities, perhaps Oflog should be measuring how digitally mature authorities are, rather than falling into the trap of focusing solely on the things that are easy to measure.'

One of the participants questioned whether Oflog would survive a new Government coming to power. They added: ‘How much do we put into it, given there's a change coming?'

Round table participants

Liam Hornsby, associate director of customer and corporate services, Watford BC

Daniel Mouawad, chief executive, Spelthorne BC

Stacey Palmer, organisational performance leader, Norfolk CC

Angela Woodhouse, director of strategy, insight and governance, Maidstone BC

Simon Wynn, director of insight and analytics, Norfolk CC

Andrew Foster, regional managing director and client partner, Capita

Paul Marinko, deputy editor, The MJ (chair)

Martin Ford, reporter, The MJ