Oflog to focus on spotting “warning signs” of governance and financial failure at councils

The new permanent chief executive of the Office for Local Government (Oflog), Josh Goodman. has said the watchdog will start out by searching for signs of governance and financial failures in local authorities.

In a letter to council chief executives, Goodman said the new body would also prioritise helping councils use data to improve.

Oflog was launched in July of this year with the strategic objectives to "empower citizens" with information about their council, increase local leaders' and councils' understanding of their performance, and increase central government's understanding of local government performance.

Its main function is to provide data and analysis about the performance of local government.

In his letter, Goodman said he wants to first focus on "two problems" in the sector: "First: the rate of serious governance and financial failures in local authorities is low, but it has increased. You have told us that you share our desire to ensure that warning signs of potential serious failure are spotted and addressed as early as possible.

"Second: many of you have told us that, even though your own local authority is performing well, you worry you are missing opportunities to make it even better. In particular, a number of you said that your organisation spends less time than you would like learning from other local authorities, and that you fear you are not making the best possible use of data."

To tackle the first problem, Goodman said Oflog wants to find ways to spot and address early warning signs of potential failure, but that its thinking on how to achieve this "is still developing".

Regarding the second problem, Goodman said the office will organise targeted webinars in the coming months, involving small groups of local authorities with similar characteristics to share experiences and approaches on delivering particular services.

In the longer term, Oflog wishes to offer "new analytical insights", reports on good practice and expert support to help councils use data to improve performance.

It also plans to continue to develop its 'data explorer' programme that allows for data comparisons between local authorities.

The data explorer, which was launched in July currently covers four service areas - waste management, adult social care, adult skills and finance.

Oflog said it intends to add another five services in the next tranche, with a view to covering more than 20 service areas in the future.

Goodman was named Oflog's permanent chief executive on Monday (30 October) after a period as interim chief executive starting in July 2023.

He has worked with local government in HM Treasury, the Department for Education and No 10 Downing Street, and most recently as Director for Social Housing in DLUHC.

Commenting on the appointment, Lee Rowley, Minister for Local Government, said: “I welcome this appointment and I am confident that Josh will drive local government to work as effectively as it possibly can.

“With a permanent chief executive now in place, Oflog will continue to foster accountability and transparency in the sector, so that residents can feel confident in their local leaders.”

Adam Carey