Benchmarking

Local Government Benchmark Framework

The Local Government Benchmarking Framework (Opens in a new window or downloads a file) (LGBF) brings together a wide range of information about how all Scottish councils perform in delivering better services to local communities.  The indicators used were selected to cover the major service areas of local authorities and provide information on cost, performance or achievement, and customer satisfaction.  New measures were introduced to the framework from 2019/20 to reflect the focus on Financial Sustainability and Climate Change.  You can explore the national benchmarking data by visiting mylocalcouncil (Opens in a new window or downloads a file)  or by accessing the external LGBF website.  A National report is also produced each year and is published below as they become available.

The LGBF Indicators Ranking Profile (454.6kB) (Opens in a new window or downloads a file) is provided for reference only.

LGBF National Benchmarking Reports

The information for all 32 Scottish Councils, including Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, has also been pulled together on a new national website. You can access this website by clicking on mylocalcouncil (Opens in a new window or downloads a file) or the icon below.

Benchmark Framework Website

Scottish Councils are working together in ‘family groups’ to report standard information on the services they provide to local communities across Scotland. This information covers how much councils spend on particular services and, where possible, service performance. The key point is that all the information provided is in a standard and therefore comparable form. 

Scottish Local Government Case Studies

On 17 March 2017, SOLACE Scotland and the Improvement Service launched a website bringing together information on many of the innovative projects being taken forward by Scottish local authorities in order to share good practice and improve service delivery.  The Improvement Service recently re-launched the IS website and have merged the innovative projects into this site and created a new Case Studies section. Visit the Improvement Service website to view all submitted case studies (Opens in a new window or downloads a file) by council or topic. 

Scottish Local Authorities Economic Development (SLAED) Indicators Framework

The SLAED Indicators Framework is a ‘basket’ of measures developed by SLAED with input from the Improvement Service and the Scottish Government.

The Framework is used by all Scottish Local Authority Economic Development services to provide a consistent basis for:

  • measuring the economic performance of Councils and highlighting the central role of economic outcomes in the SOA and the prevention agenda;
  • benchmarking comparative performance and identifying areas for potential improvement, where appropriate;
  • assisting and informing ongoing design and delivery of interventions, monitoring effectiveness and delivery towards the overall strategy; and
  • providing SLAED with aggregate data on overall levels of Council economic development activities and outputs.

To view the SLAED Strategic Plan 2022-25 and the SLAED Indicators Framework performance reports visit the Improvement Service Website (Opens in a new window or downloads a file)

Education

Insight is a benchmarking tool designed to help bring about improvements for learners in the senior phase (S4 to S6).  First released in September 2014, it is available to all teaching staff in secondary schools, local authorities, and Education Scotland to enable them to recognise areas of success, as well as identify where improvements can be made. Aspects of Insight have been used in the Parentzone Scotland website. The system is updated twice annually, around September for attainment results, and February for school leavers' data. It is particularly valuable to inform improvement planning, particularly following the February release, when key data for schools are updated. It provides schools with information about where a school is having the most success for pupils in the senior phase and where improvements can be made. View The Senior Phase Benchmarking tool (Opens in a new window or downloads a file).

Scotland’s Social Services

The Scottish Social Services Council (Opens in a new window or downloads a file) (SSSC) was approved by the Scottish Parliament as an Official Statistics provider in 2012.  Scottish Social Services Workforce Data is a unique, free to use, online resource providing the public with all the workforce data and reports that the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) publish on the social services sector in Scotland. 

Interactive Visualisation Tool (Opens in a new window or downloads a file)
Workforce Data reports (Opens in a new window or downloads a file)

Community Planning

The Outer Hebrides Community Planning Partnership has renewed its membership of the Scottish Community Safety Network (SCSN) (Opens in a new window or downloads a file). This facilitates self-evaluation and benchmarking.  SCSN is the national forum for officers who are responsible for the strategic development of community safety at both local and national level. Their website is for knowledge exchange among those working in the community safety field.

LEAMS

The Comhairle are part of the Local Environmental Audit and Management System (LEAMS), a Keep Scotland Beautiful (KSB) benchmarking group which offers independent, external monitoring to local authorities in order that they can establish levels of cleanliness in their areas and meet obligations under Best Value by: Establishing a base-line standard for street cleanliness; Providing a method of self-monitoring to assess continuous service improvement; Facilitating independent monitoring by neighbouring local authorities; KSB performing an annual independent validation audit; and Distributing and sharing best practice.  The latest Annual Review can be viewed on the Keep Scotland Beautiful website (Opens in a new window or downloads a file).

SCOTPHO

The Scottish Public Health Observatory (ScotPHO) has published a new version of their profiles tool.  This interactive tool provides access to a range of public health related indicators at different geographies including NHS boards, council areas and health and social care partnerships.  There are different ways to navigate around the tool: the profile summary allows you to look at multiple indicators within an area at the same time; the summary visualisation provides a one page summary of a local area; the trend and rank charts allow detailed exploration of one indicator at a time; and you can also choose multiple areas for benchmarking, by health board, council or even health and social care partnership.  The ScotPHO profiles tool can be accessed on the ScotPHO website (Opens in a new window or downloads a file).