Data Driven Decisions

People and organisations across the globe gather and analyse data to make more informed decisions - improving performance and helping to mitigate risk

It's no different for public sector finance professionals, especially local governments in the UK as they grapple with the impact of ten years of austerity, the COVID-19 pandemic and rising demand for services. Data can help in many ways.

It can not only help local leaders understand their past and their current position, but with forward-looking tools it can help plan for the future. Data helps local authorities better understand their place, and make decisions that improve societal outcomes for their diverse communities. It can also help with their own financial resilience, by getting under the skin of their costs.

How can CIPFA help?

CIPFA has long recognised the importance of data. For over 100 years, we have worked with local authorities to build the most comprehensive, independent source of data about local government and its services in the UK.

We are now undertaking an extensive transformation programme and will introduce a new cloud-based data management platform. This will give users the opportunity to both visualise and explore the wide range of data we hold. Our CIPFAstats+ product suite will be the first to go live on the new platform. Its capacity for producing visually compelling, actionable insights will be unprecedented.

Below you will find our full product range. Each element has been designed to help councils make sense of their current environment by providing the insight needed to make tough decisions on how financial and people resources are allocated, for the benefit of both their balance sheets and the people they serve.

We also offer CPD training on how to work effectively with data - the Certificate in Data Science. This flexible online course is delivered by and was developed in partnership with the Southampton Data Science Academy (SDSA) and requires just four hours of study a week.

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Improving outcomes for communities

Frontline services and their finances

Understanding the performance of frontline services is critical to identifying the best ways to reduce costs while maintaining service levels. Our CIPFAstats+ product suite offers invaluable insight into key areas, from education and social care through to housing services, culture, leisure and recreation, and waste management.

CIPFAstats encompasses our Value for Money Toolkit, which allows councils to compare their key performance indicators to similar authorities, and our Nearest Neighbours Model, which helps councils to assess who they should be benchmarking their organisation against.

Vulnerable people

Social care supports society's most vulnerable people. Yet it is a sector in crisis with ever-increasing demand, unmet need, rising costs and a fragile provider market. Our social care benchmarking service offers a framework for comparison to help councils focus on the future and scope out the challenges ahead.

Public libraries

Offering access to knowledge, culture and a range of community services, public libraries play a fundamental role in society. Each year CIPFA surveys public libraries across the UK to gather data on service costs and performance. The resulting annual reports provide invaluable insights to help inform modernisation and improvement strategies.