Case Study: Local Outcomes Framework Reporting Platform
Turning national outcomes data into accessible, repeatable performance intelligence for Bradford Council
Aims and objectives
The Government's new Local Outcomes Framework brings together measures that help councils understand how people and places are doing across areas such as health, housing, employment, children and families, and the environment.
Bradford Council wanted to make better use of this information. While the data were available nationally, council services needed an easier way to find the measures most relevant to their work, understand how Bradford compared with other areas, and use the information in routine reporting and decision-making.
The project aimed to make Local Outcomes Framework data more accessible, useful, relevant, and sustainable within the council. The objectives were to provide a clear view of key outcomes, support reporting and benchmarking, reduce manual reporting processes, and create tools that could be maintained and developed over time.
Project overview
HDRC Bradford worked with council colleagues to design and build a reporting platform based on Local Outcomes Framework data. The aim was to turn a large national dataset into information that staff could easily access and use.
The platform includes interactive dashboards, departmental reports, and benchmarking reports that compare Bradford with England and other local authorities. Measures were organised so that departments could focus on the outcomes most relevant to their responsibilities while also understanding wider district outcomes. To help departments focus on key measures, we created a ‘watch list’ of those metrics that were worse than the national average and getting worse, or better and improving.
Automated processes were also introduced to keep the information up to date and reduce the need for manual reporting.
Rather than simply creating a dashboard, the project established a shared reporting system that can support performance management, benchmarking, and evidence-informed decision-making across the council.
Impact
The project has made Local Outcomes Framework data easier to access, understand, and use across Bradford Council.
Services and senior leaders can now see key outcome measures in a consistent format, compare Bradford with other areas, and identify trends that may require further investigation. The platform also reduces the amount of time spent gathering data and producing reports, allowing more time for analysis and discussion.
The dashboards and reports have already been used to support reporting for senior leaders and departmental management teams. They provide a common evidence base that can be used across the organisation when discussing performance and priorities.
The project also demonstrates how HDRC can help translate national data resources into practical tools that support evidence-informed decision-making in local government.
Next steps
The dashboard was well received by the Council Management Team and is contributing to an increasing expectation for automated and interactive data reporting.
The next phase of the project will focus on helping more departments make use of the platform and gathering feedback from users.
Future development may include refining reports, improving how measures are organised and presented, strengthening benchmarking features, and improving guidance for users. The council will also continue to review how the platform can best support performance reporting and decision-making.
HDRC will share learning from the project across the council so that the approaches used can inform wider work on data, reporting, and evidence use. Longer-term arrangements for ownership, maintenance, and future development will also be put in place.
Feedback
Feedback from colleagues has been positive. Stakeholders welcomed having a more consistent view of performance and saw value in the ability to compare Bradford's outcomes with those of other areas. The ability to produce paginated reports ensured the visualisations could be easily incorporated into routine council reporting packs.
The platform has been shared with several service areas, including Children's Services, where it has supported discussions about performance and priorities. Feedback from these discussions has helped shape further improvements and will continue to inform future development.
Colleagues have also expressed interest in sharing the learning from the project more widely across the council, recognising both the practical value of the reporting tools and the collaborative approach used to develop them. Overall, the feedback suggests that the platform addresses a genuine organisational need and provides a strong foundation for making better use of outcome data in the future.