The minister overseeing the work of councils has announced an assessment of the role and remit of Oflog, with a view to ‘resetting the relationship between local and central government’
Little more than a year after the regulator launched, ministers have ordered a review of the “long-term role, and short-term remit” of the Office for Local Government – including how the watchdog can best support councils in building their digital credentials.
In a letter to Oflog chief executive Josh Goodman, local government minister Jim McMahon said he was “committed to resetting the relationship between local and central government and to clarify the roles and responsibilities of central government and the sector”.
A review of the organisation’s role will be delivered by the end of this year, and government “will welcome the views of the sector over the coming months”, according to the minister.
The regulator’s short-term remit is divided into three categories: inform, support and warn – the latter of which involves the early warning conversations.
Under the “inform” heading, the regulator provides information for communities on what their local authority is doing through the Oflog Data Explorer website.
However, McMahon said it “can be hard to navigate the wealth of available data”, adding that “we are rich on data but poor on insights”. The data explorer is “incomplete and covers only a fraction of local authority activity”, he said.
In the short term, Oflog will continue to update data for existing metrics on the data explorer; add new metrics; continue to improve the tool; and develop options for new, additional, or alternative data tools to help citizens understand local authorities’ performance.
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Under the “support” category, the regulator will continue its ongoing work to determine what support is available to local authorities and identify any gaps. This will inform discussions with MHCLG about how to address those gaps.
It will also continue to offer webinars that convene groups of similar local authorities to learn from each other, and to take a “test and learn” approach to new forms of support.
“I am interested in what Oflog could do to improve local authorities’ digital and data capability. Oflog should develop a proposition, working across government,” McMahon added.
Early warning
Oflog was set up by the previous Conservative administration last year, launching formally in July 2023.
McMahon has instructed the watchdog to pause a pilot programme of “early warning conversations” that it has been running in recent months “while we consider the government’s overall approach to early warning and interventions”.
The model aims to facilitate early interventions where data held by Oflog raises concerns, in a bid to improve failing or under-performing services and avoid bankruptcy when local authorities are struggling.
“I would like Oflog to work with MHCLG officials on options to help identify when local authorities might need support to recover, rebuild or reform,” McMahon said.
Former National Audit Office head Sir Amyas Morse was appointed interim chair of the watchdog in January 2023 but stepped down this March for “unexpected health reasons”. Oflog has been without a chair since Morse’s departure.
Morse said at the time that he was “proud” of the model he and his colleagues have developed “in close collaboration with the local government sector”.
“It is a proportionate and nuanced approach that seeks to act with a light touch and through influence, avoiding some of the heavy-handed methods of previous eras,” Morse said of the model. “I am grateful to the secretary of state for the opportunity to perform this role, and for the freedom he has given the chief executive and me to shape Oflog as we saw fit.”
Then-levelling up secretary Michael Gove said at the time that Morse has “provided invaluable independent advice, challenge and support to the establishment and early development of Oflog”.
