The Audit Commission has had significant involvement in developing and using performance information in local public services, both to encourage improvement and to provide a baseline against which improvement can be measured .
The Commission has produced management papers, guidance and discussion papers to encourage the better use of information. Alongside the development and support for nationally collected performance indicators the Commission has also developed voluntary performance indicators such as the Library of Local PIs and the Quality of Life PIs. It has also aimed to make information more available for others to use, through developing web-based information tools such as Area Profiles, later followed by existing tools such as the Value for Money profiles.
Many commentators - new and old - could encourage public bodies to improve in the future. We hope that the wide range of material provided here, including reference to useful developments by others working with performance information, will help to crystallise and pass on the Commission’s experience and knowledge to support others in the future.