More insight, better decisions

Over the last month, we’ve had the opportunity to speak with hundreds of local government and public sector leaders at events including the LGA Conference and Public Finance Live. 

The conversations covered a wide range of topics: financial sustainability, transformation, demand management, service reform and AI. But one theme surfaced repeatedly.  

Councils do not always need more data. Often, the bigger opportunity is to make better use of the data they already have. 

This was a key theme discussed during our session at the LGA Conference in Bournemouth, where Fran Tinsley and I explored how local authorities can maximise the value of the data they already hold. It also featured in conversations throughout Public Finance Live, where many leaders reflected on how they can strengthen decision-making without continually investing in new data collection. 

We reflected on a pattern we see across the sector. Many local authorities make good use of quantitative data, especially structured information on demand, cost, activity and performance. But qualitative and unstructured data often remains an untapped source of insight. 

That matters because transformation in complex systems is not only about knowing what is happening. It is also about understanding why it is happening. Case notes, resident feedback, complaints, assessments and other rich text sources can reveal need, complexity, behaviour and lived experience in ways that numbers alone cannot. 

At IMPOWER, we have developed two tools to help local authorities respond to this. 

Our Data Maturity Assessment Framework helps councils understand how well they use existing data to inform decisions. 

Aurista uses AI to identify trends and themes in unstructured data, helping teams identify patterns that may otherwise remain hidden. 

These sit within our wider analytics toolkit, alongside the IMPOWER INDEX, trajectory models, journey mining and our repeatable insight approach. Together, they help local authorities answer practical questions such as: 

• Are we making the most of the data we already have? 

• How do our services compare with others? 

• How will change affect future cost and demand? 

• What is the real experience of residents moving through the system? 

• What can unstructured data tell us about residents’ changing need and complexity? 

• How do we track impact and course correct over time? 

One of the best questions we received was whether these tools could support wider engagement on council budget setting. The answer is yes. We have previously used an earlier version of Aurista to analyse resident feedback on service performance, and the same approach could be applied to budget consultations. Rather than relying on a relatively small number of written responses, councils could identify themes across thousands of comments, giving decision makers a broader, more representative understanding of residents’ priorities. 

If your organisation is thinking about how to make better use of the data it already holds, please reach out to [email protected].