TRANSPARENT BY DESIGN

How CouncilMetrics works

Our methodology turns published local-government data into consistent council profiles while preserving the reporting period, source and status of every figure.

Official data first

Displayed facts originate from public bodies and retained source documents.

Compare like with like

Councils are benchmarked against authorities of the same structural type.

Missing means missing

Unavailable values are never silently estimated or replaced with zero.

FINANCIAL HEALTH SCORE

A comparable indicator, not a verdict

The score summarises four dimensions derived from official central-government returns. It does not measure service quality, political performance or the likelihood of financial failure.

Peer comparison

Each component is converted to a percentile within the council’s authority type—for example, metropolitan districts are compared only with other metropolitan districts.

Publication rules

A score is published only when at least three components are available and those components represent at least 65% of the standard weighting. Confidence reflects completeness and peer coverage.

Reserves cover

35%

Net debt per resident

30%

Liquidity

20%

Debt direction

15%

DATA PROCESSING

From publication to council profile

1. Acquire and fingerprint

Original files are retained with their publishing organisation, URL, reporting period and SHA-256 checksum.

2. Validate identities

Authority names are matched primarily through official ONS codes. Unmatched or ambiguous codes are reported rather than guessed.

3. Normalise measures

Amounts, units and service categories are mapped into stable metric codes while original context remains attached.

4. Reconcile and publish

Arithmetic checks, row counts and period coverage are validated before the data is exposed through council profiles.

RESIDENT PARTICIPATION

Community Scores stay separate

Resident sentiment is never blended into the Financial Health Score or presented as official performance data.

Verified participation

One verified account can maintain one assessment per scoring period.
Residents select only services they can reasonably assess.
“Not used” responses are excluded.

Responsible publication

Public results use fixed published category weights.
Results remain hidden until the minimum response threshold is met.
Personal details and individual responses are not published.

Interpretation matters. Rankings and scores describe the available data for a stated period. They should be read alongside the council’s circumstances, responsibilities, audit reports and source documents.