The first iteration of the Menu of Local Outcome Indicators is now available, to support councils with the preparation of their Single Outcome Agreement by 31 March 2008. The Improvement Service has collected and collated potential local outcome indicators from Local Government, Scottish Government and UK national sources, including National Indicators proposed by the Scottish Government. This has been through two iterations with Councils and the Office of the Chief Statistician within the Scottish Government, to allow challenge and refinement and responses have been received from 20 councils. We would wish to particularly acknowledge the detailed challenge and support provided by West Lothian, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, North Ayrshire, Perth and Kinross and East Renfrewshire Councils.

There is not an expectation that councils will include all of the indicators in the menu in their SOA. They should only include those indicators that are relevant and will help them measure progress against agreed outcomes. If councils have indicators in place which they have developed at a local level, either themselves or with community planning partners, they should equally include these in their SOA where they will demonstrate progress against agreed outcomes.

This menu is based on two criteria: relevance and applicability at local level. It has been developed to assist councils with the preparation of their draft Single Outcome Agreement by 31 March 2008, and the indicators that have been included in the menu are based on the availability of data sources. For this reason, the menu provides comment, as well as data sources, for all indicators.

It is important to recognise that this menu is the first iteration of local outcome indicators which councils may wish to select from, to support the development of their draft SOA which is to be submitted to the Scottish Government by 31 March 2008. The scope and coverage of indicators included in this menu will expand over time, to support the ongoing development of SOAs. We will consider areas where new indicators would be desirable, and will discuss these with councils in the near future.

The Improvement Service will continue to work with local government and the Office of the Chief Statistician and Analytical Services Division within the Scottish Government, to resolve issues around data availability and to develop new and more relevant local outcome indicators.

Related documents

 Menu of Local Outcome Indicators - Excel version