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Press Release

LGA 'unconvinced' by Whitehall's commitment to reducing reporting burden

21 February 2011

Council leaders remain unconvinced of the Government's commitment to reducing the huge quantity of information local authorities have to collect and report to government departments each year.

The LGA has set out its concerns in a response to CLG's Single Data List Consultation.

LGA Improvement Board Chairman, Cllr David Parsons, said:

“Councils cannot afford to waste money and staff hours collecting and reporting information which disappears into a black hole of central government bureaucracy.

“We've heard positive noises from Government about reducing time consuming and costly Whitehall box-ticking but old habits die hard. Of the 45 data collections being rolled back, another 18 have already been announced in their place.

“We are disappointed by the scale of reductions proposed so far and remain unconvinced about the extent of the Government's ambition to minimise the reporting burden on councils.

“With councils being asked to become more efficient in response to significant cuts to their budgets we need swift action rather than warm rhetoric.”

Example of data burden:

Leicestershire County Council is reporting on more than 3,000 performance data sets, requiring an estimated 92 staff and costing £3.7m each year.

Notes:

A full copy of the LGA's response to the Single Data Consultation is available from http://www.lga.gov.uk/lga/tio/16879492

The CLG's Single Data List is available from http://www.communities.gov.uk/localgovernment/decentralisation/tacklingburdens/databurdens/



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