CFO Insights is an online financial analysis tool that provides local authorities with a three-dimensional view of financial information, outcomes, and their socio-economic context.
Fast facts
North East Lincolnshire Council is a unitary authority
The area has a population of around 157,000 residents
The council is run by a Conservative minority administration
Total expenditure per head was £1,499 in 2022-23
North East Lincolnshire Council used CFO Insights to access financial information, as well as performance and outcome data. This was a key resource for the Council's decision making around budgets and savings opportunities.
The challenge
The council needed to find savings of £18 million per annum in order to have a balanced budget by 2020.
They launched a new budget approach in 2017 using an outcomes-based framework. This ambitious approach aimed to translate priorities into action and drive a culture of evidence-based decision making that enables elected members to take informed key decisions. The challenges associated with this new approach included:
- changing the mind-sets of service heads – moving from old strategies to new processes
- data quality-using data to aid decision making rather than hiding behind it
- managing the political process – cross-party scrutiny of new budget envelopes
How we helped
CFO Insights helped the council to move away from top slice allocation of savings and move greater focus to outcomes. This was possible because the tool can consider relative performance against multiple financial and outcomes measures while also taking into account characteristics.
The results
North East Lincolnshire council set a three-year, medium-term financial plan around the outcomes-based framework. Initially, the analysis was met with challenge, but communication across the council improved and there was a clear shift towards greater focus on outcomes in the budget-making process.
