This report from the West Midlands Improvement and Efficiency partnership describes the need for councils and partnerships to work smarter and more efficiently. It calls for more transparency, greater engagement of citizens and developing of community approaches to service delivery. It argues that this will only be achieved if public sector bodies develop and use information and intelligence more effectively.

At the heart of operating more efficiently is the need to agree priorities and goals, understand what is happening now and what is possible in the future. Leaders need information and intelligence o plan and monitor priorities in the future. Partnerships work best when there is a clear vision or agreement on goals to be achieved. This requires shared access to information in order to develop an understanding of problems, possibilities and solutions and to monitor progress and take corrective action.

By developing new and more effective ways of using information and intelligence councils and their partners will be able to work more efficiently, make better use of resources and save money.

The Guide sets out the ten top tips to enable this to be achieved. The first five tips concern organisational form and the development of best practice and the realignment of resources. The second five tips concern organisational functions and activities that can be adopted to operate in a more coordinated and efficient way.

The Guide can be downloaded here.