National Indicator Set
Government has reduced the number of measures that it uses to assess then performance of local government and its partners from around 1200 to fewer than 200.
In October 2007, central government issued its new National Indicator Set (NIS) (.pdf format, 878 Kb) of 198 indicators that all local government areas will be required to monitor. The detail of how each of these performance indicators will be measured is due to be published for consultation in November 2007, with final details in January 2008.
Performance against all these indicators will be measured, but only those indictors that are agreed within the new Local Area Agreement (LAA2) will have specific targets associated with them.
Detailed technical definitions for indicators in the national indicator set were published in November 2007 to ensure that the methodology for measuring individual national indicators at a local level is sound. The definitions were consulted on until January 2008 and final definitions will be published shortly. View the handbook of definitions on the Communities and Local Government website.
Outcomes, Indicators and Targets
The terms outcome, indictor and target are frequently used terms when referring to local area agreements; these terms are defined as follows:
| Term |
Definition |
| Outcome |
Statement of desired impact, meaningful to user/citizen/business
Example: Increase the health and well-being of children and young people
|
| Indicator |
Quantifiable measurement of progress towards delivery of an outcome
Example: % of under-16s smoking
|
| Target |
Time bound milestone in achieving outcome in relation to a specific indicator
Example: Reduce % of under-16s smoking by 10% by 2010
|
