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Key features

Select an organisation page

Step 1:

You can find and highlight an authority of your choice either by using the area search box on the homepage or using the drop down list on any report.

On the homepage area search you can enter either the name of the authority you are looking for or a postcode and the search box will display a list of matching authorities. Once you have found the authority of your choice clicking on the name will update the report for your chosen authority.

From reports you can click on the drop down and scroll down the list of authorities or you can type the name you are looking for in the search box. When you enter text into the search box the drop down list contents will change to show the closest match of authorities to the text that you have typed. Once you have found the authority of your choice clicking on the name will highlight your choice then click on the “Apply” button to update the report.

Step 2:

Once you have confirmed the name of the authority you can choose the group that you wish to compare it against (comparison group); by default the comparison group ‘All authorities by type’ will be selected. From any report you will be able to change the comparison group from a list of relevant groups in the comparison group drop down list. More details on the membership of comparison groups is in this help section within the tab “Comparison groups”. When you have made your selection and clicked on the “Apply” button to update the report.

Dashboard style grids and links

The profiles use a dashboard style approach. Sections are arranged in three main levels, and indicators are grouped into sections. This provides more detail as you navigate through the reports. The dashboard will always contain the latest period of data available with up to six previous periods together an average (mean) line for the choose comparison group and a percentage change figure covering the periods displayed.

Modify report options

You will be able to change your selections for authorities and comparator group at any point of the profile by using the drop downs provided on top of the page.

Access the in detail page

Within the dashboards all indicator names are links that allow you to drill down to all indicators in more depth, this starts with the name of the indicator and some explanatory text about the measure but alsoincludes:

  • Unit of measure: Unit or units that an indicator is measured by. For example £ thousands or £s.
  • Polarity: One of three values “high”, “low” or “none”. If an indicator has high or low polarity it means that good performance is measured by a high or low number. For indicators with no polarity this is displayed as “none”. Where this value is “none” high or low numbers are either good or bad.
  • Source organisation: The name of the organisation which publishes the data. Where a calculation exists, you will see the PSAA as well as the name of the original source organisation.
  • Data collection: The name of the collection that indicator originated from, wherever possible we will provide a link to the site for the latest publication of the indicator’s collection.

Followed by:

  • The selected indicator over time with the average for the group
  • A box plot comparing the authority’s value to the group selected
  • A bar chart showing the latest value for the selected authority compared to the latest values for the selected group
  • A line chart showing percentage change of the selected authority’s indicator value compared to the previous period
  • A table which shows the selected indicator over time.

You can export data for the indicator and the selected comparator group

Outliers report

The outliers report displays all indicators for the authority that you have selected that are outliers when compared to other authorities in the comparison group. If there are no outliers for the authority this page will be blank. If you wish to know more about how we calculate outliers, please refer to the help page "Calculations".

Exporting data

Reports can be exported using the ‘Export’ button at the top of the report, clicking this button will open a new menu allowing you to select the format of the export.

As well as exporting the whole report you can also export individual charts, tables and dashboards using the export icon in the top right hand corner of the component. If you click this icon, a new menu will open allowing you to select the format of the export including CSV format which open in an Excel spreadsheet.

Export data page: You can find this page amongst the main tabs. It gives access to, subscribed users of LG Inform Plus, all data used in the LG Inform VFM profile.