Connected provenance
Metrics retain their dataset, source document and reporting period.
TRACEABLE PUBLIC DATA
Where the figures come from
CouncilMetrics connects each council measure to an identifiable publication, reporting period and source document so visitors can understand both the number and its provenance.
Periods stay visible
Outturn, quarterly and snapshot dates are labelled rather than mixed.
No invented coverage
Missing publications remain unavailable until an authoritative source exists.
CORE DATASETS
Official sources currently connected
Coverage varies by nation, authority and reporting period. Individual council pages show the exact sources available for that profile.
Revenue Outturn — RS
Council-wide expenditure, income, reserves, council-tax requirement and other financial totals.
Revenue Outturn — RSX
Service-level expenditure and income across education, social care, housing, highways and other functions.
Local authority borrowing and investments
Quarterly borrowing, investments, cash and calculated net-debt positions.
Published council expenditure
Individual payment transactions released by councils under local transparency arrangements.
Population and local statistics
Resident population and contextual demographic measures used for per-resident comparisons.
Schools and inspection outcomes
School identifiers, inspection dates and published outcomes for education profiles.
Crime and policing
Geographic police-recorded crime data presented with clear caveats about council responsibility.
PROVENANCE
What CouncilMetrics retains
| Field | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Publishing organisation | Identifies the public body responsible for the original release. |
| Dataset and document type | Separates annual outturns, quarterly returns, transactions and contextual statistics. |
| Reporting period | Prevents figures from different years or quarters being presented as contemporaneous. |
| Source URL and checksum | Records where the document came from and fingerprints the imported file. |
| Import status and notes | Makes validation outcomes, unmatched authorities and exceptional handling auditable. |
Publication schedules differ. A council may have newer data for one subject than another. Every card should therefore be read with its displayed year, quarter or snapshot date.