Verity House Agreement - Assurance and Accountability
This document sets out the assurance and accountability approach local government and the Scottish Government will use to evidence progress towards our shared priorities, setting out the principles of the Verity House Agreement outcomes framework.
4. Reporting
Proportionate reporting of performance and delivery is essential to promote accountability and transparency, and to support collective continuous improvement across Scotland’s public service landscape. Using relevant existing data and evidence in line with the principles set out in Annex A are intended to help the Scottish Government and COSLA, on behalf of Local Government, to consider the efficacy of, and options to reduce, existing policy and portfolio reporting requirements which is an important commitment within the Verity House Agreement. The Scottish Government will also consider reporting arrangements across the public body landscape.
Work remains ongoing to consider what effective and proportionate reporting looks like in Scotland. For example, the Local Government Data Platform project, aims to provide a clear focus on the reporting which is needed to evidence improvement in outcomes, ensuring that we take account of existing data reporting and consider streamlining and reducing where possible. The project represents an ambitious sector-led transformation programme to deliver improvements in the way Local Government manages and uses data. It aims to improve and streamline the management of data returns and to provide enhanced value from the process by providing greater insight and intelligence to Local Government itself. The Platform will also provide improved data quality, improved timeliness of data, and greater assurance for stakeholders such as the Scottish Government.[8]