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Best value means that all local authorities are required to develop and use local performance indicators. Authorities have said they would like assistance in developing indicators that allow comparison with others. This new service, provided jointly by the Audit Commission and the Improvement and Development Agency, is designed to help authorities to do that, and in doing so share good practice across local government.

How will the library help local authorities?

The library will provide ready made PIs that will:

• prevent authorities having to reinvent the wheel;
• fill the gaps in the national PIs;
• encourage consistency of definitions and enable comparisons of performance to be made between authorities;
• provide information on who's measuring what to facilitate benchmarking; and
• develop performance indicators that are meaningful to local people.

Feedback from authorities indicates that there is some demand for the central collection of comparative data relating to local PIs. We will consult later in the year to determine what authorities want and to identify possible options for taking this forward.