SIBA Digital
UK public bodies, compared.
SIBA compares how UK public bodies are governed, using the records they publish.
Councils and other public bodies publish a great deal: committee papers, registers of interests, spending data and contract notices. SIBA gathers these records across many bodies at once and sets out, in plain language, how each one compares with what the law asks and with bodies like it.
What SIBA does
- Compares like with like
- District councils with district councils, unitary councils with unitary councils. Each figure is read against the published standard and the national spread, never as a ranking.
- Works from what bodies publish
- Every figure comes from a public record and links back to it. The method and the data are published with each comparison.
- Asks each body first
- Before publication, each council is sent its own figures. Replies are published alongside the comparison.
Published work
The first comparison covers how English councils publish their committee papers: meetings held each year, how far ahead of a meeting papers appear, and how often items are taken in private.
All published work, including earlier reports.
Guides
The records councils publish and the rules behind them, in plain language.
Essays
Business Improvement Districts
Standards in public life
Services
Sometimes it helps to have someone read the record with you. SIBA works with councils, boards, researchers and community groups who want to understand how a public body is governed, or how it compares with others. We start with a conversation about your question, look at the published records together, and you receive a short, clear written note of what they show.
SIBA takes on a small number of pieces of work at a time. If someone else is better placed to help, Damian will happily point you their way.
Get in touch
If you have a question about how a public body is governed, or your council appears in something SIBA has published, Damian would be glad to hear from you.