Methodology

How SIBA compares public bodies

Everything SIBA publishes is built from records that public bodies already publish, compared carefully and set out in plain language.

The records

Companies House: The public record for every UK company. SIBA reads filing histories in full rather than in summary: incorporation documents, director appointments and resignations, persons with significant control, charges, confirmation statements and annual accounts. The dates of filings matter as much as their content.
Committee papers and decision records: Agendas, reports and minutes for council, committee and cabinet meetings, notices of key decisions and records of officer decisions. They show when a body meets, what it decides, and what it takes in private.
Registers of interests: Councillors register their interests under the Localism Act 2011, and each council publishes its register on its website. Interests declared at a meeting are recorded in the minutes.
Spending and contract data: Councils publish spending over £500, contracts and tenders over £5,000 and other data under the Local Government Transparency Code 2015, and contract notices on Find a Tender and Contracts Finder.
Published accounts and business plans: Public bodies publish annual accounts. BIDs publish business plans before each ballot and file annual accounts at Companies House. These show what was planned and what was spent, usually by category.
Freedom of Information requests: Where a record exists but is not published, SIBA may ask for it under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Requests are narrow, specific and made in writing, and the answers are read alongside the published record.
Legislation and guidance: Acts, regulations and statutory guidance set out what a body is required to do. They are the starting point for any question about governance.
Other public registers: Where they are relevant, SIBA uses the Charity Commission register, the Financial Conduct Authority register, the Electoral Commission's published data, and Contracts Finder and other procurement notices.

How they are read

Reading records together: A single document rarely tells the whole story. Reading a register of interests beside a company record, or a business plan beside a set of accounts, shows how the parts of a body fit together.
Dates and sequence: Events are dated from the record itself. Where the order of events matters, it is shown with the dates of each step.
Fact and interpretation kept apart: What a document states is set out first. Any comment on it is clearly marked as comment, and is kept to what the documents support.

How comparisons are made

Measured against a standard, not a league table: Each figure is read against a published standard, such as a legal deadline, or against the national spread of comparable bodies. Bodies are not ranked or graded.
Like compared with like: District councils are compared with district councils, unitary councils with unitary councils, and so on, so that differences in size and role do not drive the result.
Each body sees its figures first: Before publication, each council is sent its own figures and invited to reply. Replies are published with the comparison.
Method and data published: Each comparison sets out how every figure was worked out, and the underlying data is published so anyone can check it.
No individuals named: Comparisons are about bodies and their records. They do not name councillors, officers or other individuals.
Coverage stated: Each measure says how many bodies and records it covers. Where coverage is uneven across bodies, the measure is left out.

Where the data comes from

Every figure SIBA publishes cites the original public record it comes from: the council's own agenda, register, spending file or notice.

The records are gathered and linked with Institrace, a subscription index of UK public records. Institrace is built by Churchtown Media Ltd, the company behind SIBA. The Interests page sets out that relationship.

Standards

Public records only: All research uses existing public access rights. No covert methods and no private information. Anyone with the same sources and time could check every step.
Every statement sourced: Each fact is linked to the document it comes from. If a statement cannot be sourced to a public record, it is left out.
Plain language: SIBA describes what records show in plain words, names roles rather than people wherever it can, and avoids loaded language.
Right of reply: Every body covered by SIBA's published work is offered a right of reply, and replies are published alongside the work. Each report says where its replies stand.
Corrections: If something is wrong, it is corrected promptly and the correction is noted on the page.
Private work stays private: Work done for a client is delivered to that client and is not published without their agreement.

To ask for a correction or to reply to something SIBA has published, see corrections or get in touch.