FOI/202500472917 · FOI · unclear
Local Financial Return (LFR) information: FOI release
Information requested
1. Copies of all guidance, templates, or instructions issued to local authorities regarding the preparation, population, or structure of the FR00 financial return.
2. Any documentation that outlines:
1. How councils should map their internal chart of accounts or departmental structures to the LFR categories;
2. What reconciliation, if any, is expected between councils’ annual accounts and their LFR submissions.
3. Any internal assessments, audits, or reviews (from 2020 to present) that evaluate the accuracy, consistency, or comparability of LFR submissions between local authorities.
4. Any correspondence with Audit Scotland regarding:
Challenges or concerns around standardisation of local authority financial data; Use of LFR data for national reporting, budgeting, or performance benchmarking.
Response
The answer to your questions are as follows:
1. Copies of all guidance, templates, or instructions issued to local authorities regarding the preparation, population, or structure of the FR00 financial return.
This information is available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/local-financial-return/
2. Any documentation that outlines:
1. How councils should map their internal chart of accounts or departmental structures to the LFR categories;
In addition to the guidance in response to question 1, Local Authorities also use the CIPFA Service Reporting Code of Practice (SeRCOP). SeRCOP is prepared in accordance with the financial reporting framework established by the Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting in the United Kingdom (the Code). It applies to all local authority services throughout the UK for the preparation of budgets and performance indicators. This guidance can be purchased at: https://www.cipfa.org/policy-andguidance/publications/s/service-reporting-code-of-practice-for-local-authorities-202425. We do not need to release the SeRCOP guidance under section 33(1)(b)) of FOISA.
1. What reconciliation, if any, is expected between councils’ annual accounts and their LFR submissions.
Once audited accounts are received, we ensure that these are accurately reflected in the LFR return. These reconciliations primarily affect LFR A0, LFR 23 and LFR CR but it can lead to revisions in LFR 00 and other parts of the return. Revisions within the published LFR dataset are reflected twice in year; in our Provisional Outturn and Budget Estimates (POBE) and Scottish Local Government Finance Statistics (SLGFS) publications in June and January respectively.
3. Any internal assessments, audits, or reviews (from 2020 to present) that evaluate the accuracy, consistency, or comparability of LFR submissions between local authorities.
The return itself has a number of validation queries built-in to ensure accurate completion. We also query large changes compared to previous years and ask Local Authorities to review these data items.
We also ensure returns are consistent with available published accounts. Under the Code of Practice for Official Statistics we quality assure data in the LFR returns and subsequent publications.
In 2020, a consultation was undertaken to capture users’ feedback on the planned changes to the 2019-20 LFR and CR Final to ensure any impacts on users of the data are clearly understood https://www.gov.scot/publications/lfr-review-2019-20-userconsultation/
In 2022, a review was conducted into social care data within LFR 03. This can be found at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/local-financial-return-03-social-work-review-consultation/
4. Any correspondence with Audit Scotland regarding:
1. Challenges or concerns around standardisation of local authority financial data;
2. Use of LFR data for national reporting, budgeting, or performance benchmarking.
No correspondence with Audit Scotland is held regarding the above bullet points.
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Contact Please quote the FOI reference Central Correspondence Unit Email: contactus@gov.scot Phone: 0300 244 4000 The Scottish Government St Andrew's House Regent Road Edinburgh EH1 3DG
Detected exemption language
We do not need to release the SeRCOP guidance under section 33(1)(b)) of FOISA.
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