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Renfrewshire Council · 3 November 2025
Back to Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Board — 3 November 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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To: Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Board On: 3 November 2025 _______________________________________________________________________ Report by: Chief Executive _______________________________________________________________________ Heading: Local Government Benchmarking Framework Mid Year Update 2024/25 _______________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 The Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF) is a high-level benchmarking tool which allows local authorities to compare their performance across 108 indicators covering a range of service areas such as education, housing, and adult social care. A report on performance against the indicators is provided to the Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Board each year following publication of the LGBF Annual Report by the Improvement Service. This year’s national report was published in March 2025. In line with the new Statutory Performance Indicator Direction from the Accounts Commission, it was agreed that a mid-year update would be provided to the Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Board each November. 1.2 The Improvement Service provides an online dashboard which allows users to view and interact with the data. It allows comparison between a council and the national average, and with the family group. Previously, the IS ranked each council and published these rankings, but have moved away from this practice. Whilst rankings can be helpful in understanding how similar councils perform, they do not take context into account (for example, local policy priorities, or council structures). They also infer particular judgements, such as cheapest equalling best. Our local policy decisions can therefore impact on how our performance appears relative to others. 1.3 In order that elected members can have some insight into improvement relative to other councils, officers have calculated rankings and included in the data in Appendix 1. It should be noted that information is not published in this format through the LGBF portal. It should also be noted that it is possible for performance to improve in real terms but for this not to be reflected in rankings because other councils have also improved. Public
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1.4 This report provides an update on 29 indicators – 14 which have been updated with 2023/24 data and 15 which have been updated with 2024/25.data. Of the 29 indicators: • 12 are in the top 8 best performing councils for that measure • 19 indicators have improved or sustained their ranking • 16 have improved or sustained their performance • 3 are ranked in the lowest 8 performing councils for that measure • 10 indicators have fallen in the rankings • 13 have falling performance 1.5 Renfrewshire Council actively contributes to national discussions and learning on the Local Government Benchmarking Framework and uses it to identify opportunities to explore areas of challenge and of best practice. 1.6 The Council publishes its statutory Public Performance Reporting document – How are we doing? - on the Council’s website. Performance information gathered through the LGBF is included as part of the report which allows our residents to understand how the Council is performing, relative to other Councils. A separate LGBF dashboard is available on our website and is updated every six months. Services also publish performance information regularly through operational reports and updates on Service Improvement Plans and the Council Plan. 2. Recommendations 2.1 It is recommended that the Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Board • notes the contents of the report; • notes that an update on the LGBF will be provided to this Board in May 2026. 3. Background 3.1 All Scottish local authorities participate in the Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF), which allows councils to compare their performance across a suite of indicators, including costs and performance of key council services, and levels of public satisfaction. Whilst there are always different views on the nature and calculation of specific indicators, the framework provides a tool for the Council to consider its performance in relation to delivering Best Value, as well as a platform for learning and sharing good practice. It is used in conjunction with other benchmarking tools, data and information that Council services use to assess performance, such as service key performance indicators, service improvement outturn reports, national and local surveys, inspections, and audits. Public
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3.2 There are currently 108 indicators in the Framework, which cover the majority of council services across ten categories: • Children’s services; • Corporate services; • Adult social care; • Culture and leisure services; • Environmental services; • Housing services; • Corporate asset management; • Economic development; • Financial sustainability; • Tackling climate change. 3.3 The LGBF provides a useful means of comparing relative performance across all Scottish councils but like all performance information, it should be used with caution, with due consideration given to local priorities and investment decisions, and differences in council structures. It does not represent the full range of council service delivery. 3.4 The Accounts Commission have published a new Statutory Performance Indicator (SPI) Direction which covers three reporting years starting from 2025/26. The updated direction has an increased focus on the use of LGBF indicators and more frequent reporting. Consequently, LGBF indicators will be reported to this Board every six months. 3.5 In the update to this Board in May 2025, key findings from the Improvement Service’s national LGBF report were summarised. The Improvement Service had noted the ‘extraordinary effort and achievements delivered across local government against unprecedented financial, workforce and demand pressures”. In the national report, it was also noted that performance improvement was slowing for all councils, though with variation in depth, severity and services affected. The aforementioned funding and workforce pressures were identified by IS as affecting the capacity of local authorities to deliver sustained good performance alongside efficiency improvements. Nonetheless, the majority of indicators continued to show an improved position compared with the base year. 4. Overview of Renfrewshire’s Performance 4.1 This section provides an overview of Renfrewshire’s LGBF performance in service categories for which there is new data. Appendix 1 provides the Council’s data, ranked position, the Scottish average, and the family group range for those updated indicators only; for ease of use, indicators in the top quarter of performance are highlighted in pale green and those in the bottom quarter in pale red. Appendix 2 includes a list of those indicators in the top quarter and bottom quarter in terms of ranked performance of the 32 local authorities. 4.2 New data is available for 2023/24 for fourteen indicators and 2024/25 for twelve indicators; these are taken from monthly data releases provided by the Improvement Service between Public
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April and August inclusive (data is released at the end of each month). Of the 29 indicators, 16 have sustained or improved their performance compared with the previous year, and 13 show declining performance. However, 19 indicators have improved or sustained their ranking, indicating improved performance relative to other authorities, including hospital readmissions, street cleanliness and CO2 emissions within the scope of the local authority. 4.3 It should be noted, as per previous reports, that the LGBF presents cost indicators on a ‘cheapest is best’ basis. As such, cost indicators should be considered in their wider context, since there is considerable local variation not only in how services are structured but also in how investment is targeted. Cost measures do not include any measure of quality or value for money. 4.4 Areas of particularly good performance include the percentage of children looked after in the community, the percentage of looked after children with more than one placement in a year, the proportion of Discretionary Housing Payment spent, hospital readmissions, the condition of our Class A and Class B roads, and the level of CO2 emissions from transport, electricity and gas, as well as the level of emissions which are within the scope of the local authority to control. 4.5 Indicators which are in the lower half of performance tables include school attendance for looked after children, child protection re-registrations, the percentage of crisis grant applications processed within 1 day, the percentage of Community Care grants processed within 15 days, street cleanliness and the condition of class C roads. Most of these indicators have shown an improvement on the previous year’s position. In our recent Best Value report, auditors noted areas of particularly strong performance, and highlighted the “robust” performance management arrangements. They also noted the work underway to further strengthen our approach to performance improvement. Children’s Services 4.6 Since the last report to this board, 2023/24 data has been published for eight Children’s Services indicators. Two of these are cost indicators – the gross weekly cost for residential services and community placements for looked after children. Renfrewshire is one of the most expensive councils for residential placements but amongst the lowest cost for community settings, due to the large number of local foster carers and kinship carers, meaning children and young people are most likely to remain in their local area. The 2023/24 data for the percentage of children looked after in community settings remains high, outperforming the Scottish average and increasing since the previous year; the figure in 2023/24 was 92.8% against a Scottish average of 88.82%. 4.7 The school attendance rates for looked after children remain below those for the school population overall, but did increase in Renfrewshire in 2023/24. School attendance across Scotland has dipped since the pandemic, and Renfrewshire’s attendance rate for looked after children – at 82.98% - is close to the Scottish average of 83.69%. Public
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4.8 The percentage of looked after children who had more than 1 placement in a year has improved, with the percentage falling from 15.78% in 2022/23 to 14.59% in 2023/24, putting Renfrewshire in the top 8 performing councils. Any indicators relating to looked after status need to be considered in the context of what is best for the young person, and that may include placement changes. Similarly, the indicator for child protection re-registrations will reflect what is safest for a child or young person. In 2023/24, 10.7% of children were re- registered within 18 months, an increase from 2.29% the previous year. However, the number of children registered at any given time is very low and therefore even a single family group being re-registered can appear to be a large percentage of the overall number. 4.9 The percentage of children living in poverty has fallen from 24% in 2022/23 to 20.99% in 2023/24, which is close to the national average. This figure is for Renfrewshire as a whole and there is greater variation across different parts of Renfrewshire. Although the percentage has fallen, tackling child poverty, including through the work of Fairer Renfrewshire, remains a priority for the Council. 4.10 The LGBF also includes an indicator on the percentage of children meeting developmental milestones at 27-30 months. This indicator is based on health visitor data and therefore not reflective of local authority activity. Nonetheless, it can provide useful context when planning universal and targeted services for children and has relevance in particular for early years learning. In 2023/24 there was improvement to 80.6% from 79% in 2022/23 but this remains behind the Scottish average of 83.27%. Corporate Services 4.11 Four indicators have been updated with 2024/25 data. Renfrewshire Council’s budget in 2024/25 allocated an additional £600,000 to top up the Scottish Welfare Fund and this has given the Council the opportunity to make more awards than may have been possible. In 2024/25, not all funding was utilised but those funds remain available for this purpose should there be more successful applications in future years. Renfrewshire Council remains the highest spender in relation to proportion of Discretionary Housing Payment spent. Our local policy decisions on funding therefore increase the volume of applications being processed, which has a direct impact on performance against the LGBF indicators. 4.12 The proportions of Crisis Grant decisions within 1 day and Community Care Grant decisions within 15 days both improved in 2024/25. Just over 89% of Crisis Grant decisions were made within a day, up from 85.7% in the previous year, whilst 93.96% of Community Care Grants had a decision within 15 days, up from 86.25% the previous year. Despite this, our relative position fell from 17th to 30th. Renfrewshire historically has had much higher volumes of applications than its peer authorities within the Family Group. Figures produced as part of the Scottish Social Security Statistics show that Renfrewshire had the eighth highest number of Crisis Grant applications at 8,910 and the tenth highest number of Community Care Grant applications in 2024/25 at 2,815; as such, these LGBF indicators are of limited value without context, as they take no account of volumes, only of processing time. Reviewing performance for the nine councils with higher volumes than Renfrewshire shows that the percentage of Community Care grants decided in 15 days ranged from 62% Public
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to 99%, and the national average is 91%. In relation to Crisis Grants, Renfrewshire’s performance is currently behind those who have higher volumes. Adult Social Care 4.13 Two adult social care indicators have had 2024/25 data published. The first is the rate of readmission to hospital and performance remains strong with 83.57 readmissions per 1000 discharges in 2024/25, well below the Scottish average of 102.8 and the best performance in our family group. Renfrewshire continues to be the best performing council in relation to minimising delayed discharge from hospital. There has been an improvement in the percentage of care services graded ‘Good’ or better by the Care Inspectorate from 75.4% in 2023/24 to 82.1% in 2024/25; it should be noted that this includes all care services in Renfrewshire regardless of who provides them. All registered services provided directly by Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership were graded ‘Good’ or better as at 30 September 2025. Environmental Services 4.14 Data for 2024/25 on the condition of roads has been published, and shows that Renfrewshire continues to perform well. In all four categories of roads, our performance is better than the Scottish average. Performance is particularly strong for class A and B roads. This reflects several years of sustained investment in roads and a recent focus on class A roads. 4.15 The Street Cleanliness score, as measured by 3 random samples across the year, improved in 2024/25 to 91.7%, from 88.5%. This is in line with the Scottish average and means our ranked position is no longer in the bottom 8 councils. Litter picking programmes have been increased alongside continuing support for Team Up to Clean and the work of the Flytipping taskforce. Additional targeted deep cleans in some communities have also been in place since early 2024. Economic Development 4.16 The number of start-ups supported by Business Gateway, as measured per 10,000 population, was 14.15 in 2024/25, lower than the previous year’s figure of 16.3. This indicator is partly dependent on when entrepreneurs decide to launch their business, and Business Gateway continues to support hundreds of new businesses each year. In 2024.25, they supported 265 new businesses to launch. 4.17 The two indicators on claimant count – the percentage of people claiming employment benefits – showed improvement in 2024/25. Claimant count for the entire working age population fell from 3.2% in 2023/24 to 3.06% in 2024/25 whilst claimant count for those aged 16-24 fell from 3.7% to 3.57% over the same time period. The Council continues to offer a range of support to help people into employment and during 2024/25 employability services supported over 1400 people in Renfrewshire. Public
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4.18 The Gross Value Added per capita indicator – measuring the value of goods and services produced in the area once costs of production are accounted for - has been updated with 2023/24 data. This indicator helps show the local economy’s post-pandemic recovery. Developments such as AMIDS, improved transport links and regeneration grants to local businesses all contribute to the improved performance, with GVA per capita rising from £23,758 in 2023/24 to £25,925 in 2024/25. Tackling Climate Change 4.19 All five climate change indicators have been updated with 2023/24 data. The data shows a continued reduction in area-wide emissions and in those within the scope of the local authority to control. Emissions from transport and from natural gas have reduced, though there has been a slight increase in emissions from electricity. Renfrewshire Council is in the top 8 councils for four of the five climate measures, and outperforms the Scottish average on all five, as Figure 1 below shows. 4.20 No new data for indicators in the categories of Culture and Leisure, Housing Services, Corporate Assets or Financial Sustainability has been published since the last update to this Board. 6. Monitoring and reporting of LGBF 6.1 The performance of the LGBF indicators will continue to be monitored by the Corporate Management Team, through service improvement planning processes and through further benchmarking activities to develop and share best practice. Reports will continue to be submitted to the Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Board every six months to review performance and monitor progress. 6.2 Officers have established a new Performance Group to provide an additional focus on performance at service and council level, measured by local indicators as well as benchmarking indicators. The Group has already commenced regular deep-dives to promote a council-wide understanding of what is driving performance change and how improvement can be supported where necessary. All services are represented on the Group and current work includes exploring LGBF indicators with a focus on cost indicators. 6.3 Renfrewshire Council publishes its statutory Public Performance Reporting document on the Council’s website in March each year. The LGBF Dashboard on the Council’s website will be updated every six months and can be viewed here. Public
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Figure 1: Renfrewshire performance on climate indicators relative to Scotland (aim to minimise) Implications of this report 1. Financial – No direct implications though the report includes cost-based measures. 2. HR and Organisational Development – none 3. Community/Council Planning – the indicators contribute to our understanding of performance in relation to Community Plan and Council Plan themes. 4. Legal – none 5. Property/Assets – no direct implications but the report references indicators relating to council assets. 6. Information Technology – n/a 4.06 3.5 17.09 31.09 43.3 4.59 4.04 28.67 46.74 56.17 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 CLIM1 CO2 emissions area wide per capita CLIM2 CO2 emissions are wide: emissions within scope of LA per capita CLIM03 CO2 emissions from Transport per 1000 population CLIM04 CO2 emissions from Electricity per 1000 population CLIM05 CO2 emissions from Natural Gas per 1000 population Renfrewshire Scotland Public
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7. Equality & Human Rights – The recommendations contained within this report have not been assessed in relation to their impact on equalities and human rights. The report contains information about past performance and is for noting. 8. Health and Safety – none 9. Procurement – no direct implication but the report includes details of an indicator relating to the Council’s procurement spend. 10. Risk – none 11. Privacy Impact – none 12. COSLA Policy Position – the LGBF framework represents a joint commitment by SOLACE (Scotland) and COSLA to develop better measurement and comparable data to target resources and drive improvements. 13. Children’s Rights – no direct implications from the recommendations but the report contains information about performance indicators relating to services for children and young people. 14. Climate Risk – no direct implications but the report includes measures relating to CO2 emissions. Author: Lisa Fingland, Policy Manager, lisa.fingland@renfrewshire.gov.uk Public
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Appendix 1: Updated indicators Indicators are grouped by service category. The tables show Renfrewshire’s position for the last three years, the Scottish average, and the Family Group range and ranking. Indicators which are in the top eight councils for performance are highlighted in pale green and indicators in the bottom eight councils are highlighted in pale red. Family Groups allow comparisons and encourage discussions between similar councils. Renfrewshire is currently in the following family groups: • Family Group 3 for population type, which includes Children Services, Adult Social Care and Housing Services – Clackmannanshire, Dumfries & Galloway, Falkirk, Fife, Renfrewshire, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, and West Lothian. • Family Group 3 for area, which includes Corporate Services, Culture and Leisure, Environmental Services, Corporate Assets, Economic Development, Financial Sustainability, Tackling Climate Change – Angus, Clackmannanshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, Midlothian, Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian. Children’s Services Eight indicators have been updated with 2023/24 data. Indicator Ranked Position Data Scottish Average Family Group (Maximum/Minimum) Family Group Ranking 2022/2 3 2023/24 2024/25 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25 CHN8a The Gross Cost of "Children Looked After" in Residential Based Services per Child per Week 27 31 n/a £6,157.69 £7,475.52 n/a £5,281.82 Renfrewshire (£7,475.52) and Dumfries & Galloway (£4,371.59) 8 CHN8b The Gross Cost of "Children Looked After" in a Community Setting per Child per Week 7 8 n/a £337.05 £386.62 n/a £474.68 Fife (£616.53) and Renfrewshire (£386.62) 1 CHN9 % of children being looked after in the community 9 5 n/a 91.7 92.8 n/a 88.82% Clackmannanshire (93.87%) and Falkirk (84.9%) 2 Public
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CHN17 % of children meeting developmental milestones 28 25 n/a 79 80.6 n/a 83.27% Fife (83.52%) and Dumfries & Galloway (78.89%) 6 CHN19b School attendance rate (Looked After Children) 26 21 n/a 82.2 82.98 n/a 83.69% Falkirk (87.94%) and Dumfries & Galloway (77.71%) 6 CHN22 % of child protection re- registrations within 18 months 21 22 n/a 2.29 10.7 n/a 5.81% South Ayrshire and West Lothian (0%) and Clackmannanshire (16.36%) 5 CHN23 % LAC with more than 1 placement in the last year (Aug- July) 14 7 n/a 15.78 14.59 n/a 17.5% Fife (23.52%) and West Lothian (14.51%) 2 CHN24 % of children living in poverty (After Housing Costs) 18 12 n/a 24 20.99 n/a 20.74% Clackmannanshire (28.46%) and South Lanarkshire (19.55%) 3 Corporate Services Four indicators have been updated with 2024/25 data. Indicator Ranked Position Data Scottish Average Family Group (Maximum/Minimum) Family Group Ranking 2022/2 3 2023/24 2024/25 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25 CORP 9 % of Crisis Grant decisions within 1 day 28 17 30 83.30% 85.75% 89.25% 96.00% East Renfrewshire (100%) and Renfrewshire (89.25%) 8 CORP 10 % of CCG Grant decisions within 15 days 16 18 21 90.10% 86.25% 93.96% 90.62% Clackmannanshire, East Renfrewshire and Midlothian (all 100%) and Angus (83.58%) 7 CORP 11 The proportion of SWF Budget Spent 14 8 6 130% 145% 96.66% 82.9% East Renfrewshire (133.29%) and West Lothian (65.93%) 3 CORP 12 Proportion of DHP Funding spent 1 1 1 106% 119% 117% 99% Renfrewshire (117%) and Angus (83%) 1 Adult Social Care Public
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Three indicators have been updated with data for 2024/25. Indicator Ranked Position Data Scottish Average Family Group (Maximum/Minimum) Family Group Ranking 2022/2 3 2023/24 2024/25 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25 SW6 Rate of readmission to hospital within 28 days per 1,000 discharges 4 8 7 80.15 85.4 83.57 102.8 Falkirk (140.91) and Renfrewshire (83.57) 1 SW7 Proportion of care services graded 'good' (4) or better in Care Inspectorate inspections 15 24 19 78 75.4 82.1 81.9 Fife (73.5%) and Falkirk (89.9%) 5 SW8 Number of days people spend in hospital when they are ready to be discharged, per 1,000 population (75+) 3 1 1 295.92 138.74 164.04 924.79 South Ayrshire (1643.7) and Renfrewshire (164.04) 1 Environment Five indicators have been updated with data for 2024/25. Indicator Ranked Position Data Scottish Average Family Group (Maximum/Minimum) Family Group Ranking 2022/2 3 2023/24 2024/25 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25 ENV3c Street Cleanliness Score 10 26 17 93.3% 88.5% 91.7% 91.7% East Renfrewshire (94.86%) and Clackmannanshire (82.38%) 4 ENV4b % of A Class roads that should be considered for maintenance treatment 2 2 4 15.5% 14.8% 18.0% 31.0% West Lothian (34%) and Inverclyde and Renfrewshire (18%) 1 ENV4c % of B Class roads that should be considered for maintenance treatment 4 3 7 19.25% 20.7% 25.0% 35.0% Angus (42%) and Clackmannanshire (23%) 2 Public
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ENV4d % of C Class roads that should be considered for maintenance treatment 11 11 18 27% 27.6% 31.0% 34% Clackmannanshire and Midlothian (28%) and West Lothian (42%) 5 ENV4e % of U Class roads that should be considered for maintenance treatment 6 9 9 30.1% 30.9% 31.0% 36.0% East Renfrewshire and Midlothian (43%) and West Lothian (30%) 2 Economic Development One indicator has been updated with 2023/24 data and three with 2024/25 data. Indicator Ranked Position Data Scottish Average Family Group (Maximum/Minimum) Family Group Ranking 2022/2 3 2023/24 2024/25 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25 ECON5 No of business gateway start-ups per 10,000 population 27 12 17 11.6 16.3 14.15 12.38 Angus (17.67) and South Lanarkshire (7.39) 4 ECON11 Gross Value Added (GVA) per capita 14 15 n/a £23,758 £25,925 n/a £30,669 West Lothian (£31,674) and East Renfrewshire (£13,154) 2 ECON12a Claimant Count as % of Working Age Population 20 22 21 3.1 3.2 3.06 3.13. East Renfrewshire (1.79%) and Inverclyde (3.46%) 6 ECON12b Claimant Count as % of 16-24 Population 20 20 18 3.6 3.7 3.57 3.32 East Renfrewshire (1.75%) and Clackmannanshire (4.79%) 5 Tackling Climate Change All five indicators have been updated with 2023/24 data. Indicator Ranked Position Data Scottish Average Family Group (Maximum/Minimum) Family Group Ranking 2022/2 3 2023/24 2024/25 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25 CLIM01 CO2 emissions area wide, per capita 16 16 n/a 4.4 4.06 n/a 4.59 Clackmannanshire (8.56) and East Renfrewshire (3.48) 5 Public
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CLIM02 CO2 emissions area wide, emissions within scope of LA, per capita 11 7 n/a 3.8 3.5 n/a 4.04 Clackmannanshire (5.79) and East Renfrewshire (2.99) 4 CLIM03 Emissions from transport per 1,000 population 10 7 n/a 18.2 17.09 n/a 28.67 West Lothian (23.26) and East Renfrewshire (8.55) 3 CLIM04 Emissions from electricity per 1,000 population 1 1 n/a 30.3 31.09 n/a 46.74 Midlothian (45.16) and Renfrewshire (31.09) 1 CLIM05 Emissions from natural gas per 1,000 population 8 7 n/a 46.2 43.3 n/a 56.17 Inverclyde (90.53) and Clackmannanshire (40.81) 2 Public
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Appendix 2: Indicators ranked in top eight and bottom eight of local authorities Top quarter ranking • CHN8b The Gross Cost of "Children Looked After" in a Community Setting per Child per Week • CHN9 % of children being looked after in the community • CHN23 % LAC with more than 1 placement in the last year (Aug-July) • CORP 12 Proportion of DHP Funding spent • SW6 Rate of readmission to hospital within 28 days per 1,000 discharges • SW8 Number of days people spend in hospital when they are ready to be discharged, per 1,000 population (75+) • ENV4b % of A Class roads that should be considered for maintenance treatment • ENV4c % of B Class roads that should be considered for maintenance treatment • CLIM02 CO2 emissions area wide, emissions within scope of LA, per capita • CLIM03 Emissions from transport per 1,000 population • CLIM04 Emissions from electricity per 1,000 population • CLIM05 Emissions from natural gas per 1,000 population Bottom quarter ranking • CHN8a The Gross Cost of "Children Looked After" in Residential Based Services per Child per Week • CHN17 % of children meeting developmental milestones • CORP 9 % of Crisis Grant decisions within 1 day Public