Shrewsbury & Atcham
Borough Council

Data Quality Strategy

What is data quality and why is it Important?

Data will be of high quality if it is :

• Accurate (in terms of correctness)
  
• Comprehensive (in terms of all data being captured)
  
• Valid (in an agreed format which conforms to recognised council and national standards)
  
• Available when needed
  
• Stored securely and confidentially
  

Inspection bodies such as the Audit Commission require assurance that performance information is accurate. This is increasing the emphasis on data quality, and the external audit approach of checking calculation and systems reports is developing into the more challenging scrutiny of systems controls. This is likely to entail an examination of the systems and processes for the collection of data and the use of information. The quality of our data is crucial for assessments of council effectiveness. Policies and strategies for ensuring data quality as well as governance and leadership for ensuring accurate and reliable data is essential.

The higher the number of amendments and reservations that we receive regarding our data following external inspection / scrutiny, the lower the confidence that inspectors, government and interested parties will have in the performance information we provide. This results in increased and more detailed inspection and the likelihood of lower performance scores.


Objectives of the Data Quality Strategy

The Council recognises the importance of data quality as we need reliable, accurate and timely performance information with which to manage services, inform users and account for our performance. We are committed to ensuring that we maintain the highest standards of data quality.

(pdf 193k )

(Word 216k)