National Indicator 14 (NI 14) is one of the 198 indicators against which local government will be assessed within the new performance management framework. This has been agreed between Communities and Local Government and the Local Government Association (LGA).
Reducing avoidable contact report (PDF, 68 pages, 1484KB)
The indicator aims to reduce ‘avoidable contact’ between the community and local authorities. Examples of ‘avoidable contact’ include calls from citizens to chase progress on service requests. Such calls are usually of little value to either the citizen or the local authority. However, they can often represent a significant proportion of contact volumes.
Councils will be required to report NI 14 data for the first time in April 2009 and will be expected to be ready for data collection to begin in October 2008.
Recognising that NI 14 represents a different way of thinking about the demand that local government receives, Communities and Local Government, the Cabinet Office and the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) have jointly produced a guide to NI 14. It is based on work in a number of pilot authorities.
The table below offers a rough guide to the sample sizes required to achieve a statistically significant result at different volumes of contact. The figures are based on achieving a confidence level of 95 per cent with an acceptable margin of error of three per cent.
| Population | Sample needed +/-3% @ 95% |
|---|---|
| 3,000,000 | 1,067 |
| 2,500,000 | 1,067 |
| 2,000,000 | 1,066 |
| 1,500,000 | 1,066 |
| 1,000,000 | 1,066 |
| 750,000 | 1,066 |
| 500,000 | 1,065 |
| 400,000 | 1,064 |
| 300,000 | 1,063 |
| 200,000 | 1,061 |
| 150,000 | 1,060 |
| 100,000 | 1,056 |
| 75,000 | 1,052 |
| 50,000 | 1,045 |
| 40,000 | 1,039 |
| 30,000 | 1,030 |
| 20,000 | 1,013 |
| 10,000 | 964 |
| 8,000 | 942 |
| 6,000 | 906 |
| 5,000 | 879 |
| 4,000 | 842 |
| 3,000 | 787 |
| 2,000 | 696 |
| 1,000 | 516 |
| 750 | 440 |
| 500 | 340 |
Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council has produced a presentation and quiz for staff on NI 14 which may help you in your council.
Dudley presentation and staff quiz (PDF, 20 pages, 118KB)
The presentation includes speaker's notes – to access them click on the red 'speech bubble' on the top left hand corner.
Although NI 14 is an important measure in its own right, many councils are already seeing reductions in avoidable contact. This is part of their wider programmes to improve services to customers and reduce costs.
This is the approach that we believe offers most value to our councils and our citizens.
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