Reporting a service across public agencies

Following one application

Suppose one agency receives an application, a second checks the supporting information and a third issues the decision. All three can report completed activities while the applicant still waits. Adding their totals would count the same case more than once.

Start the combined report with the service being provided to the applicant. Define when an application enters the service, the events that change its status and the event that closes it. A returned submission, an application awaiting information and a decided case represent different positions. The receiving agency may also accept a resubmission that belongs to a case already counted.

Agencies need a consistent way to recognize a case as it moves between them and to distinguish new arrivals from work carried forward. Agree the definitions and data sources before comparing totals.

Relevant privacy, access and information-sharing requirements need assessment by the responsible specialists. The reporting arrangement should request only the information required for the agreed management purpose. It must not create an informal route for circulating identifiable case material beyond the people authorized to use it.

Transfers and unfinished work

A completed activity can move a case to another queue while the applicant is still waiting. Report how many cases entered each agreed status during the period and how much work remained at the end. When the agencies use different reporting cutoffs, explain how the combined report treats cases moving between those cutoffs.

Start with cases one agency reports as sent and the next reports as received. A difference may come from an incomplete transfer, a changed identifier or a reporting cutoff. Assign someone to investigate it. Keep unresolved data discrepancies separate from cases known to be waiting for a service decision.

The same distinction applies to duration measures. Specify the event that starts the clock and any periods shown separately, such as time awaiting information from the applicant. A shorter internal processing time can coexist with a longer total wait if the work spends more time between agencies.

The agency able to act

Preparing the combined report does not give its author control over the service. Each measure needs an operating owner who can investigate a change and act within the agency’s authority.

For example, an increasing queue after a transfer may concern the completeness of information supplied by the sending agency, capacity at the receiving agency or both. The report needs enough detail to distinguish those causes. An unexplained change can be carried as an investigation with an identified lead and the information required from the other participants.

Some decisions need a joint forum or a formal escalation under the agencies' mandates. State which choices that forum can make and which remain with another authorized body. The reporting team can track the information requested and the actions agreed, while the participating agencies retain their respective service responsibilities.

When the service changes

A new eligibility rule, a different submission channel or an additional participating agency can change what a reported count represents. Confirm the revised service boundary and definitions before comparing the new figures with the previous basis. Keep the explanation with the reported measure for as long as it affects the comparison.

If managers cannot name a decision a measure informs, check whether it duplicates another count or lacks the detail needed to explain a problem. Agree changes with the agencies that supply and use the figures. The revised specification records the definition, its owner and the source for the next reporting period.