Welsh Councils, National Parks and Fire and Rescue Authorities are getting better at connecting what they want to achieve with their plans and resources and some are presenting a clear and candid picture to local people. But a report, published today by the Auditor General for Wales, also found that poor information makes it difficult to be sure that they really understand their own performance enough to address the challenges they face.

Today's report looks at how well local authorities are planning, delivering and reporting their improvement. It concludes that while they are all complying with their legal obligations both to plan for, and report, improvement, they are not consistently acting in accordance with Welsh Government guidance and acting on the recommendations of regulators.

For example, many authorities need to improve the way they evaluate and report on their performance to the public - such as comparing performance against their objectives over time, and comparing their performance with other authorities. And, in some instances, authorities are not including relevant comparison and performance measures, especially where they are not doing so well.