Accountability
How answers are checked
Every answer comes from the records published for a council: services, projects, public assets, the investment profile and public documents. Each record names its source. The answer service cannot use anything else.
Five checks before you see an answer
- Personal details are removed firstPhone numbers, email addresses, identity numbers and "my name is" phrases are stripped from your question before it is stored or sent anywhere.
- Only published records are usedThe answer service receives the council's published registers and the passages from published public documents that match your question. Drafts and internal documents are not included.
- Every answer must cite a recordThe answer names the record IDs it relied on. If it cannot cite a real, published record, it is replaced with "We don't have that in the approved records yet".
- Figures are checked against the recordAny number of four or more digits in an answer must appear in a cited record. Otherwise the answer is withheld and the question is logged for the council to fill.
- Instructions hidden in questions are refusedA question asking the service to ignore its records or to state a particular result is not sent to the model at all.
What the stamp means
Checked answer means the answer passed all five checks and links to the records it used. Verified on a record means the council has confirmed it. On a record, the stamp shows the source and, once the council's data owner has confirmed it, the date it was last confirmed. Not yet verified means the record is published but no confirmation date is on file.
What the service will not do
It does not take payments, fill forms, or give legal or medical advice. It gives no opinions about officials, contractors or politics. For a complaint, a dispute or a personal case, use "Talk to a person" and a named officer will follow up.
If an answer is wrong
Use "Flag a wrong answer" under the answer. Flags go to the council's data owner, who corrects the record and closes the flag. Measured accuracy for each council is published on the scoreboard.