Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about council attendance data and how to interpret the statistics.
What is council attendance?
Council attendance refers to how often elected councillors attend official council meetings. This includes full council meetings, committee meetings, and other formal sessions where councillors are expected to participate in local government decision-making.
Where does the attendance data come from?
All attendance data is scraped from official council websites using the Modern.Gov (ModGov) system, which is used by most UK local authorities to publish meeting information. The data is collected directly from each council's public records.
How is attendance percentage calculated?
Attendance percentage is calculated by dividing the number of meetings a councillor actually attended by the number of meetings they were expected to attend, then multiplying by 100. For example, if a councillor attended 45 out of 50 expected meetings, their attendance would be 90%.
What counts as "expected" meetings?
Expected meetings are those where a councillor was scheduled to attend based on their committee memberships and role. This excludes meetings they were not required to attend. The expected count comes directly from the council's own records.
How often is the data updated?
The data is updated periodically by scraping the latest information from council websites. The "last updated" date shown on each council page indicates when that council's data was last refreshed.
Why might a councillor have low attendance?
Low attendance can occur for various legitimate reasons including illness, parental leave, caring responsibilities, or other approved absences. Some councils record apologies separately, while others may not. The raw attendance figure doesn't always tell the full story.
Which councils are included?
We include UK local councils that use the ModGov system for publishing their meeting records. This covers the majority of councils in England, Scotland, and Wales. We are continuously adding more councils to improve coverage.
Can I use this data for research or journalism?
Yes, this data is collected from publicly available sources and can be used for research, journalism, and civic engagement purposes. We encourage transparency in local government. Please credit Local Democracy UK if you use the data.
How do I report an error in the data?
If you notice incorrect data, please check the original council website first. If there's a discrepancy between our data and the official records, please contact us so we can investigate and correct any errors.
Why is my council not listed?
Some councils use different systems for publishing meeting records that we cannot currently access. We are working to expand coverage. If your council uses ModGov and isn't listed, please let us know.
Still have questions?
Learn more about our data collection process on the About page, or explore the national overview to see aggregated statistics.