About SP-Bench

What is SP-Bench?

SP-Bench allows you to compare the cost, quality and performance of SP services in the UK – empowering your SP team to improve value for money by contrasting your services with similar services from other LAs, grouping by service type, region, Local Authority type and other relevant drivers.

For more information, check out the About page.

How do I register to use SP-Bench?

If your LA uses SPOCC or has already purchased SP-Bench then ask your lead officer to contact us requesting a new login for you.

If you have not yet purchased SP-Bench then take a look at the Purchase page for details on your free trial and how to sign up.

What do I need to be able to use SP-Bench?

The minimum requirements for using this website are:

• A display resolution of at least 1024x768.
• One of the following web browsers:
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 or above (7 recommended).
  • Mozilla Firefox 2.0 or above.
• JavaScript must be enabled.

How do I change my account details?

Click the "Your account" link in the top right hand corner of the screen to update your account details.

See the Account Management documentation for more information on what data is stored and how to update it.

What do I do if an error occurs?

If you come across any error whilst using SP-Bench then let us know! Note down exactly what you were doing at the time and what (if any) error message was displayed. Then contact us or use support.oxfordcc.co.uk to register a support request.

How do I suggest an improvement or change to SP-Bench?

If you have any ideas for improvements or changes to SP-Bench or its reports then let us know or start a discussion on the SP-Bench forum in SPOCC Social.

How do I remove one of my Services from SP-Bench?

If you would like to remove one of your Services from SP-Bench then simply remove that service from your SPLS Extract and upload the new extract to the site. The extract will be processed overnight and the next morning the service will have been removed.

The process of removing the service from the extract is simple for SPOCC users. You can just un-tick the "Show in SPLS Extract" checkbox on the Profile page of that service in SPOCC, then regenerate the extract and the service will not be included. Remember to re-tick the checkbox once you're done, otherwise the service will be excluded from your real SPLS extract too!

If you don't have SPOCC or you'd rather not use the method above then you can just go through the extract files in Excel and remove the rows referring to the service you want to be excluded.

How do I remove all my data from SP-Bench?

If, for any reason, you would like your data to be removed from SP-Bench then contact us and we will make arrangements to have it removed as soon as possible.

Uploading

How do I get my data into SP-Bench?

SP-Bench uses data from the CLG defined SPLS Extract file, which you generate regularly for reporting the state of your services to the CLG. When you're logged in, you can upload this file on the Upload page and the data will be available in the reports the following day (the report data is processed overnight to avoid service interruptions).

If you like, you can supplement the Cost, Performance and Quality data from the SPLS Extract with Outcomes data from the Outcomes spreadsheets the CHR regularly provide you with if you take part in the Outcomes framework. You can upload this in exactly the same way as the SPLS Extract.

For more information on the upload process and on exactly what parts of the SPLS extract SP-Bench requires, have a look at the Uploading and Data Requirements documentation.

What parts of the SPLS Extract does SP-Bench require?

Although the simplest way of uploading your data into SP-Bench is to just give it the full SPLS extract as supplied by your SP system, SP-Bench does not actually require the full extract, it only makes use of certain files and fields within it.

For details of exactly what parts of the SPLS extract SP-Bench requires, have a look at the Data Requirements documentation.

What happens if my file does not pass the import validation?

If you upload an SPLS extract or Outcomes spreadsheet to SP-Bench that does not meet the defined standard, SP-Bench will report a list of validation errors telling you what the problems were and where in the file they occurred.

What happens to my old data when I upload a new file?

Uploading a new SPLS extract into SP-Bench will:

• Update the service cost information, replacing the old values with the latest ones from the new extract.
• Add new service and cost information for services that have not been uploaded to SP-Bench before.
• Update the Performance and Quality information for quarters that were in SP-Bench already.
• Add new Performance and Quality information for quarters that have not been uploaded to SP-Bench before.
• Remove services (and data directly associated with them) not included in the uploaded extract.

Uploading a new Outcomes spreadsheet into SP-Bench will:

• Add any new Outcome records that have not already been imported into SP-Bench.

Reporting

What is the difference between the types of report in SP-Bench?

There are three types of report in SP-Bench:

1. Standard Reports - These reports display a single chart or table usually based on a single measure such as "KPI 2a" or "Average cost per support hour". By default the report will contain the details of services from every LA registered on SP-Bench, you can use the powerful filters to narrow down the results to those you are interested in.
2. Dashboard Reports - These reports display several smaller charts that give a heads-up display of a selection of useful measures relevant to the area you are looking at (Cost, Performance, Quality, Outcomes or Outcomes Failures). These reports also contain details of services from every LA with no preset filters.
3. Benchmark My Service - This report allows you to choose one of your own services and automatically compare it to services with similar features from your Authority and Authorities similar to your own. The service you selected is highlighted in a dashboard of reports to give you an instant feel of how well it performs relative to similar services across the UK.

How do I customise a report?

For details on the ways in which you can customise your reports, take a look at our Reporting documentation.

How are values in the reports rounded?

The values shown on charts and grids in SP-Bench are rounded to two decimal places after all calculations have been performed.

This means that average values may differ very slightly from the apparent average of their component values - the average is calculated from the exact values (not the rounded ones displayed) and then rounded.

How are average values calculated?

Averages are calculated using the exact values of the data involved and then rounded to two decimal places.

This means that average values may differ very slightly from the apparent average of their component values - the average is calculated from the exact values (not the rounded ones displayed) and then rounded.

For Performance Indicators, the average shown is an average of the individual percentage values for each service. For example, the average PI value of 3 services with values 70, 85 and 90 would be 81.67. No calculations are performed on the PI's data items (i.e. the A, B, C values).

Averages exclude null (blank/missing) values but do include zero values.