Changelog & roadmap · Islands Observatory

08 · Changelog & roadmap — what this observatory is, what changed, what's needed next

Public lensThis page is the observatory being honest about itself: what was built and when, what each island still refuses (or forgets) to publish, and what would improve the picture. If something here matters to you, it's a doorstep question.

Politician lensThe improvement path below is a scrutiny agenda sorted by jurisdiction — Guernsey heads it for a reason. Each item names the document or dataset, who holds it, and the mechanism (publication, FOI, Rule 14, PQ).

Management lensTreat the improvement path as a data-maturity backlog: everything here is routine publication elsewhere. The cheapest reputational wins are the items marked "publish proactively".

Changelog

Improvement path — what we need, by jurisdiction

Analytical notes — the full set (jurisdiction-specific notes also surface on the Hub)

Why Guernsey heads the list — the accountability-ingredient matrix

Methodology & data governance notes

Sources. Every displayed figure carries a source string (document + date) reachable by hover, tap or inline chip. The consolidated data layer (observatory_data.js) is generated by script from extraction CSVs in the observatory library; nothing is hand-typed into pages. Primary sources: government/board annual reports and accounts, Audit Scotland/KPMG annual audits, HIS inspection reports, C&AG/JAO reports, DHSC Assessments of Manx Care, Tynwald Hansard and written answers, ONS/NRS/PHS statistics, CAA punctuality statistics, and FOI responses held in the library.

Comparability. Jurisdictions differ in definitions, targets, reporting windows and population bases. Basis lines are mandatory on comparison rows; 3-year rolling averages (small populations) are marked and never silently mixed with single-year rates; derived figures (per-capita, per-1,000, inversions) are labelled derived; DERIVED Sankey nodes state their derivation.

Gaps. Missing data is displayed, not hidden: red chips = no comparable public figure exists; blue chips = published somewhere we have not yet extracted (each maps to a roadmap item). Gaps are findings.

Views. The Public view uses plain language and does not draft formal requests; Politician and Management views expose question/FOI wording and benchmark framing. The view switch changes emphasis, never the underlying numbers.

Corrections. Errors: observatory@coalfinch.com. Build log and change history: see the Roadmap page.