You don’t learn to drive a car by sitting on the drive
At Foundations, we’re not a campaign group, and we’re not a think tank.
We don’t wait around for the perfect strategy or chase headlines. We focus on making things that local authorities can use straight away. Tools that help people take stock, make sense of what’s happening, and start making things better.
A lot of useful data gets collected in this sector. But we could do more with it. Not by asking for new information, but by reflecting it back in a way that’s clear, accessible and easy to use.
That’s where the DFG Scorecards came in.
Each year, councils submit detailed data to government about how they deliver Disabled Facilities Grants. It covers things like grant numbers, average costs, delivery times and tenure split. It’s valuable information. But once it’s submitted, it often stays within a small group. We saw an opportunity to bring that data back to the people delivering the work.
So we created a simple one-page scorecard for each council. It shows how they compare to national averages and to other authorities in their region. It highlights areas to celebrate and areas to reflect on. And it gives a starting point for local conversations about what’s working and what could be improved.
Councils have used the scorecards to spark internal reviews, explain performance to members, and support requests for more resource. Others have just welcomed a clear picture of where they stand. And each year, we improve the scorecards based on what people tell us they need.
That’s how we work. We don’t just offer analysis. We turn insights into practical tools that can be used straight away. We aim to help people learn as they go, not wait until everything is perfect.
You’ll see the same mindset in everything we do. Our bathroom guidance. Our adaptations diagnostic. Our growing range of templates. Each one starts with a real-world problem, and is built with the people who do the work.
You don’t learn to drive a car by sitting on the drive. You learn by getting behind the wheel.
That’s the Foundations ethos. Build something useful. Share it. Learn from what happens. Then make it better.
Because real change doesn’t come from theory. It comes from doing.