State of Record

Evidence-first institutional intelligence

Public institutions publish change in fragments.

State of Record holds the evolving public record together, so you can see what changed, what persists and what the evidence does not yet settle.

Follow the record

What the record shows.

Each figure and date below is quoted from the paper or notice that stated it, or worked out from those that were.

earlier statementlater statement, in amber

Each line is drawn to one length; its length does not show size.

01A forecast that moved

Durham County Council

The same future, stated years apart.

In June 2021 Durham’s medium-term plan stated a shortfall for 2025-26: £9.4m of savings still to find. When the council set that year’s budget, in February 2025, the shortfall before planned savings stood at £21.5m. Held side by side, the two statements show the direction of travel.

£9.4msavings requirement, June 2021+£12.1mbetween the two statements£21.5mshortfall before planned savings, February 2025

The February 2025 budget report set planned savings of £18.0m against the £21.5m shortfall. Plans are revised as circumstances change; the record keeps each version.

Source
Medium-term plan, June 2021. Budget report, February 2025.
What this does not settle
Indicative, not an audited outturn.
02A due date that moved

Sunderland City Council

A due date, kept notice by notice.

A Sunderland decision, on funding for the Sheepfolds car park, was first due in December 2025. Seven revised notices later, the due date stood at October 2026. Held together, the notices show how it moved.

Dec 2025notice of 12 November 2025300 daysacross seven revised noticesOct 2026notice of 8 September 2026

Decisions move in the ordinary course of governance; the record keeps each version.

Source
Statutory notices, 12 November 2025 to 8 September 2026.
What this does not settle
As at the notice of 8 September 2026 the decision was still listed, so the date may move again.
03A plan and its delivery

Durham County Council

Agreed, then delivered.

In its February 2024 budget Durham agreed £8.1m of savings for 2024-25. The council’s outturn report for the year records £7.1m delivered by March 2025. The retained record lets you set one beside the other.

£8.1magreed, February 2024£1.0mbetween agreed and delivered£7.1mdelivered by March 2025, as reported July 2025

The outturn report also gives a revised in-year target of £8.0m. Savings programmes are revised in year.

Source
Both figures from the council’s final outturn report for 2024-25, presented to Cabinet in July 2025.
What this does not settle
The outturn is the council’s management account, ahead of its audited accounts.

The record holds each edition as it was published, the earliest paper dating from 2006.

Any reading can be challenged.

We retain history so change becomes visible.

Every edition keeps its own date and its own source.

When a source changes, the earlier state remains available, so a movement can be shown against what came before rather than reconstructed after the fact.

NowThis quarterThis yearLast yearEarlier yearsFurther back

Built on evidence, not opinion.

The figures are not ours. Each was published first by a public institution, or worked out from figures that were, and you can check it before you repeat it.

Every reading carries the source it came from: the document and page, or the national series and release. Where a reading rests on one source, it is presented as that source’s statement, not as settled fact. Where the record holds more than one, they are set against each other before anything is published.

The system looks for what would contradict a reading, not only for what supports it. Where the evidence does not hold, the reading is held back rather than published. Any reading can be challenged.

01Find and standardiseCollect from official sources and holdwhat is collected in a common structure.02Cross-check and challengeTest each reading against the otherrecords held, across time.03Keep what is supportedRetain what the evidencecarries, with its source attached.Held with its evidenceReferred for human reviewWhere evidence is thin or conflicting,the reading is held back for review.
  1. 01Find and standardise. Collect from official sources and hold what is collected in a common structure.
  2. 02Cross-check and challenge. Test each reading against the other records held, across time.
  3. 03Keep what is supported. Retain what the evidence carries, with its source attached.
  4. Held with its evidence. What the evidence carries is retained, with its source attached.
  5. Referred for human review. Leaves the route where evidence is thin or conflicting. The reading is held back for review.

The North East Observatory.

The Observatory is where State of Record is put to work: the retained, connected record of North East local government, held in one place and added to daily. The findings above are drawn from it.

Access

The Observatory is behind a gate while its record is being verified. If you want to see it, ask: access is granted personally.

Enter the ObservatoryRequest access

Each enquiry is read personally.

State of Record is built for questions that cannot be answered from one document, one institution or one moment in time.

It is early here, and deliberately quiet. Enquiries and requests for access are made by email rather than through a form.

If your question belongs here

Tell us what you are trying to understand, and we will say plainly whether the record can support it. If you would like to see the Observatory, ask for access.

alexander@intentforge.co.uk

State of Record is a trading name of Intent Forge Ltd.