The Department introduced a monthly survey in April 2020 to collect data on the financial pressures faced by local authorities due to the pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, the majority of its regular financial data sets tended to be collected on an annual basis. The Department told us that the switch to a monthly approach did not necessarily mean there was a problem with the data it collected before, but reflected the unprecedented nature of the challenge faced by the sector. The Department told us that the survey had given it “huge insight” into local authorities’ finances on a more immediate and responsive basis than it would normally have. The survey data was also a valuable source of information for other departments.18 In terms of learning from this experience, the Department recognised that there was a benefit to having more information on the sector over the longer-term, 13 Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, Oral evidence: Work of the Department, HC 302, Monday 4 May 2020; Letter to the Secretary of State from the Chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee requesting further information following his appearance on 4 May, 14 May 2020; Committee of Public Accounts, Oral evidence: Local authority commercial investment, Friday 15 May 2020; Committee of Public Accounts, Oral evidence: Whole of Government Response to COVID-19, HC 404, 15 June 2020; Committee of Public Accounts, Oral evidence: Readying the NHS and social care for the COVID-19 peak, HC 405, 22 June 2020; Committee of Public Accounts, Oral evidence: Progress in Remediating Dangerous Cladding, HC 406, 6 July 2020; Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, Oral evidence: Work of the Department, HC 302, 22 July 2020 14 Qq 84–85 15 Q85, 87, 94; C&AG’s Report, paras 2.35–2.36, 4.3 and Figure 7 16 Qq 90, 93–94; C&AG’s Report, para 2.24, 2.31 and Figure 7 17 Qq 87, 90, 94, 120, 123, 135, 139–140, 161; C&AG’s Report, Figure 10 18 Qq 100, 103 and 105; C&AG’s re