David Oates

David Oates is an experienced data analytics and performance management consultant who has spent more than 20 years helping public-sector organisations understand their information, measure performance and make evidence-led decisions.

His career encompasses policing, adult social care, local government and corporate performance management. He has worked with senior leadership teams, chief officers, operational departments and public-sector partners, turning complex data into clear findings that organisations can use with confidence.

David brings this considerable analytical experience to Complete Licensing, strengthening the company’s ability to examine statistical evidence, identify meaningful trends and present complicated information in an accessible and persuasive form.

A career built around data and evidence

David began his professional career in 2005 as a data analyst within the Management Information team at Nottinghamshire Police.

During the following eight years, he progressed to Senior Performance Analyst and subsequently became a team manager. He worked closely with Chief Constables, Deputy Chief Constables, departmental heads and local partner organisations, supporting both strategic decision-making and operational performance management.

David helped move the team towards a more statistically informed approach to performance analysis. This included introducing and developing techniques such as statistical process control, commonly known as SPC, and predictive analytics.

SPC analysis helps organisations distinguish normal fluctuations from genuine changes in performance. Used effectively, it can prevent decision-makers from overreacting to isolated figures while helping them recognise significant patterns that require further investigation.

This combination of statistical understanding and practical operational experience remains central to David’s approach.

Performance analysis within adult social care

In 2013, David joined Nottingham City Council as a Principal Performance Analyst in its Corporate Performance team, specialising in adult social care.

Adult social care involves extensive and frequently sensitive information. Effective analysis must take account of service quality, demand, resources, outcomes, statutory reporting requirements and the experiences of people receiving care.

David developed his knowledge of business intelligence and reporting technologies, including Power BI, SQL and SQL Server Reporting Services. Working with his colleagues, he used these skills to create a bespoke collection of analytical tools for senior leaders across adult social care and the wider council.

These tools enabled decision-makers to understand performance more clearly, identify developing pressures and examine the evidence behind headline figures.

David’s value lies not simply in producing reports or dashboards, but in understanding what the information means, whether it is reliable and how it should influence operational and strategic decisions.

Senior public-sector data leadership

Since 2018, David has worked as a data analytics and performance management consultant, undertaking senior assignments for local authorities in England and Wales. His professional experience includes work with:

• the London Borough of Tower Hamlets;
• Herefordshire County Council;
• Derby City Council;
• Torfaen County Borough Council;
• Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council; and
• Surrey County Council.

The positions he has undertaken include Senior Performance and Intelligence Manager, Performance Management Consultant and Head of Performance and Data Management.

These roles have given David extensive experience of organisational data lifecycles, corporate reporting, performance frameworks, partnership working and data-led problem solving.

Turning public-service data into meaningful evidence

David’s work at the London Borough of Tower Hamlets provides a public example of his ability to communicate statistical findings in a decision-making environment.

Official Tower Hamlets Health and Adults Scrutiny Sub-Committee records identify David as the council’s Senior Performance and Intelligence Manager for Health, Adults and Community.

The records show David presenting the results of the Adult Social Care Service User Survey to the committee. The information was used to monitor changes over time, support national, regional and local benchmarking, assess the effect of services on people’s quality of life and identify possible areas for improvement.

The committee discussion covered response rates, data accuracy, benchmarking and the accessibility of survey questions. This demonstrates the importance of being able to explain not only the results of an analysis, but also the methodology, limitations and practical implications behind those results.

Head of Performance and Data Management

David’s senior leadership experience is also reflected in official Surrey County Council performance-monitoring records, which identify him as Head of Performance and Data Management.

In this role, David contributed to the council’s corporate performance-monitoring process, helping councillors and senior officers understand performance indicators, reporting arrangements and the evidence behind published results.

This type of work requires more than technical data skills. It demands professional judgement, attention to data quality and an ability to respond clearly when figures are questioned or require additional context.

David is experienced in examining whether performance measures are genuinely useful, whether the underlying information is robust and whether a reported change represents a meaningful trend.

Data analysis for licensing matters

Licensing cases can involve substantial quantities of information. Relevant evidence may include crime and disorder statistics, incident logs, complaints, customer numbers, entry and dispersal times, noise information, local demographics and patterns of activity around licensed premises.

This information does not always tell a simple story. Figures can be incomplete, taken out of context or affected by changes in reporting practices, enforcement activity and the way information has been collected.

David’s role is to help ensure that data is examined objectively and interpreted properly. His analytical support can include:

• reviewing large or complicated datasets;
• identifying trends, patterns and unusual variations;
• comparing performance across different periods or locations;
• assessing the reliability and limitations of the available information;
• using statistical analysis to test assumptions;
• producing clear charts, dashboards and visual evidence;
• translating technical findings into understandable language; and
• supporting evidence-led reports and presentations.

His background enables him to approach licensing data with the same discipline he has applied throughout his policing and local-government career.

Business intelligence and analytical capability

David has practical experience across the complete data lifecycle, from extraction and quality assurance through to analysis, visualisation and presentation. His technical and professional capabilities include data analytics and interpretation, performance management, statistical process control, predictive analytics, Power BI reporting and dashboards, SQL data interrogation, SQL Server Reporting Services, corporate performance frameworks, benchmarking and trend analysis, data-quality assessment, senior leadership reporting, and partnership and stakeholder working.

The technology supports David’s work, but it is his ability to ask the right questions and explain the resulting evidence that distinguishes his contribution.

David Oates and Complete Licensing

At Complete Licensing, David complements the company’s legal, regulatory, operational and enforcement expertise with specialist data analytics and performance-management knowledge.

He can help the wider team examine the evidence behind a licensing concern, establish whether reported patterns are statistically meaningful and communicate the results in a form that clients and decision-makers can understand.

His experience is particularly valuable where a licensing application, review or operational problem involves extensive statistics, disputed interpretations or information drawn from several different sources.

By combining analytical rigour with a practical understanding of public-sector decision-making, David helps Complete Licensing provide clients with balanced, credible and evidence-led professional support.