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The principle

An executive summary should give the reader the answer. It’s not a description of the report, not a list of the topics it covers, not an account of what is appended to it. The summary should tell the reader the findings, the numbers that matter, and what you are asking for.

The test is simple. If you and someone only the summary and take the rest away would they know the position and the decision that’s needed? If the summary tells them only what subjects the report addresses, it is a table of contents written in sentences, and it has told them nothing they could act on.

Why it fails in practice

A descriptive summary is easier to write, and safer. Listing what a report covers takes no judgement: you name the sections in the order they appear. Stating the answer means deciding what the answer is and putting it, and yourself, on the line in the first paragraph.

And it looks like the real thing. It is short, it sits at the front, it is headed correctly. But it summarises the existence of the report, not its content. The reader reaches the bottom of the summary knowing that a report has been written, and no more.

Before and after

This is the actual summary from a local authority's quarterly budget monitoring report.

Before

This report provides an update on the Authority's budget position after Quarter 1 of 2023/24.

The report further provides information on the process for setting the budget for the forthcoming 2024/25 financial year.

Appended to this report are detailed tables along with the Quarterly Treasury Management Review that is now required. This statement recognises the strong performance on cash management as interest rates and cash balances remain high.

Three paragraphs, and not one tells you what the budget position is. The summary finds room to note that cash management is performing strongly, which is true and minor, while omitting the two things the reader needs: operating spending is forecast to rise by £13m, and £34m of capital will not be spent this year. The material facts are somewhere in the report but they are not in the summary of it.

After

Here is a suggestion for a clearer summary of the same report.

The revised revenue budget for 2023/24 is forecast to be £181m, up from £168m. The £13m increase will be met in full from additional grants and planned use of reserves.

£34m of the capital programme will not be spent this year and will move into 2024/25 because of delays to major projects.

Members are asked to approve the revised revenue budget and the rephasing of the capital programme.

These are the same length but in the second one the reader knows the position, how it is funded, and what they are being asked to approve.

What to do instead

Write the summary last, when you know what the report concludes.

Then, before it goes anywhere, apply the test. Ignore everything below the summary and read only those few sentences. If they do not tell a reader the position and the decision, you have summarised the contents. Go back and write down the two or three things the reader most needs to know, and what you want them to do about them. That is your summary. The list of what the report contains is what the headings are for.

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