Transformational Government the view from Communities and

Transformational Government – the view from Communities and Local Government Colin Whitehouse Senior Advisor Local Government Modernisation and Efficiency Communities and Local Government

Transformational Government Strategy • Ten year strategy, published November 2005 • Three main elements – Services orientated towards needs of citizen and business – Shared Services • Front office • Back office • Information • Infrastructure – Raising standards of professionalism • More collaboration required across the whole of the public sector • e. Gov –> Efficiency –> Transformational Government journey 2

Policy context - a tipping point? LG White Paper: Strong & Prosperous Communities expanding choice local engagement Shared Services - Varney Competition & contestability Public national/ local arrangements to align with different ‘customer’ need. Transformational Govt CSR 07 – 3% efficiency p. a. services reform the 4 core principles Health White Paper: ‘Our Health, Our Care, Our Say’ ‘Every Child Matters’ ‘Closer to People and Places’ (LGA) customers, customers ……. and all they really care about are outcomes and council tax “Frontline staff are there to deliver services to the user … …. productive time can be reduced if people are having to spend too much time servicing the organisation rather than their customers. ” Sir Peter Gershon 3

Key areas for improvement • Better information and intelligent analysis • Business Process Improvement & Service Redesign • Procurement • Asset management • Use of new technology • Shared Services 4

How do we improve our ‘Business’? • By: – – – Understanding our drivers Understanding what works Having a planned approach Having the drive to see it through Making decisions based on solid information Assessing our capability in a standard way • Developing the capacity to make informed “make or buy” decisions 5

Recent Research on Business Process Improvement Headlines • “BPI is considered to be a vital tool in supporting service improvement” • 80% of LA respondents think BPI is critical to the modernisation of public services • Almost 90% believe their BPI projects to date have been successful • Over 70% of projects have generated cashable efficiency gains • There will be a switch from authorities using BPI to deliver incremental improvements to supporting more extensive transformation. ” • Most (BPI) studies discuss improvement in narrative/qualitative form. Financial information is often sketchy • Baselines are critical to an accurate assessment of efficiency gains – and returns on resources employed – these are rarely cited …(perhaps because they don’t exist) 6

Business Improvement must consider the whole journey Understand/ capture Process review vision for change – a better result being delivered. Perform Gap/ Change Analysis Plan and implement Change Programme Process review As is processes Create To Be processes in order to identify the practical options for business change 7

m ‘business what’s preventing greater/faster progress 3. How to compare & contrast consistently ined 8 - research indicates need to address inter-related issues Sustainable business improvement

…overall a compelling case • for a co-ordinated approach to supporting Business Improvement for councils to transform services • for strengthening capability through the National Improvement Strategy to ‘make it happen’! Strong and prosperous communities The Local Government White Paper “ we will further support effective use of BPI techniques through a project(*) we are carrying out in partnership with local government. We will ensure that the lessons learnt from this project are fully shared across local government, as part of an integrated package of improvement also covering technology an collaboration – a Business Improvement Package. ” Chapter 7 9

Business Improvement Package a LG White Paper commitment SERVICE TRANSFORMATION tools & best practice guidelines (BIP) Evidence for Challenge Benchmarked processes Market Shaping good practice Customer Insight tools Collaboration & Shared Services options Procurement opportunities Strategic Commissioning Good practice Workforce Strategy (Job design) Technology investment Channel Strategy development Customer Service Management systems Delivery Chain/ Process Analysis & design Activity costing (on-costs) Help with business cases – part of an integrated approach to identifying and developing improvement tools that support business cases and practical implementation – a Business Improvement Package (BIP). 10

Barriers and Pitfalls • Lack of baseline data • Disparate understanding of project purpose • Lack of buy in • No real ownership or drive to deliver • Lack of expertise/resource • Unwillingness to take tough decisions • Lack of trust and genuine sharing of risks 11

Questions colin. whitehouse@communities. gsi. gov. uk 12