Transformation Strategy 2022 - 2027

Service Design & Improvement

1.    Overall aim

To provide for a more sustainable and creative approach to the review, remodelling, and improvement of Council services.

 

2.    What need do we need to transform and why?

As a Council, we are proud of the quality of the services that we are able to provide. We have worked hard to increase efficiency in individual services and maintain or improve frontline services in the context of reducing resources. However, to get the best out of the resources available, we need to think differently about how we deliver our services.

This workstream will aim to provide for a more evidence based and sustainable approach to the improvement and remodelling of Council services. Previously, there has been concerns that the Council was not making best use of TIC capacity and that the team’s work was not sufficiently aligned to support the Council’s priorities in respect of service improvement.  

There were also concerns over the pace and delivery of TIC reviews and follow-up improvement plans, and that often the change and improvement generated by these interventions were short-lived and seemed to diminish significantly when TIC resources and governance was withdrawn. 

There will be greater use of data and information to inform the review programme, and it is likely that CMT quarterly performance monitoring reports will be the main source of review requests. Suggestions for reviews may also come directly for Directors or Heads of Service or via elected members.

The current TIC review methodology and any follow-on re-design of processes, will continue to be based on the requirement to identify and best meet the needs of our customers, ensure effective use of data and have evidence-based decision making and to seek all opportunities to eliminate waste and bureaucracy. However, the principles of providing good customer care and having robust and effective performance and workforce management practices have also been integrated into the approach.

Understanding the needs and priorities of service users has been central to the approach adopted as part of previous TIC reviews. There is now an opportunity to take this further and actively involve service users in the review process, especially when looking at options for redesigning processes or the remodelling of service delivery. This emphasis on a ‘co-production’ approach has clear benefits in helping users shape the future of the service around their specific needs.

One of the key lessons learned from undertaking previous TIC reviews has been the need to develop mechanisms to ensure that any changes brought about by the review, result in long term, sustainable change, and improvement. The commitment of leaders within the service to ensure that changes arising from reviews are fully implemented will be key to this, but there will also be a need to develop mechanisms to provide on-going monitoring at a corporate level. The Transformation Team’s project signing off processes will be strengthened and will require services to identify a suite of measures which can then be used to support the on-going monitoring and oversight of performance at a service and corporate level.

 

3.    Key Objectives

• The key objectives for the workstream are to:
• Develop a strategic, evidence-based, and inclusive approach to the identification of transformation reviews and projects with a view to ensuring that the review programme is focussed on supporting key Council objectives and priorities.
• Develop a 3-year rolling programme of reviews.
• Support the development and adoption of an innovative and inclusive approach to the undertaking of reviews, where all relevant stakeholders are effectively engaged in the process.
• Monitor the delivery programme to ensure that reviews are completed in a timely manner and deliver on required outcomes.
• Ensure that robust governance arrangements are in place at the outset of each review to ensure that projects have strong leadership and capacity to undertake the review.
• Oversee the development of robust delivery plans and ensure that these plans maximise  the opportunities to deliver transformational change and improvement.
• Oversee the closure, sign off and post evaluation stages of reviews and identify opportunities to share learning and good practice with the rest of the organisation.
• Make effective use of performance data and other information to ensure sustainability of outcomes from reviews post closure and sign off.
• Develop an internal ‘customer evaluation framework to enable the Transformation Team to continuously review and improve our own project practices.
• Develop and implement a model to support a ‘self-help’ approach to the review of service processes.

 

4.    What will be our priorities for the coming year and beyond?

• Review the position of previous TIC reviews currently still within the delivery/implementation stage and apply the appropriate sign off processes including the production of data to support on-going monitoring at a corporate level by April 2023.
  • Housing Repairs
  • Property Design
  • Planning Enforcement
  • Pensions
  • Risk Management
• Undertake a service review of the Transport Maintenance Unit by June 2023.
• Develop clear and transparent process to support the identification of future service reviews to be undertaken as part of the Transformation Programme by March 2023.
• Undertake a programme of strategic reviews of key cross-cutting priorities to ensure the effective use of resources and better outcomes for end users. On-going.
• Develop a consistent methodology to support the undertaking of reviews and re-modelling within services by March 2023.
• Develop a self-approach to the review of services by March 2023.

 

5.    How will we measure the impact of this work?

• Establishing baseline performance measures for each review undertaken and use existing (or temporary) measures to review impact of service improvements.
• Tangible measures of improvement could include:
  • Increased customer satisfaction results.
  • Improvements in performance measures.
  • Reduction in complaints.
  • Delivery of cashable savings.
  • Productivity increases.
  • An increase in demand and or income.
• Establishing baseline performance measures for each review undertaken.

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