The next round of efficiency savings requires real transformational change, says Stephen Hughes, who describes Birmingham City Council’s own agenda to release some £1.5bn of cashable savings over 10 years
If the public sector is to rise to the challenge of improving services in the face of growing demand and decreasing central government assistance, councils must adopt a policy of radical transformation rather than piecemeal change.
The easy pickings of efficiency have now been harvested, and it is only by a deeper commitment to change that we can all deliver the bigger savings we must make. At Birmingham, we made the political and executive choice to create a single over-arching Business transformation programme – the largest and most ambitious of its kind ever undertaken in local government. It is a long-term programme with nine workstreams, seeking to realise almost £1.5bn of cashable benefits over 10 years. We have already been able to keep our council tax rise to 1.9% for three consecutive years, largely because of the rewards from our work so far.
Managing these programme workstreams holistically rather than in isolation has been one of our key objectives from the start. We recognise that our ambitious plan just won’t be delivered via singular ‘pockets of excellence’ working autonomously.
The nine work areas are:
l corporate services transformation – CST went live in October 2008, with cashable savings realised, to date, of £247m through procurement savings, redesign of back office functions and processes
l customer first – helping the council provide world-class standards of customer service, aiming customer satisfaction ratings up to a minimum 85%
l excellence in people management – transforming the way we support employees and managers, and underpin the future ways of working
l excellence in information management – extending the value of the council’s information
l working for the future – 21st century office accommodation and new ways of working
l adults and communities transformation – improving the way social care is provided for citizens
l children, young people and families transformation – improving the health and wellbeing of children in Birmingham
l housing services transformation – improving housing, both public and privately owned
l environment – helping deliver the council’s commitment to reducing the city’s carbon footprint by 60% by 2026.
We have faced a serious challenge to manage and implement our vision.
We have, for example, had to find ways to keep 40,000 employees informed and on board with the changes while they attend to their ‘daily business’ of the delivery of frontline services to citizens.
It is vital they feel part of the process, and that they really understand the benefits which will come from the changes they will be asked to make.
They are also working alongside external specialists, who need to engage with them and still be able to absorb knowledge transfer during the change process.
We have had to learn, in particular, from the reaction to our most advanced programme, the CST workstream, where we did not achieve comprehensive engagement across the whole organisation.
We are also working hard to ensure the other individual programmes learn from the CST experience, and Glyn Evans, our corporate director of business change, is pursuing a personal commitment to meet with frontline staff at engagement road shows to share their concerns, increase their understanding and potential capacity for involvement.
So, what else can we share from our work so far?
It is important to have a clear understandable business case outlining the reasons for embarking on any change, with clear support from the leadership, members, corporate management team and staff. There needs to be a clear process to assess and manage the inherent risks in multiple programme scenarios more effectively, through structured governance and procedures, and a point which says the ‘buck stops here’. There must be an explicit process to resolve issues, with all stakeholders involved, and a clear set of communication channels with sufficient capacity to deal with situations as they develop.
When challenges do arise, a team needs to be in place which has the authority and capacity to manage internal and external – including press – communications issues.
Finally, we must manage and own the change from the top down, and ensure we fully engage with the organisation to bring it along with us, managing expectations as we go. As one of the largest of many councils which have set out on a long road for change, let’s dare to be innovative, and remember that not every innovation will work first time. This must be seen as something to learn from, as the beginnings of success. w
Stephen Hughes is chief executive of Birmingham City Council
The easy pickings of efficiency have now been harvested, and it is only by a deeper commitment to change that we can all deliver the bigger savings we must make. At Birmingham, we made the political and executive choice to create a single over-arching Business transformation programme – the largest and most ambitious of its kind ever undertaken in local government. It is a long-term programme with nine workstreams, seeking to realise almost £1.5bn of cashable benefits over 10 years. We have already been able to keep our council tax rise to 1.9% for three consecutive years, largely because of the rewards from our work so far.
Managing these programme workstreams holistically rather than in isolation has been one of our key objectives from the start. We recognise that our ambitious plan just won’t be delivered via singular ‘pockets of excellence’ working autonomously.
The nine work areas are:
l corporate services transformation – CST went live in October 2008, with cashable savings realised, to date, of £247m through procurement savings, redesign of back office functions and processes
l customer first – helping the council provide world-class standards of customer service, aiming customer satisfaction ratings up to a minimum 85%
l excellence in people management – transforming the way we support employees and managers, and underpin the future ways of working
l excellence in information management – extending the value of the council’s information
l working for the future – 21st century office accommodation and new ways of working
l adults and communities transformation – improving the way social care is provided for citizens
l children, young people and families transformation – improving the health and wellbeing of children in Birmingham
l housing services transformation – improving housing, both public and privately owned
l environment – helping deliver the council’s commitment to reducing the city’s carbon footprint by 60% by 2026.
We have faced a serious challenge to manage and implement our vision.
We have, for example, had to find ways to keep 40,000 employees informed and on board with the changes while they attend to their ‘daily business’ of the delivery of frontline services to citizens.
It is vital they feel part of the process, and that they really understand the benefits which will come from the changes they will be asked to make.
They are also working alongside external specialists, who need to engage with them and still be able to absorb knowledge transfer during the change process.
We have had to learn, in particular, from the reaction to our most advanced programme, the CST workstream, where we did not achieve comprehensive engagement across the whole organisation.
We are also working hard to ensure the other individual programmes learn from the CST experience, and Glyn Evans, our corporate director of business change, is pursuing a personal commitment to meet with frontline staff at engagement road shows to share their concerns, increase their understanding and potential capacity for involvement.
So, what else can we share from our work so far?
It is important to have a clear understandable business case outlining the reasons for embarking on any change, with clear support from the leadership, members, corporate management team and staff. There needs to be a clear process to assess and manage the inherent risks in multiple programme scenarios more effectively, through structured governance and procedures, and a point which says the ‘buck stops here’. There must be an explicit process to resolve issues, with all stakeholders involved, and a clear set of communication channels with sufficient capacity to deal with situations as they develop.
When challenges do arise, a team needs to be in place which has the authority and capacity to manage internal and external – including press – communications issues.
Finally, we must manage and own the change from the top down, and ensure we fully engage with the organisation to bring it along with us, managing expectations as we go. As one of the largest of many councils which have set out on a long road for change, let’s dare to be innovative, and remember that not every innovation will work first time. This must be seen as something to learn from, as the beginnings of success. w
Stephen Hughes is chief executive of Birmingham City Council
