Idea: To substitute a hard copy biannual magazine with a quarterly ezine to registered residents.
"We make applications for CRB checks to our Council for Voluntary Service who can carry these out at a lower cost than statutory agencies such as the police, but the fees they receive, a small profit for them, pays for their employee to work every afternoon as well helping the voluntary sector."
Thanks to North Hertfordshire District Council for this example
"We have negotiated sharing our grants database through a commercial organisation. By allowing the CVS rep to come along and log in at our offices, we were not only able to save them £1250 cost per year, which we would have funded otherwise, but they were also willing to use that experienced person to search grants for the council – a double benefit for us both."
Thanks to North Hertfordshire District Council for this example
"We have implemented mobile working, sending benefits assessors etc to the homes of our customers, meaning it removes the need for them to travel, means documents can be checked in the home rather than sent or brought to the office and officers’ reports are sent back to base electronically. That has already saved us around £70,000, no small amount."
"We have moved to a paperless ordering system, approving orders on line, which has reduce paper, print and mail costs significantly – that is hosted by the IDeA as part of their marketplace project."
The event gained greater coverage due to support from the radio station Reading 107.
Businesses were asked to take meter readings before and after the weekend which meant they and we were able to monitor success. For example local company Designation used 23 per cent less electricity over the weekend than usual by turning off computers, printers and other equipment on Friday night.
Since the last Big Turn Off two years ago, when the council achieved 22 per cent savings in electricity use in the civic centre, an ongoing series of energy efficiency measures have been put in place with the result that our out of hours drop in use was smaller in the 2009 initiative.
In order to keep up the momentum the council is challenging businesses and individuals to switch off for Earth Hour on March 28th for one hour to send a message to global leaders to take action on climate change. The council will be repeating the Big Switch Off that weekend in addition. More information about this event can be found on the website" www.reading.gov.uk/earthhour
Idea: To replace the 10+ year old enveloping machine with a new future-proofed version.
Results: After exhaustive research including meetings with external companies and demonstrations of various machines we secured a deal for a new enveloping machine complete with extra features (electronic height adjustable table, extra feeders, special feeder kit) for no more than the original amount budgeted. The result is a much improved service for internal customers - jobs completed in less than half the time and at half the cost, larger jobs can now be processed, a variety of formats (e.g. different sized envelopes and leaflets) can now be run through the machine, and the machine is future-proof and complete with the latest technology including OMR and bar coding.:
Leadership: Office Support team leader and Senior Office Support assistant proposed the need for a new machine, conducted the research and secured the optional extras at no extra cost.
Lessons Learnt: Updating essential technology can represent significant savings.
Contact: Paul Wood for further information (Email: pwood@winchester.gov.uk)
Thanks to Winchester City Council for this example.
The idea: Idea to change from the old Eureka time recording programme to a new Touch Screen package. Eureka – involved writing down how long each job took on paper then inputting all data at the end of the month using complicated codes, for Accountancy to then recharge accordingly. Touch Screen – a programme accessible from a touch screen computer and desktop PCs. Allows officers to input data as and when they complete jobs, therefore allowing for more accurate time-keeping, and a less time-consuming system.
Results: The touch screen system has cut the amount of administration time significantly for each officer and for the team leader who can at the click of a button, run a report on a variety of different data. The touch screen also includes a dashboard feature giving a daily snapshot of the work undertaken in office support. It also is used to record statistical data including the quantity of incoming and outgoing post, and a postage stamp balance sheet.
Leadership: It was agreed that Eureka was taking too much time to complete and with Office Support being heavily involved the Retriever project time needed to be saved where ever possible. In a sit-down meeting between the Head of Customer Services, the Office Support team leader and Senior Office Support Assistant the idea was hashed out, IMT were then brought on board to design the software.
Lessons Learnt: Use of new technology can generate efficiencies and save time
Contact: Paul Wood for further details. (Email:pwood@winchester.gov.uk)
Thanks to Winchester City Council for this example.
The idea: To work with BT to replace the many bills that the Council receives monthly and quarterly for each of its telephones with one single monthly itemised bill supplied either by email or on disk.
Results: Reduction in the amount of time taken in administering the payments for each telephone bill and the cost of making the making payment. Reduction in the amount of paper used for the bills. Estimated annual saving of about £1,500
Leadership: This idea was initiated and led by the IM&T Team whose job it is to process and pay telephone invoices.
Lessons Learnt: That by working with suppliers, cost savings and efficiencies can be generated.
Thanks to Winchester City Council for this example.
The idea: To replace the printing onto regular paper and then laminating of planning public notices that are displayed outside a property to inform the public of a planning application with direct printing onto durable paper that can be used outside with no deterioration of quality or legibility of text.
Results: Reduction in the amount of time taken to print and laminate the public notices. The saving in cost by reducing the need to purchase expensive laminating pouches. There was a minimal cost increase in the cost of the paper.
Leadership: This idea was initiated and led by the Planning Team whose job it is to produce the notices.
Lessons Learnt: That there are more efficient and cost effective ways of carrying out some of the most simple of tasks
Contact: Simon Howson, Corporate Business Manager, (Email: showson@winchester.gov.uk)
Thanks to Winchester City Council for this example.
"Copier Paper/Furniture – These savings resulted through entering into joint procurement arrangements with Test Valley Borough Council for both photocopier paper and furniture.
Mobile Phone Contract – This saving was generated by renegotiation of the Council’s contract for mobile phones."
Thanks to New Forest District Council for these examples.
"Recent serious criminal incidents in one of our local car parks had led to a security team being employed to patrol the area. However the layout of one car park stairwell was such that it did not allow great visibility either on the stairwell itself or through the doors connecting to the parking levels. We therefore introduced mirrors on each of the levels to allow users to see what was round corners and placed visibility panels in the doors to the parking levels.
Ceilings throughout the car park were simultaneously painted in highly reflective white to enhance overall light levels. Since these installations people have confirmed they feel less intimidated, and more safe."
Thanks
"During a recent inspection of a local food manufacturer, one member of staff noticed piles and piles of cardboard packaging waste, although this was not part of their job they advised the company to contact a recycling company to take the packaging away. Having researched recycling options the company e-mailed the council to say thanks for the initial idea. They are likely to save between £15,000 and £20,000 per year by recycling their waste cardboard.
By being in the right place at the right time, by asking questions and making connections between two issues, we were able to get a very positive result from what started out as a routine inspection."
Thanks.
"Traditionally the Council paid its suppliers by cheque. Taking into account the time spent printing and enveloping each payment, the cost of the cheque stationery and the envelope in which it was posted, as well as the actual price of the stamp and the fee from the bank, every time we paid a supplier it would cost roughly 53p.
What we've now done is moved to BACS as our default method of payment. In the past there were a couple of things which put us off doing this. Firstly, there would be a need to contact our suppliers to find out their bank details and convince them that electronic payment was the way forward. Secondly, in order to minimise subsequent queries, we thought that we would still post remittance advices to the suppliers telling them that payment was on its way - this, of course, would negate some of the saving.
However, times have moved on and most suppliers now include bank details on their invoices and request electronic payment. Very often email addresses are printed on invoices as well. All this meant that we could readily move over to BACS payment for very many of our suppliers, with remittance advices sent by email. Obtaining the missing information from other suppliers was simply a question of making a few phone calls. We are now making 83% of our supplier payments by BACS and emailing the remittances. In a year we make around 11,000 payments, so we will now be saving around £4,000 annually"
Thanks.
1. Deployment of Voice over IP telephony at the Council's 3 remote sites £2,012 per annum
2. Replacement of telephony system - reduction in maintenance costs for a more functional system £3,040 per annum
3. Maintenance of printers - rationalisation of brand of printer to ensure reliable model and minimum number of cartridges and spare parts are required to be held in stock £6,500 per annum
4. Increase in the number of electronic payments received resulting in a reduction in the number of security cash collections £6,200 per annum
5. Introduction of TFT screens - reduction in power usage £1,230 per annum
6. Re-design of flexi time system administration arrangements to reduce the volume of changes required £5,900 per annum (Non cashable)
7. Re-design of the flexi time system to reduce the time taken to input the changes required £3,400 per annum (Non cashable)
Thanks for these examples.
I wrote this article nearly six years ago - it still seems valid - particularly in the light current trends to move away from huge numbers of top down imposed targets. I hope the links still work.
Introduction
Many public service leaders and commentators are expressing increasing disquiet about the current approach to target setting for the public services.
David Batty writing in the Guardian (26/4/02) about the Victoria Climbié Enquiry entitled his piece ‘Performance targets compromise child protection’. Onora O’Neill speaking in the BBC Reith Lectures last year said ‘our revolution in accountability has not reduced attitudes of mistrust, but rather reinforced a culture of suspicion… we are galloping towards central planning by performance indicators reinforced by obsessions with blame and compensation’. A Telegraph headline of 19 December 2001 said ‘NHS patients were duped in waiting list fiddle’. Simon Caulkin in the Observer (5/8/01) declared that management ‘being tied to set goals is so often meaningless’ and can ‘lead to disaster’.
Dr Ian Bogle, retiring from five years as Chair of the BMA in June 2003 said 'I am absolutely appalled by the cheating going on and by the Government having put human beings in such a position that they feel that to preserve their jobs [they must do it]. The pressures are obscene and the Government should be ashamed of itself for the consequences.'[1]
And recently (and strikingly) James Strachan the new Chairman of the Audit Commission went on record to say to MPs: "The problem we have faced time and time again is the slavish devotion to targets, many of which have not been set very intelligently. It's a surefire way of not getting improvement in public services. People see targets set by government, monitored by them, and with responsibility for their validation. There is a real danger that people will not believe them," [2]
It seems therefore that people are becoming increasingly aware that the current performance management regime is not delivering the hoped for improvements in outcomes desired by the Government, the staff and managers who work in the public services and, indeed, the public themselves. This article is about another way – a way whereby the various levels of Government can still hold the public services to account for delivering results – as they most surely should – whilst tackling some of the difficulties with the current approach. As the voices for change become louder – it is vitally important that we do not ‘throw the baby out with the bathwater’ and reject target setting in all its forms. What we need is an evolution of thinking & practice – although that is not to say that some of the new ideas necessary should not be radical in their own right.
Targets and performance management are now so pervasive and influence at a very deep level how we conceptualise achievement in the public services – it is difficult to remember – what was the problem that performance management was meant to be solution for? This article will begin with an overview of the arguments against target setting and performance management in its current form. Further into the article, the way forward to a 21st Century form of target setting is outlined.
It is hoped that this article will not only add to the clamour for a change in performance management practice but also offer some practical ideas for what is now required.
The key arguments
To summarise briefly the key arguments against target setting and performance management in its current form:
This article is not just be about what is wrong –set out below are some practical proposals about what needs to happen to deliver sustainable social results, continuous improvement in those results, value for money and accountability. These proposals have been assembled into a 20 point plan for change:
Old fashioned accountability around annual reports was never enough. Target setting of the kinds we are appear to be suffering from now are not working. We now need a third way – as outlined in the 20 point plan above.
30 June 2003
Acknowledgements
Much of this analysis above is not new and can be traced to the work of W. Edwards Deming. Deming was one the key progenitors of the modern quality movement and remains hugely influential to this day. An internet search on his name will yield numerous websites dedicated to communicating his philosophy as set out in his is famous ’14 Points’ (see Out of the Crisis, 1986).
[1] (Full report http://politics.guardian.co.uk/publicservices/story/0,11032,987365,00.html) 29/6/03
[2] (Full report http://politics.guardian.co.uk/publicservices/story/0,11032,871947,00.html) 10/1/03
[3] See ‘SPC in the Office’ by Mal Owen & John Morgan. (June 2000) Greenfield Publishing; ISBN: 0952332841) for an accessible explanation of SPC and how to apply it to performance.
Graffiti Removal
Criminal Justice agencies moved into a new Justice Centre in Warwickshire where they are collocated, this has lead to many significant measurable benefits, however, there has been some other significant and unforeseen benefits. A Police Inspector on his way to work early in the morning noticed that numerous street signs had been subject to graffiti. Since working at the Centre he has learnt about the un paid work scheme run from the centre by Probation for offenders to undertake work in the community. He contacted their manager and told him about the graffiti, before the end of the day the graffiti was removed by offenders as part of the unpaid work scheme at no cost and prevented a spiral of decline in the neighbourhood..
Shared Resources
On moving into the Centre other agencies such as Probation and Youth Offending Service became aware that the video link between the Courts, Prisons and remand Centres were not fully utilised, as a result of the multi agency arrangements, Probation and other agencies have been able to utilise the facility to interview offenders in prison, thus saving time and money in travelling to interview them in Prison and on Remand
Encouraging staff to learn about the resources and services used by other similar agencies enables more efficient ways of working and solving problems.
(With thanks to Richard Lyttle who provided these examples: Richard.Lyttle@warwickshire.pnn.police.uk)
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