Agenda item

Purpose of the Report:

To update on progress so far in transforming the council, enabling Corporate Overview Select Committee (COSC) to provide input to the next phase of work and identify approaches to ensure effective ongoing scrutiny.

Witnesses:

Michael Coughlin, Executive Director – Customers, Digital & Transformation

Key points of discussions:

1.     The Chairman highlighted the Committee’s decision to identify three key enabling projects to concentrate Member’s attention for discussion. The three enabling projects would be: Customer Experience, Digital / Agile Working and Spans and Layers.

2.     The Executive Director – Customers, Digital & Transformation provided the Committee with a brief summary of the report. It was noted that there were 24 individual projects of transformation which would be conducted over a time period of three – five years. It was stated that the transformation was at a point in its life cycle where it would be beneficial to moderate and reflect on its overall progress.

3.     The Committee asked to be provided with further information around the Transformation Steering Board (TSB) and the Transformation Support Unit (TSU). The Executive Director explained that the TSB comprised of the Chief Executive, executive directors and key officers who held responsibilities in some of the programmes of work. Additional people were also able to join discussions at the meeting if it was felt it would be beneficial and appropriate. The TSU comprised of external support from My Proteus who provided key skills around programme management. Mare Snelling, Director of Transformation, had recently joined the Council and was tasked with coordinating the transformation programme as My Proteus began to decrease support. It was noted that the Director of Transformation was looking to have a more permanent transformation support structure in the future. Further to this, Members noted that each project had a project leader, a project manager and a group of staff from the impacted services.

4.     The Committee felt it would be appropriate for each individual select committee to consider the relevant transformation programmes within their remit.

5.     Members noted that officers were currently reviewing progress so far to identify key lessons that could be designed into the next phase of transformation. When Members asked if the Committee were able to view the lessons which had been identified, Officers confirmed that the information should available to be able to be presented at the next meeting of COSC.

6.     Members noted that the ‘next steps’ identified in the report were for COSC to review the new Vital Signs Quarterly Report in July and quarterly thereafter. The Executive Director explained that there were a number of checks to monitor the delivery of the transformation projects which provided assurances against budgetary and time constrictions. In addition to this, the Internal Audit service, Finance service and senior managers were able to check projects were on track and identify those that needed further attention on a periodic basis.

7.     The Committee discussed the opportunity to conduct a ‘deep dive’ into some individual transformation projects to monitor their progress. When conducting this, it was agreed that it would be helpful to invite the relevant project manager to attend the meeting to aid discussions. Following discussion, it was agreed for the Committee to consider indicators of performance at the Committee meeting in May prior to deciding what transformation project to conduct an ‘deep dive’ into.

8.     The Committee stated that it would be beneficial to be provided with totemic examples of change throughout the transformation in order to better understand outcomes.

Customer Experience

9.     Members sought clarification on the expected benefits from the project and for further clarification on the Single Front Door approach. It was noted that the agreed business cases set out key principles and calculations on what savings could be achieved. In regards to the Single Front Door, Officers explained that triaging incoming calls allowed the same number of calls to be handled by significantly fewer staff. When a call required a specialist response, the customer service team would be in the position to escalate it to the appropriate team. Officers further confirmed that consideration was being put into how easy it was for residents to self-serve using the Council’s website to reduce the number of direct phone calls. Evidence had shown that resident typically wanted 24 hour access and to have their questions answered easily therefore consideration was being put into how to make this possible.

10.  Members noted that the expected savings within the Customer Services project was £0.5m. £300,000 of this had been identified and £200,000 was yet to be identified.

11.  Members raised a concern that moving a majority of the communication online would depersonalise residents’ contact with the Council. Officers explained that, in resident consultative workshops, may residents had said they were comfortable with communicating with the Council online as long as it gave the impression of a dialog. In the event of any harmful or sensitive issues, communication would be held either face to face or using a phone.

12.  A Member of the Committee advised that officers clarify details when sending automatic acknowledgement emails to residents. It was stated that residents sometimes expected to be contact sooner than stated due to the wording used.

Digital / Agile working

13.  Members of the Committee discussed the value of the IT & Digital transformation programme. In regards to Digital, Officers provided detail of various potential uses in the Council which included maximising the usage of artificial intelligence to support vulnerable residents. Officers stated that the Council had an appetite to use digital capabilities to its full potential in a new and innovative way. Members further noted that there would be an opportunity for a technology-minded expert team to monitor various service delivery and suggest potential improvements through incorporating new digital processes.

14.  The Committee discussed the potential risks associated with agile working which included a drop in efficiency due to employees working on their own. The Executive Director explained that officers individual situations would need to be taken into consideration as not every officer had the same requirements.

15.  Further to discussions regarding agile working, Members highlighted that there may be concerns from staff related to changing how they work. The Executive Director explained that leaders and managers would be required to change their behaviour in order to become more focused on outcomes rather than focusing on the officer being actually present in the office. The Executive Director agreed to circulate the ‘McKinsey report’ which identified the key benefits of an agile organisation.

Spans and Layers

16.  Members of the Committee discussed the Decision Making Accountability (DMA) model which modelled staff in a six by six structure. Officers explained that there would be an opportunity for flexibility if appropriate for the best possible outcomes for residents.

17.  Officers explained they were reassured with the rigorousness of the model due to its uniform and consistent effect on savings in other organisations. Members noted that managers would receive training on delivering the new model while also being supported by Human Resources (HR).

General discussion

18.  Members explained that it was difficult to scrutinise the projects due to the amount of information provided in the report. Members agreed that it would be helpful to consider the Lessons Learned Report and the Summary Expectations report from a high level at a future meeting. It was further agreed that it would be useful to review the red / amber / green statuses of the enabling projects at a future meeting, as well as updated information on the Transformational delivery plans.

RESOLVED:

The Committee recommends that:

1.     Relevant Delivery Plans for transformation projects are shared with individual Select Committees upon completion in April 2019 to inform future scrutiny reviews

2.     The Director of Transformation’s ‘lesson learned’ report is shared with this Committee on its completion at the end of March 2019

3.     Project managers identify examples of tangible change to services and resident experience resulting from transformation projects thus far. These examples should be shared with all Members of the council

4.     Future scrutiny of transformation projects should include review of project milestones, risk management, savings and outcomes