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1 Page 1 of 5 LGIU Local Government Information Unit Independent Intelligent Information Front office shared services : new research published (LGiU) 31/5/2007 Author: Janet Sillett Reference No: PB 1488/07L This covers: Wales Overview The IDeA (with the LGA and CLG) has published the results of a study into front line shared service projects in 16 councils. This follows another IDeA paper which looked at the implications for the future workforce of developments such as shared support services (see attached briefing). Although drawn from English experience, the report has direct relevance to Wales' public service 'transformation' agenda and its emphasis, reiterated in the recent local government policy statement, A Shared Responsibility, on front line services and collaborative working. It is interesting that the front line services case studies in this report seem to have involved a wider range of external partners than the largely support services projects in the earlier IDeA study. The researchers suggest that the success of the front line services has a lot to do with the councils already having built trust in their relationships with the partners involved, either other local authorities or agencies such as the police and PCTs. Another shared characteristic is that the prime motivation for the projects was to improve front line delivery for citizens and customers whilst delivering value for money. These are people projects, not technology or buildings projects. The report looks ahead at what is needed to develop these kinds of innovative schemes and new ways of working: the government, for example, needs to provide a framework that enables local joined-up working to proceed smoothly, such as having clarity about the future direction of nationally funded pilot programmes. Local authorities have to continue to develop practical ways of integrated working, such as data and infrastructure sharing. There is a clear need to establish robust models of assessing the value of these projects and of new ways of working both in terms of efficiency savings, but more crucially (and with greater difficulty) the value of the less tangible benefits to customers, citizens, the organisations involved and the community. Briefing in full Background The Local Government Association (LGA), Communities and Local Government, the Cabinet Office and the IDeA commissioned a programme of research into front office

2 Page 2 of 5 shared services (FOSS), supported by an external reference group of senior figures from across the public services. The results of the research on projects in 16 local authorities were published in May 2007 in the report Front office shared services: delivering public service transformation (accompanied by a shorter briefing document). The projects The overall objective was to investigate opportunities for delivering more integrated and efficient services through shared front office arrangements, such as through one-stop shops, contact centres, web portals and home visiting schemes. The projects were intended to represent what is already being achieved, rather than be blueprints for best practice. The programme involved a range of local public sector bodies. The full case studies are available on the IDeA Knowledge website. Why are these projects working well? The authors pick out the key characteristics that these projects share that they consider to be instrumental to their success: They focus on customers All the projects have a focus on customers that the partner agencies share and who will demonstrably benefit from a transformed service. Customers have been grouped together, such as a particular demographic group or people facing common problems, providing more in depth, local knowledge and a clear rationale for the projects. They are built on solid local relationships In many of the projects, there was already a history of successful partnerships, with organisations having worked together in forums such as local strategic partnerships (LSPs) or Crime and Disorder Partnerships. They display a mix of idealism and pragmatism The participants in these projects were willing to take risks and seize the initiative when they saw opportunities, and then were able to exploit previous investments, and also they were quick to adapt to the challenges of joint working They are led by local public service entrepreneurs The key ingredient for all these projects has been local leadership leadership from the top, at member or chief executive level, but also leadership at many other levels, from project manager to local service deliverer. Impact of the projects The report accesses the projects against the authors vision of transformed public services locally focussed, citizen and business centric, joined-up, accessible and efficient. They list the evidence they believe shows how far the initiatives are achieving these goals. The projects are making a tangible difference to people s lives

3 Page 3 of 5 Customers are clearly benefiting from simpler access to services and more choice of contact mechanisms particularly helpful to those who find travel difficult. Organisations are offering a more joined-up response to customer needs. Customers are increasingly involved in service design and commissioning, as envisaged by the White Paper and Sir David Varney s report, helping to ensure that services reflect the real needs of users, rather than professional perceptions of their requirements. The projects are delivering greater efficiency The report claims that the original motivation behind all the projects was to improve services, but by working together the partners have also been able to generate a range of efficiencies. It is interesting that some of the examples given show how a project has avoided future costs by preventative work such as reducing unplanned admissions to hospital, or has cut costs by ensuring referrals are appropriate between agencies. Others have made more traditional savings, through sharing office costs and using one stop shops for a variety of partner organisations, or by using modern call handling technology to balance the numbers of staff against anticipated demand. The projects are creating more effective organisations Working together has improved challenge and benchmarking; has promoted greater understanding and trust; has helped individual partners to meet national targets, and staff are benefiting from increased training and development opportunities. Recommendations for further development Building better frameworks for local action the priorities are: clarity about the future direction of nationally funded pilot programmes that support new types of local joined-up working better ways of anticipating and mitigating the effects on local partnerships of change programmes in individual parts of the public service greater consolidation of central funding streams that sit outside Local Area Agreements and can conflict with a joined-up approach to local services performance requirements that reward joined-up action at local level rather than unilateral activity greater compatibility in the operating methods and infrastructures of public service bodies and clearer policy guidance for local managers of central agencies on how infrastructure, such as ICT systems and buildings, can be shared at local level more consistent legal interpretations around data sharing local authorities' developing information about customers to understand better different groups and their service requirements, and improvements to how customer data is collected, managed and shared across different agencies developing common processes around the use of technology and broadening staff skills and knowledge better coordination of public sector contact centres, websites and help-lines. Understanding the public value of front office projects

4 Page 4 of 5 Local partners need to identify and collect relevant information about the impact of their projects. The research highlighted the need to develop sophisticated models that can capture benefits to customers and to communities and partners. This is a difficult area how can, for example, a value be given to something that did not happen, such as a child not taken into care? Practical tools need to be developed that help partners clarify objectives and what needs to be measured and how, and can give leaders the ability to communicate the value of projects. Comment The case studies illustrate that defining what we mean by shared services, when it shifts to front-line services, is difficult: there are elements that are central to support service shared services, particularly around exploiting technology, but front line shared services are much more about collaboration and joint working between agencies. Crucially, the prime motivation for the projects in this study is improving the direct service for customers and citizens, although within the context of financial pressures and councils seeking better value for money. The projects present a very positive picture of local authorities taking the initiative in their communities, and building relationships with a range of partners, precisely in the convening role envisaged by Sir Michael Lyons - and anticipated in the development of Local Service Boards in Wales. There is clearly a pressing need to develop robust models for assessing the value of these types of projects. There will be cashable savings in some projects, but in others the value is harder to quantify. It is essential to be able to establish the value of benefits such as improving the effectiveness of the organisations involved through joint working, the generation of 'customer insight', and the value to citizens of more straightforward access to services. It can be even more complex to put a value on new delivery methods that, for example, prevent future costs, such as having to take children into care. There must be a role for scrutiny here - though it is not mentioned in the paper - in assessing value and considering the longer term sustainability of new ways of working and projects. Involving scrutiny will also add to the political ownership of these initiatives. The case study projects show that there is already much good work being done. The report, however, rightly highlights that transforming services is often difficult to envisage and complex to implement. More needs to be done by central government in providing the right framework for development, and by local authorities in building up relationships, and in developing practical solutions to challenges such as sharing data and infrastructure. Additional Information Covers Wales Question Send Feedback for this briefing

5 Page 5 of 5 Related links Case studies Delivering public service transformation Related briefings Future shape of workforces: new IDeA report Varney Review: Service Transformation Developing the local government services market: CLG paper Welsh Local Government Policy Statement 2007 Copyright Local Government Information Unit