Council leaders are using partnerships and collaboration to transform services for the better, but still lack time and capacity
Author: Consultant News |
New report from independent think-tank Localis, in partnership with Civica, lifts the lid on how local government is re-thinking the way it designs and delivers public services to meet on-going pressures.
Key findings:
65% see council leaders and chief executives as the key drivers in re-thinking the way they design and deliver public services
Over half (58%) cite time and capacity as the biggest barrier to making improvements to service delivery and efficiency
50% gave themselves a ten out of ten when it comes to being open to improvements in their use of partnerships and collaborations
80% see it as a collective responsibility of local government organisations to stimulate and sustain innovation
Clear vision and leadership (93%) and strong partnerships (61%) highlight as key factors
The most efficient technologies to help meet goals are those which support agile working (86%) and moving customer services online (83%)
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Civica, a market leader in specialist systems and business process services for the public sector has teamed up with Localis, an independent think-tank, to launch the ‘Changing Places – how innovation and transformation is taking place in local government’ report, which reveals that 65% of survey respondents see council leaders and chief executives as the key drivers in re-thinking the way they design and delivery public services, but that they and their organisations lack the time and capacity to do so (58%).
The report, which questioned 80 council leaders and executives from across the UK, lifts the lid on how local government is re-thinking the way it designs and delivers public services to meet the on-going financial and service pressures they’re under. Unsurprisingly 63% of council leaders say that the need to ‘do more with less’ is the biggest driver for innovation; with clear vision and leadership (93%), fostering a culture of innovation (69%) and strong partnerships (61%) being the most positive influences when planning and implementing any changes.
Moving forward, 82% of council leaders and chief executives believe that a lot can be learnt from sharing best practice with other local authorities. With this in mind, half of the councils (50%) gave themselves a ten out of ten when it comes to being open to improvements in their use of partnerships and collaborative methods. This shows that councils are seeing themselves first and foremost, as part of a local public service family.
Interestingly it seems that the most creative solutions to tackle the over-arching problems have been seen in corporate and back-office, economic development and waste services, which local authorities rated as their most innovative. Whilst at the other end of the scale, they admit they are struggling to achieve the same level of success in adult social care, children’s and highway services, which they rated as the least innovative.
In terms of using technology, 86% thought that the most efficient solutions to help them meet their goals in the future are those which support agile and mobile working methods (86%), followed closely by moving customer-facing services online (83%) and using social media to engage with citizens (80%).
In addition, many respondents viewed the Government’s Public Service Transformation Network, (48%) ‘Digital By Default’ (51%) and channel shift (53%) initiatives as having the most useful potential in helping them achieve their goals, whilst The Localism Act was recognised as the least helpful.
Simon Downing, chief executive of Civica: “It’s clear that in response to unprecedented and on-going financial and service pressures, local authorities are committed to transforming the way they work and this is only going to accelerate into 2014. By partnering with Localis, we have been able to delve deeper into how organisations are changing, and to identify imperatives if authorities are to continue improving services and efficiency.”
Steven Howell, senior policy and communication officer, Localis: “Our research suggests that there are a whole variety of different ways and means that councils are innovating in response to the twin challenge of reducing budgets and a changing society. While there are plenty of good news stories, local government needs to do its bit to highlight the barriers, then work with partners to bust them. More than ever before, partnership and collaboration will be the building blocks of local public services in the future.”
Julian Wain, CEO of Gloucester City Council: “I’ve long believed that the debate about the pros and cons of the public and private sectors is age-old and simplistic. My view is that what matters is what works, and this report clearly identifies that. It reinforces my belief that the best results can be achieved when public and private teams work together.”
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