The Comprehensive Spending Review on 20 October heralds major reductions in block grants from central government, compounding the problems of frozen council tax and salaries, demographic pressures and potentially spiralling energy costs. How to cope? Many local public services are tackling radical programmes of change, but how well are they managing that task?

Making processes fit for purpose in the council of the future is not easy, but we have developed a highly structured approach which ensures that we take account of all the factors:

We have the skills and the tools to help you achieve a website that delivers for your council - that is a website that gives real value in terms of the services it delivers to your customers and the savings it makes for the council. We cover all that is needed, summarised below:

Most processes in councils have developed over the years for delivery by traditional means - by members of staff, using paper-based systems to deliver a service. These are inefficient and out-dated, error-prone, and not customer-friendly. They have no place in the council of the future.

The Lean approach is simple in concept – it is about removing waste from established processes in order to make them efficient and effective. Experience shows, however, that the principle can be difficult to implement in a local government context.

Tax receipts of all kinds have fallen dramatically, benefits claims are climbing, and the elected members want to keep the council tax down. The outlook for local government budgets looks very grim, but demand for services just keeps on growing. Lean thinking provides an excellent answer: it is a comprehensive approach that will deliver savings for years to come. However, it is not a trivial undertaking. 

The project issues
Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council (WMBC) was rated 'poor' in its CPA in 2003, with Social Services being particularly referenced along with some other areas of the Council's work. At the time, the Council was already part way through a procurement process to replace its legacy mainframe-based client index system, seeking to obtain a system which would better serve the needs of practitioners and managers in their day to day work.

However sound the strategy, however well-defined the procedures and however fit for purpose an organisation’s infrastructure and technologies, it is the people within the organisation, their attitudes and behaviour which will make transformation happen, or not.

Socitm Consulting brings best practice from the public and private sectors, and a range of services developed over the years to best meet the needs of our public sector clients.

Our track record shows us to be capable of delivering successful outcomes that address the increasing rate of change and citizens’ demands for better services, and that we can operate effectively at every level in the stakeholder community to deliver what’s required.