Hartlepool Council is in a deprived area and has a relatively high number of payment arrangements. By increasing DD, the council is able to spend more time dealing with these people and offer better financial advice.
The council has helped to drive improvement in DD through strong performance management. There is a hard awareness from staff, supported by a range of local PIs. The council has also tried to encourage staff to take interest in DD through an incentive scheme with a log kept and reward to staff based on the amount of money received through DD. Team meetings are used to ensure that ideas from staff at all levels are encouraged to fully contribute to improvements.
An example of Hartlepool's promotional material (PDF, 128kb) (new window) is available.
For further information on this initiative contact Paula Bass on Paula.Bass@hartlepool.gov.uk or see the Hartlepool Borough Council website.