Summary
North Warwickshire Borough Council has a population of 62,200 and is situated in Warwickshire. In 2007/08 the council spent £10.6 million on all council services. The council used four internal techniques to achieve £696,070 of back office efficiency gains (64 per cent of total efficiencies) by the end of SR04.
The Situation
During SR04 North Warwickshire BC had a devolved decision-making culture which allowed heads of services to make efficiency savings in back office functions separately from efficiency savings in front line services. Efficiency targets for individual services were set annually at the council as part of the Council's budget strategy, matching changes in council tax inflation.
The council used efficiency savings in back office functions to deliver its dual political objectives of keeping council tax inflation as low as possible and funding priority areas such as improved street cleaning. The council also did not charge for local services such as car parking, drainage clearance and Borough Care (a free emergency telephone and mobile warden service for people aged 60 plus).
Approaches used and efficiencies realised
The council used four internal techniques to make efficiencies in back office functions during SR04:
- Centralisation of administrative services
- Improved procurement techniques
- The use of information and communications technology (ICT) to improve staff productivity
- Streamlining of senior management
Centralising administrative services
Prior to SR04, the council ran separate administrative functions in each service department. In May 2006, the council took the decision to centralise administrative services into one corporate support function in order to remove inefficiencies caused by duplicated work processes.
The council was able to delete three administrative posts by centralising the support function. No redundancies were needed as staff lost though natural turnover were not replaced, and permanent staff were supported through the transition by temporary staff.
The skills required by staff working in the new central support function were different to those working in the previous service areas. The Head of Service undertook a skills review to understand areas of expertise and skills gaps. The Head of Service used the results of the skills review to streamline work processes and to optimise the use of staff time and skills, creating savings of £65,000.
Improved procurement techniques
The council recognised that its size dictated that it would not be able to enter into procurement agreements that would realise the economies of scale available to larger councils. Instead, the council worked with a number of partners and made use of existing procurement agreements in order to procure goods and services efficiently.
Procurement officers at the council worked with officers from the West Midlands Regional Centre of Excellence (WM RCE) to source contracts that enabled the council to obtain goods and services at more competitive prices.
Savings generated by improved procurement generated efficiency savings totalling £248,930 by the end of SR04 (23 per cent of total efficiencies). For example, the council saved £80,000 by procuring a customer relationship management (CRM) system for its contact centre using a European compliant OGC framework, a further £60,000 through changes to invoicing; and £25,000 from the procurement of a new document management system.
Using ICT to improve staff productivity
The council introduced an initiative to use ICT to improve staff productivity during SR04. The council promoted home and flexible working for staff. It provided computers and infrastructure, such as broadband, to home workers and offered the option of flexible working hours to many staff.
The council also took further advantage of new technology. For example, benefit officers used tablet PCs to work more flexibly and to process benefit claims in a single transaction. Improved use of ICT has enabled over 40 per cent of benefit officers to work from home and enabled more officers to process applications in one meeting with benefit claimants. It also enabled the closure of the council's cash office and its replacement with increased direct debit take up, web payments, telephone payments via debt card and the use of post offices. The council had realised £182,430 of transaction efficiencies (17 per cent of total efficiencies) by the end of SR04.
Streamlining senior management
The council made savings of £185,000 during SR04 by streamlining its senior management and reducing the number of service directorates.
Plans for CSR07
North Warwickshire BC is exploring opportunities for sharing back office functions with neighbouring councils and office space with local partners such as the local PCT and police force during CSR07. The council anticipates that these initiatives will contribute towards meeting its efficiency target of £430,000 per year.
The council is planning to make efficiency savings from further improvements to procurement techniques during CSR07.
Learning points
- North Warwickshire BC took a transactional approach to back office efficiency during SR04
- The council used four internal methods to achieve back office efficiencies during SR04:
- Centralising administrative services
- Improved procurement techniques
- The use of ICT to improve staff productivity
- Streamlining senior management
- The council is considering mutual methods of partnership working with other councils and other public sector organisations to make efficiency savings during CSR07.
Questions to consider for your council
- What approach has your council taken to back office efficiency during SR04?
- Transactional
- Transitional
- Transformational
- Have you used any of the methods in this case study to create back office efficiencies?
- Would you consider using any of the methods to create back office efficiencies during CSR07?