Summary
Vale Royal Borough Council has a population of 126,400 and is situated in Cheshire. In 2007/08 the council spent £20.2 million on all council services. During SR04 the council built upon past financial planning processes to develop Business Efficiency Reviews (BERs) to redesign services, create efficiencies and involve more councillors in the efficiency decision making process. This enabled the council to identify £42,000 of back office efficiency savings (0.2 per cent of spending on all council services in 2007/08) during SR04.
The situation
Prior to SR04 Vale Royal BC made efficiency savings and service improvements in individual service areas. Outdated back office infrastructure had created compartmentalised work processes. The council used the introduction of Best Value Reviews (BVRs) in 2000 to review its back office functions and make efficiency savings.
In 2000 the council conducted a number of BVRs that did not produce the anticipated efficiency savings and service improvements. In 2001 the council invited IDeA to work with officers to develop an improved VFM approach to BVRs. The partnership led to the development of a four-year BVR programme at the council based on cross-cutting themes:
- 2001/02 - 'Engaging with our customers' and 'Managing our business efficiently'
- 2002/03 - 'Caring for the environment'
- 2003/04 - 'Caring for the community'
- 2004/05 - 'Driving the economy'
The council realised a number of back office efficiency gains from the BVR programme, including improved procurement processes from a joint procurement partnership with a neighbouring council; and the reduction of compartmentalised work processes from the procurement of a new financial management system. The BVR also generated a wide range of customer and community outcomes including:
- A one stop shop
- Alternate recyclables waste collection leading to over 40 per cent recycling and top ten performance
- Improved access to quality housing through private sector housing property and tenancy management
- New medium-sized Business Units to support growth of firms from our managed business space
Approaches used and efficiencies realised
Building upon BVRs
In 2005 Vale Royal BC realised that it could improve its efficiency performance by using business process improvement (BPI) techniques to redesign whole services and to make efficiency savings. Officers used their experience from conducting BVRs to develop a service review process called 'Business Efficiency Reviews' (BERs) that was an integral part of the council's annual budget and corporate priority planning process.
Conducting a BER review
Officers developed a set of benchmarking criteria to enable councillors and the council's management team to select the number of services that would be reviewed per year. The benchmarking criteria included information from:
- Audit Commission cost and performance comparison profiles
- Analysis of work and priorities described in service plans against performance (including performance indicators)
- Efficiency savings made in the service
- Opportunities for restructuring
- Service targets against budget reductions or increased income
- Audit and inspection recommendations
The council developed a rolling programme of BER reviews that were conducted over a two year period and used a standard set of processes.
Stage 1: Review and design - Year 1 (May to October)
- The BER team scope and define the BER project plan including risks and efficiency targets
- The team undertake analysis of service performance using information from service plan objectives, benchmarking and customer views and analysis of budget and financial costs of service
- The BER team process map the service if necessary
- The team consider how to make improvements to the services including looking at options for:
- Restructure or service rationalisation
- A shared service with another council
- Outsourcing of the service
- The team takes account of the costs, risks and impacts upon the customer for each option and visits other councils where the options have been used, if necessary
- The BER team pilots the suggested BPI improvements to the service
- The BER officer champion presents the BER teams' recommendations to the council's management team
- The council's overview and scrutiny committees monitor the progress of the review
Stage 2: Budget integration - Year 1 (October to January)
- The council makes provision for the BER services changes in the budget and considers the implications for improvements to the service
Stage 3: Planning for the change - Year 1 (February to March)
- The BER team help the service to plan for the BER improvements including impacts on customers and service provision
Stage 4: Implementing the change - Year 2 (April to October)
- The BER changes to the service are implemented and the BER team train staff in BPI techniques to help embed the changes
- The BER team also monitor and assess the changes to the service
Stage 5: Consolidating the change - Year 2 (October to January)
- The BER team consolidate the changes to the service and make further improvements if necessary
- Scrutiny and overview committees monitor service improvements through customer satisfaction surveys and performance indicators
Stage 6: Embedding the change - Year 2 (February to March)
- The council confirms and embeds the BER improvements to the service
Source: Vale Royal Borough Council
In 2006 councillors and the management team selected the council's design and print unit as one of the first services to go through a BER review. During stage 1 of the design and print unit BER review, the BER team consisting of officers and councillors, looked at how work processes such as the volume of print jobs and photocopying met work requirements and whether print equipment was suitable to produce the correct outputs. In September 2006 the review team reported to the council's Performance and Quality Overview Committee with early recommendations. Councillors indicated to the team that the design and print unit should remain in-house and that the team should find further efficiency savings as part of Stage 2 of the BER process.
In December 2006 the Officer Champion for the BER design and print unit review reported to the council's Executive Group with revised recommendations from the review team:
- Move the print unit to a 'trading account' system to reduce duplicated work processes
- Changes to staff structures to match changes to work process
- Consolidate printing equipment to improve efficient usage
- Explore the opportunities for joint procurement of print suppliers and design work with other councils, to match peaks and troughs in demand for print services
The council's Executive Committee agreed to the recommendations of the review and the changes to the design and print unit where implemented during Stages 3 to 6 of the BER review process. The council realised £42,000 of back office efficiency savings (0.2 per cent of spending on all council services in 2007/08) from the design and print BER review.
Learning points
- Vale Royal BC took a transitional approach to back office efficiency during SR04
- The council used its experience of BVRs to develop the BER efficiency and VFM planning process during SR04
- The BER process is integrated into the council's budget setting and financial management processes.
- The BER two-year cycle enables the council to test, monitor and review changes to services that have been part of a review
- Councillors and officers work together to consider the full range of methods that could be used to make changes to services
Questions to consider for your council
- What approach has your council taken to back office efficiency during SR04?
- Transactional
- Transitional
- Transformational
- How might this case study enable you to take a transformational approach to efficiency during CSR07?
- Do you have an efficiency and VFM planning process that is integrated with your budget and finance setting processes?
- Do you use past efficiency and VFM projects to plan for future service improvements and efficiency savings?
- Do your existing efficiency and VFM planning processes enable you to monitor and review changes to services?
- Are councillors involved in planning and implementing efficiency and VFM programmes?
- Do officers work with councillors to make back office efficiency savings?