The people and the place
The London Borough of Sutton completed a cross-cutting review of customer services in October 2002, in response to best value legislation. Unsurprisingly it started the Authority thinking about how they could better meet the needs of their service users.
Following the review, John Grice who had jointly led the review, moved from a finance focused role to a new corporate role as Executive Head of Customer Services. During discussions with the Authority's then supplier of desktop personal computers (PCs) John learnt of a UK company, Data Interface, that was working with Microsoft on the development of a software platform, for yet to be released tablet PC technology. This technology was just emerging in the United States, for use in private sector pensions and insurance assessments carried out in people's homes.
John immediately saw the potential for new ways of working through the tablet PCs. He knew that new regulation was imminent which would require councils to visit people in their homes when making financial assessments for domiciliary care. He felt that tablet PCs would allow staff to maintain eye contact with interviewees, and were therefore potentially far less obtrusive than laptops when used in a domestic setting. Data Interface meanwhile, although a small company, could see great business potential for working with local authorities more widely. The partnership and the innovation developed from there.
The innovation and the impact
In 2003, Sutton launched the tablet PCs when staff began visiting local households to make financial assessments for homecare. Sutton was the first council in the UK to use the technology in this way. Rather than the legal requirement for home visits adding to the burden on staff, the combination of home visits and the use of tablet PCs brought immediate identifiable benefits.
Assessment times dropped immediately from six weeks to four hours. Previously applicants would request and fill in a form, which would be returned (and in some cases queried), then keyed into a system, from where a supervisor would look for conflicts with other benefits and write to the applicant with their decision. Now benefits can be calculated on-site, printed off, agreed and signed. Queries on assessments fell from 80 per cent to almost zero in a matter of weeks.
In 2003 there was a serious backlog of assessments, which the Council believed would take two additional full-time staff to clear. In fact, existing staff quickly cleared the backlog once the new regime was underway. Because assessment used to take many weeks, by the time a customer received their first bill it could include six weeks of arrears - as much as £1,200. Not surprisingly, many arrears became debts that had to be written off, and by reducing these arrears the system reaped immediate financial benefits.
The innovation has realised £300,000 of efficiency savings, 50 per cent more than was envisaged at the outset. It has also spurred further ideas for improvement and efficiency. Financial assessments for homecare are now combined with assessments for council tax and housing benefits as well as checks against other benefits that customers might be eligible for.
How did the innovation happen?
Once Sutton and Data Interface started working together to develop the tablet PCs, Sutton was able to see a prototype from the United States, and pilot it with staff and users. The development was carried out with a great deal of input from staff. For example, a decision was made, on the recommendation of staff that the format of the software would mirror existing assessment forms but with drop down menus reflecting the kind of responses staff could expect.
The partnership between Sutton and Data Interface was not a formal contract but was based on mutual desire to make the project work. Data Interface is a small company and John knew there were risks to Sutton that it might take on too much or grow too fast in an unsustainable way. John made it clear that he was unable to fully fund development, and the project developed with the two partners sharing set-up costs.
Once it became clear that the traditional way of working on financial assessments was going to change, a great deal of effort was put into training staff, a few of whom were self-acknowledged technophobes. Staff started the new approach gently by working in pairs but quickly adapted to a different way of working. Six months into working with the tablet PCs, John asked one staff member what would happen if Sutton pulled out of the new technology. 'Over my dead body,' was the reply.
Eight months into the project John linked up with NOMAD (a mobile technology development project run by the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG), which provided £500,000 to help develop the mobile working strategy across the Council and share learning on the organisational issues of introducing mobile working with the wider local government community . Sutton has also been able to pick up small amounts of funding from other external sources to support the financial commitment made by the Authority itself. There is a NOMAD forum, which has proved a fertile recruiting ground for authorities that are willing to develop aspects of the mobile working technology that Sutton does not currently have the capacity to take forward.
What helped to get it started?
The innovation dates back to a desire to improve customer services, described by John as, 'a cultural shift in the organisation'. But there was no crisis of performance - the service was neither performing well nor badly. Rather, the new customer focus thinking coincided with a technological opportunity and upcoming regulatory change.
The reconfiguring of John's role within the Authority meant he was taken out of an organisational silo and began to make linkages between funding, technological opportunities and service delivery routes.
The support of both senior officers and members and the desire to fund some development clearly helped get the project off the ground. Early on, the technology was showcased to senior officers and members. They backed the project and understood the potential, and were reassured by the small-scale start and efforts to learn as the project developed.
What helped to keep it going?
As the project was implemented and developed, external funding became more important. The existence of NOMAD, which provided funding and whose forum acted as a sounding board and opportunity to exchange ideas was significant.
The changes were quickly taken up and owned by staff. Developing the changes alongside staff and investing in change management and training also helped the success of the approach. This was also aided by a willingness to start on a small scale - in effect piloting, accompanied by learning. Often it was the small things that really mattered, for example, explaining how to change the tablet PCs' batteries. Setting up the right IT support for mobile staff was also crucial.
What helped to share the learning?
A desire to develop and apply the lessons within Sutton has meant the project widening across the Council with potential applications investigated and evaluated. The technology has sparked ideas for the Council's Building Control services, where photos taken by mobile phones can be attached to files on the tablet PC and sent to specialist surveyors, reducing the number of site visits required.
Developments in the project have been shared via the Council's website (with interest from as far away as Korea) and visits from other councils have been frequent. The project has also been nominated for a number of awards. Membership of the NOMAD forum has also been important for sharing the innovation with other councils.
Challenges along the way
The project has generally run smoothly, perhaps because it was the right idea at the right time and was well managed through its embryonic and later stages. However, John notes that there would have been a significant barrier to success had Sutton not been able to access NOMAD funding at the point at which it did.
Finding and justifying the time to share the innovation so that other councils can benefit has proved a challenge but was a commitment that Sutton accepted in taking funding from NOMAD. Sutton hasn't otherwise pro-actively sought to disseminate its success externally. The Authority thought that other councils would be taking the same or similar steps and felt that there was a reputational risk in publicising something as an innovation before it is proven to be successful.
What next?
A secondment of a member of John's service area to the Council's social services department led to the thought that the use of tablet PCs by joint visiting teams (housing, council tax and benefits) may have benefits, particularly in providing a personalised service at a user level. They are now trying to build in pension assessments by the Department of Work and Pensions, a link that officers had been 'carrying around in their heads' but had not previously had an outlet for.