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www.covalentsoftware.com Performance Management in UK Local Government SIX SKILL AREAS have emerged SALGFMG conference 20 th November 2009 Peter McHugh, CEO and Founder peter.mchugh@covalentsoftware.com

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www.covalentsoftware.com The next hour or so Profile of UK Local Government, and how Performance Management works there Six skill areas that have emerged from the mandatory regime of Performance Reporting

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www.covalentsoftware.com Scotland 32 Unitaries Wales 22 Unitaries England 387 in total 2 tier system County Councils 34 District Councils 238 Also 1 tier councils Unitaries 46 London Boroughs 33 Metropolitan councils 36 Services delivered vary by council type

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www.covalentsoftware.com Best Value (99-2002) The 4 Cs Challenge; Compare; Compete; Consult 200+ BVPIs and annual BVPP Very focused on performance scores on KPIs So what would citizens expect if you plotted on 2 axes each councils overall score on BVPIs and CPA? Two Performance Management Regimes CPA Comprehensive Perform. Assessment (02-09) Not just services and KPIs, but wider corporate assessment (10 themes, one of which is Performance Management) Annual inspection leading to rating of Excellent, Good, Fair, Weak, Poor

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CPA is much broader than just looking at PI scores CPA process, whilst numeric in outcome, is in fact a subjective process and less easy to ensure consistency across a wide number of inspectors The CPA inspection includes an ability to improve assessment as well as considering performance in the context of the councils past history

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www.covalentsoftware.com 1.Benchmarking against similar profile organizations 2.Focus on managing performance in the context of priorities & outcomes 3.Partnership working to deliver on local priorities 4.Staff engagement in a holistic PM Framework 5.Usage of technology to support the PM process 6.Reporting performance to citizens, via council website PM skills that have developed as a result of these regimes

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www.covalentsoftware.com Audit Commission publish outturns for each statutory PI Peer Groups - many benchmark local PIs in groups of similar profile organisations Developed expertise in developing local PIs Comparisons published to citizens in Annual Performance Plan Skill #1:Benchmarking performance

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www.covalentsoftware.com Councils typically report performance compared to a wide range of benchmarking groups

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Covalent is also used by various benchmarking clubs to manage and report data

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www.covalentsoftware.com Audit Commission emphasis on defining priorities and mapping measures against that; as well as resource allocation Most have introduced processes into annual planning cycle to align dept/services objectives with corporate Widespread usage of Scorecards, cascading The so-called Golden Thread Skill #2:Focus on managing performance in line with goals

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www.covalentsoftware.com Source: Merton LBC

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www.covalentsoftware.com Scorecards are widely used to track the Strategy

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www.covalentsoftware.com Many also integrate Budget Monitoring with managing against key goals

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www.covalentsoftware.com Delivering local priorities in partnership with health bodies, police, fire, voluntary/charities, housing authorities etc LSPs (Local Strategic Partnerships) and LAAs (Local Area Agreements) Co-ordinating action plans and performance measurement key challenges Skill #3:Partnership working

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www.covalentsoftware.com Doncaster MBC Partnership Structure Discover the Spirit (Stronger & Sustainable) Safer Doncaster (Crime and Antisocial Behaviour) Younger Doncaster (Children, Young People & Schools) Healthy Doncaster (Older and Vulnerable People) Enterprising Doncaster (Economy & Enterprise)

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www.covalentsoftware.com Partnership Issues and Challenges How to manage within each organisation (Internal engagement) Consistent Information Management Manage PIs, Risks and Manage Programmes (Action) Inspection Regimes How to report activity from individual organisations to Partnership Boards How to communicate priorities around partners

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www.covalentsoftware.com A framework of strategies, plans, policies and indicators that enables the performance of the Council to be monitored Also incorporates timing of the PM cycle during the year Helps gain staff engagement - Senior Officers & Members (Councillors); Departmental Staff Google Performance Management Framework (pg 2 & 3 is better!) for lots of examples Skill #4:Building Holistic PM Frameworks

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www.covalentsoftware.com Source: Sedgemoor DC An overview of one sample framework.

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www.covalentsoftware.com Also important is how the framework will be managed

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www.covalentsoftware.com A range of processes form part of the PMF

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Complex set of functional requirements KPIs, Actions, Risks, Complaints, Inspections, Partnerships, Scorecards, Web Publishing, GIS Motivation is streamlining processes (data collection & reporting) and driver employee engagement/accountability Six generic roll-out models from big bang, departmental, modular thru to corporate control center and super-users only Skill #5:Usage of technology to support the PM process

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www.covalentsoftware.com Early Adopter Early Majority Late Majority

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www.covalentsoftware.com Some are using Covalent to manage performance data on local maps Map shows # domestic burglaries across Doncaster MBCs 16 neighborhood areas, highlighting hotspots

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www.covalentsoftware.com Most have been publishing Performance Plans for many years now Typically as PDF on website; also have wide range of other performance info on sites More progressive now directly web publishing content from back end system to website; for partners and employees too Skill #6:Performance Reporting to Citizens via the website

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Summarised position, with interpretation

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www.covalentsoftware.com Quite detailed levels of Performance Information

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www.covalentsoftware.com http://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/about-your-council/single-outcome-agreement/ An example of a Web Published Covalent Scorecard

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www.covalentsoftware.com Wrap Up Despite being very unpopular!!! . Regulatory regime has led to better quality performance measurement It has also developed PM skills that might not otherwise have existed Citizens have much better reporting of performance than exists pretty much anywhere else

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www.covalentsoftware.com To learn more about Covalent peter.mchugh@covalentsoftware.com www.covalentsoftware.com