Transformation - Playing to Win

The January/February 2007 issue of Local Government IT in Use carried a Special Feature on the Local t-Gov Programme. To download a pdf of this feature click here. To read the web version follow the links:

• Transformation - Playing to Win
• Best Practice in Transformation - Does it Exist?
• Tackling Social Exclusion

Transformation - Playing to Win

The stakes are high, says Local t-Gov programme director, Martin Scarfe. But getting the transformation strategy right will put councils in a win-win situation to deliver better services and efficiency.

Local government has an opportunity at the moment to grasp the transformation agenda, make it its own and deliver the Holy Grail of ever better, ever more efficient public services.

But we must move forward with this agenda now. There is no longer time to ‘wait and see' because – apart from a few small pieces – the policy jigsaw is pretty much in place. It is no longer a question of ‘what direction are we travelling in?' but one of ‘how do we translate that direction into concrete programmes and plans; and how do we make the most of these?'.

The final pieces in the jigsaw will fall into place over the next few months - the White Paper's delivery plan is due this month (January), the sector plan for local government shared services is due in March, and CSR07 and the Lyons review will be revealed hot on its heels.

However, the pre budget report has been made already – and it makes clear that there will be a five percent year on year savings target ongoing. This is more aggressive than had been expected, designed perhaps to encourage new approaches and behaviours in our sector.

To deliver this, local government as a whole will need to do much more, and have a much smarter approach to working together; both across local authorities and between central government and local government.

Transformation also offers an opportunity to tackle social exclusion. It is those that use our services most that are most likely to be marginalised in our society; and it is they who have most to gain from local government's transformation. We can make their lives better. We can provide the right support in the right format, opening up new opportunities and learning.

The e-government programme has delivered much, but investing all our money in websites helps only at the margin - our elderly, our young people, and our disadvantaged don't benefit from website development. They will, however, benefit from technology-enabled access to our services, without having to be IT literate to do so.

Take, for example, the success of the eAdmissions National Project. In Hackney, 81 percent of secondary school applications were made online – advisors visited schools with laptops and helped parents to apply: technology with a human interface used out in the community to deliver an improved service.

Mobile working, as evidenced by the Nomad National Project, also has the potential to transform service delivery – taking services out to the where they are needed whilst delivering back office efficiencies.

Building on the local e-gov programme, Local t-Gov is a thriving community fulfilling an obvious need to facilitate communication about transformation – communication between central and local government, communication with other councils and the sharing of best practice about communication with the citizen.

Last autumn we held two t-Gov events – at one of which Sir David Varney gave the first public presentation of his review. Feedback from t-Gov Autumn and the t-Gov Procurement Conference has been outstanding and, as we go to press, we are looking forward to a vibrant, extremely well attended and content rich, shared services discussion on 30th of January at t-Gov Shared Services.

A large proportion of the feedback, however, is the same: ‘Please, someone, capture good practice about transformation and disseminate it'.

t-Gov EXPO, 18-19 April at ExCeL in the Docklands, London, occurs just after the budget and is well timed to provide a forum for discussion of Sir Michael Lyons review – the last piece of the policy puzzle.

It will provide you with the forum to come together and talk - across sectors, across councils, across services – and to learn from the experience of those currently leading the field.

The t-Gov Programme aims to equip people with the knowledge and good practice to deliver the best in the transformation of local government. From its inception as the local e-gov Programme to today's t-Gov Programme we have demonstrated success and showcased excellence. With the strength of our editorial board we continue to collate views from those leading transformation – from the CIO council, the chief executives' and the members' perspectives.

This is an important moment in the evolution of transforming local government. Many councils are waiting for the DCLG to provide a roadmap to bring clarity to the situation or set targets to force action. But those leading the way realise that there is not time to be lost – they are already moving in that direction.

One of my major frustrations with local government is that there hasn't been any real structural change in 25 years - our citizens still have to wade into ten different offices to get ten different allowances when you know they perhaps cannot afford, or make, the journey or don't speak English.

We are in danger of drinking in the last chance saloon. The opportunity to take control of our future as a sector is open to us now. I believe that there is a danger that, if we don't grasp this opportunity to transform service delivery, central government will legislate as it did with CCT.

Efficiency, shared services, transformation – yes, all represent a challenge to us, but this should be welcomed as an exciting journey to fundamentally change the way local services are delivered. We should not be passengers on this voyage.

Martin Scarfe Programme Director
Local t-Gov
LB Newham