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Strengthening the links North Lincolnshire Council uses Performance Manager to continue improving service delivery, transparency and accountability.

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Strengthening the linksNorth Lincolnshire Council uses Performance Manager to continue improving service delivery, transparency and accountability.

Performance Manager, Castle Malwood, Minstead, Hampshire, SO43 7PE. Tel: +44(0)2380 - 816000

[email protected]

What later became Performance

Manager was originally

developed by us, a local authority,

in partnership with Triangle. We

wanted a system we knew would

meet our needs rather than

buying off-the-shelf. We saw

the emphasis on performance,

particularly involving partners,

only growing. We knew at some

point we would have to have the

partners on board.

Nigel Manders, Performance Manager,

North Lincolnshire Council.

“My centralised team supports the Council’s 10 main service areas, from Adults and Children’s Services, to smaller areas like legal,” explains Nigel Manders, Performance Manager at North Lincolnshire Council. “We work with performance teams in each area to provide data as well as for the Council as a whole, making sure everyone moves in the same direction.”

In 2006, North Lincolnshire Council partnered with Triangle to develop and implement a leading-edge solution called Performance Manager. Shortly after the system went live, Nigel Manders commented: “We no longer have to waste time and money on collecting and standardising the data. We spend our time interpreting the results and most importantly, improving our services to the public.” Two years on, the Council’s performance rating was upgraded to four-star.

The backgroundNorth Lincolnshire Council (NLC) was created in 1996, one of four unitary Councils following the abolition of the county of Humberside. Employing 6,000 people and serving a population

of 153,000, its largest town is Scunthorpe. Prior to 2005, NLC implemented a balanced scorecard comprising a range of national and local performance indicators. Measuring operations and services against targets involved gathering data using a variety of methods, including time-consuming and labour-intensive manual collection. With no single standardised process for collection, collation and analysis of data across departments and service areas, results provided meant decisions could be both inaccurate and a long time coming. In light of this, NLC recognised the need for a standardised system to collate all data required, measure performance against indicators, demonstrate performance against the scorecard and – crucially – extend its approaches to local partners.

Why Triangle?The Council’s IT department had worked with Triangle before. With a good working relationship based on trust plus the successful delivery of earlier projects, NLC commissioned Triangle to work on a new solution: a powerful, scaleable and cost-effective system able to meet the Council’s current and future requirements.

Aligning objectives, actions and risksPerformance Manager enables organisations to align objectives, actions and risks – to focus on achieving their vision rather than spending inordinate time and effort on managing data. A collaborating workforce can understand the organisation’s (and its partner’s) performance, risk, actions, plans, themes and objectives. Typical user organisations include Councils and local authorities, central government, the NHS, police, probation, prison, housing associations and the MOD. Performance Manager is particularly useful when extended to partnerships, with full support for the ‘Golden Thread’ concept provided. Other organisations using Performance Manager include Telford & Wrekin Council, Knowsley Council, Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council and West Berkshire Council.

The Triangle solution at NLC immediately provided the sought-after standardised approach, with all data in the same format, and scorecards measuring performance indicators on both a local and national level. With data quality features ensuring accuracy, information was rolled out to different service areas with confidence: for example, the Head of the Highways division analysing data on road safety and accident rates. The approach could now be extended into an integrated Council-wide system to collect and measure all performance data.

Working in partnershipThe solution was perceived from the start as a shared, collaborative system, with easy web-based access meaning everyone could take ownership and provide input in their areas, further stimulating a Council-wide performance

culture. Secure remote access capabilities meant staff and officers can work from satellite offices or home, while providing data input, analysis and reporting facilities to partner organisations in Local Area Agreements (LAAs), community and strategic partnerships. Indeed, a key development following go-live was the introduction of new framework documents, Going Forward Together, and the Council’s strategic plan. “This covers shared ambitions with our partners,” says Nigel Manders, “what we need to do to be fit for purpose, to deliver what we need. We want to ensure we have the capacity to deliver, internally and in a shared way with partners.

“We have been moving away dramatically from focusing just on the Council, its own data and performance, to look at performance

data and outcomes with our partners, and being measured on that. With the 2008-9 framework NLC will be inspected and assessed as an area, including police, PCT, fire, voluntary sector, and so on. This is about ensuring capacity and delivering outcomes, and we cannot do it alone. So it was important we could extend the performance management system to partners.

“Being a web-based system is important, in terms of partner access; some solutions we looked at originally were not. Ease of use is also critical. Performance Manager is very easy to use if you are a non-IT person or not a performance specialist.” The system also delivers high levels of flexibility, ideal for application in multiple different service areas while recognising that people can work in very different ways.

Right from the start, we could produce our quarterly performance

reviews, monitoring progress and identifying trends and priorities. We

could produce useful action plans, graphs and indicators without having

to use another product.

Nigel Manders, Performance Manager, North Lincolnshire Council.

Nigel Manders says data quality is another key aspect: “Our External Auditors have recently changed and data quality is high on the agenda. The system means we can, for example, attach documents and verification forms, in line with our protocols. We have an audit trail – you can see, for instance, who has deleted what. So our system clearly ‘ticks the boxes’ for partnership working and data quality.”

Delivering the ‘wow’ factorNigel Manders adds, “A real ‘value add’ comes with the front-end, the reporting side. To get people to use the system you need to ask ‘where’s the wow factor?’ Triangle gives us that ‘wow factor’ in terms of what we can get out of the system. For example, we can produce Scorecards and put pictures on them, putting all the data behind it

to make it more meaningful. We can do that with our data and actions, our action planning and risks. It’s all in one place, and users can drill down. It’s important to get user buy-in, especially as we move far more into a partnership context. This is all about outcomes. We have flexibility on our look and feel, to examine the services we are delivering, which can be especially important for Council members.”

He adds, “The other ‘wow factor’ is the gateway as part of the front-end. We had a massive database, with lots of data, and generated lots of results. Users would say, ‘But where do I fit in?’ in terms of their own activities and service area. It was very difficult to see that before. With Performance Manager we provide your own personalised view: the areas you

are responsible for, actions, areas you can contribute to. One person may own an indicator but there can be 10 or 20 contributors. People can see the data, what’s happened, and know what they need to do. So the system promotes transparency and accountability.” If all that wasn’t enough, additional benefits include a Council-wide Newsroom, as opposed to large volumes of emails and announcements flying around NLC and clogging up memory, while each service area has its own document management area so people can find critical documents quickly and easily.

Turning public priorities into realityA ‘Golden Thread’ approach is thus supported, involving all areas of the Council together with local partners, external stakeholder such as central government and auditors, and the wider North Lincolnshire community.

In spring 2008, two years after the Triangle solution went live, the Audit Commission praised NLC. In the annual Audit and Inspection Letter, inspectors found the Council to be financially strong and providing good value for money.

Importantly, the Council saw an increase in its performance rating under the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA), becoming a four-star Council that is improving adequately. Inspectors commented that NLC continues to improve in many of its priority areas - and continues to deliver its plans together with its partners.

Our staff can see the areas

important to them, what the

Council is delivering, and take

action to have an impact as an

individual. We can see all this

in the system and what we

are delivering, turning public

priorities into actual reality. The

system is available to everyone

in the Council, covering areas

ranging from refuse collection

right up to our strategic plan and

community strategy.

Nigel Manders, Performance Manager,

North Lincolnshire Council.

Strengthening the linksNorth Lincolnshire Council uses Performance Manager to continue improving service delivery, transparency and accountability.

Performance Manager, Castle Malwood, Minstead, Hampshire, SO43 7PE. Tel: +44(0)2380 - 816000

[email protected]