Agenda item

To consider report DCE/09 of the Deputy Chief Executive.

Commission Members considered report DCE/09 of the Deputy Chief Executive. The Commission has within its function to review the council’s transformation programme, measures, and performance information (including budgetary information) together with service reviews.

Transformation consists of time-limited projects to drive strategic change in order to meet corporate objectives.  These are projects that generally lie outside of any single service and require impetus and additional resource / focus in order to deliver and embed that change.  The aim was to create change and for that change to become business as usual.  Much progress had been made and the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic had accelerated the Transformation Plan, in particular in terms of new ways of working, values and behaviours and digital transformation.

The Transformation Plan included:

·         Channel Shift – reflected the massive shift to online work, which included how residents wished to interact with the council. There were huge advantages to the council in terms of efficiencies. The ‘MyCrawley’ commenced with 10,000 accounts and subsequently had over 30,000.  It was paramount to ascertain the reasons why individuals chose not to migrate to an electronic form.

·         New Ways of Working – the pandemic resulted in teams being able to support customers and deliver services in new ways with the rollout of new technology.  The migration of systems to the Cloud had seen improvements and efficiencies that would continue.

·         People Strategy – the focus on wellbeing and people needed to continue, together with embedding the success of the values and behaviours into all areas of HR, supporting staff and processes.

·         Service Re-design – this and commercialisation would fit with the budget strategy and how the council would aim to meet the financial challenges of Covid, better support its communities and perform better as an organisation.  It was noted that it was beneficial to take a holistic approach to delivering services and creating efficiencies which ultimately improve outcomes.

·         Commercialisation (PIPES model) - whilst it was acknowledged there was much uncertainty facing the Council and difficult decisions around future service provision, having a more commercial mind-set opens up opportunities to help it better manage these challenges and minimise the need for future reductions in services. This theme focused on developing new ideas, new income streams, greater efficiencies and savings to ensure the continued provision of high quality and sustainable frontline services. The “Bright Ideas” initiative, invites staff and councillors to submit creative and innovative ways to help tackle the financial challenges.

·         Assets – it was important to think how the council used its estate and how this use could be improved – “use it better”.

Following the discussion with the Deputy Chief Executive and Head of Digital and Transformation, Councillors raised a number of queries:

·         It was recognised that much work that was taking place could impact on staff and concern was expressed how this was monitored.  Staff surveys provided reliable data and feedback but the changes had been planned, merely enacted at a faster pace and staff had adopted skills which were interchangeable between home and office. However the pressure on staff had not been underestimated.

·         Confirmation that there was a need to ensure the changes resulting from any transformation work needed to be established in the workplace prior to any further adjustments. There were many opportunities to be addressed and explored.

·         Work from other councils and organisations was being explored to identify opportunities and networking possibilities.

·         It was suggested there may be potential for YouTube training videos to assist the public for MyCrawley accounts.

RESOLVED

That the Commission noted the report, with the views expressed being acknowledged and documented by the officers.