Digital By Default Local Government Event - Southwark Cathedral

DIGITAL BY DEFAULT

WELCOME#gandlake15

David AshmoreDirector of Business and Customer Service

QUESTIONS

The challenges ahead and how to

tackle themStephen Hughes

12 November 2015

The challenge• Up to further 40% funding cut

• Demographic demand increases

• Pressures from National living wage, pension revaluation, ending of NIC contracting out

• Impact of business rates exceeding central funding, 2017 business rates revaluation, doubling the risk of appeals following 100% local control

The financial challenge

And how to save money whilst

delivering services

Know what you want• Massive change in resources so existing pattern of resource

allocation may not be right for 2020

• Think about Council's priorities and test future service levels against them

• Priorities are not a list of activities and projects - they deliver the priorities

• Ensure that business as usual is included!

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Enjoy a High Quality of Life

Stay Safe in Clean, Green Neighbourhoods

Be HealthySucceed Economically

Increasing individual’s personal wealth and reducing relative

poverty within the city

Tailored support and protection for the most vulnerable people

within the community – in particular children

Enable people to choose healthy lifestyles and improve their

wellbeing. Resulting in people LIVING WELL

Increase public perceptions of safety and protect vulnerable

people within the city

Reduce health inequalities and mortality across Birmingham.

Resulting in people LIVING LONGER

Create a vibrant low carbon, low waste economy through the best

use of environmental technologies, and ensure that

Birmingham is prepared for the impact of climate change.

Increase employment and economic activity within the city.

Ensuring people have the education and skills to make the

most of job opportunities

Secure cleaner, greener, sustainable neighbourhoods empowering citizens to take greater responsibility for their

environment

Average wage levels

Inspection Ratings - TBC

Environmental Quality SurveyCO2 equivalent emissions

Overall Employment Rate

Life ExpectancyPerceptions of crime/safety

QALY/Survey

•Strategic Outcome

•Sub-Outcome

•Measures

Categories of savings• Slash and burn (Tax payers alliance strategy)• Raise more income• Be efficient (from lean to transformation)• Have someone else do it (from outsource to

volunteers)• Have less to do (prevention and social investment)• Do less (cuts but in line with priorities)

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Some under exploited ideas?

• Exploit commercial opportunities more

• Make collaboration work better - strengthened governance

• Move the co-production boundary

• Find working social investment models

• Fundamentally redesign services

Increase income• Still under exploited• Commercialise Council service streams - like building

control, pest control, advisory services • Deliver social objectives via commercial vehicles -

energy companies, lending to SMEs, property investment including housing companies

• Just make money -advertising assets, renting ducts in the roads, car parking, etc.

The imperative of integrated working

• For example the Better Care Fund: it has to be both about protecting adult social care and increasing acute capacity

• Troubled families: needs effective multi-agency working and a transformation strategy

• Two (three) councils but one workforce - e.g. SODC and Vale of White Horse or Wandsworth and Richmond

• New models needed of:• Working and culture• Commissioning• Governance and public:public contracts

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Big Society?• Volunteers - issues with Trade Unions if more than

complementary ... to be tested• Community capacity, representativeness, and need

to be held to account• Real issues about legislative responsibilities - e.g.

health and safety• Covers tiny areas of spend• Often more expensive provision• Rise of Parishes?

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But ...• All public services are co-produced (e.g. history of bin collection)

• Moving the boundary can save lots of money

• Need a systematic way of engaging with people to get their consent

• Examples: role of carers, home to school transport, digital channels

Have less to do - Prevention• Economic growth as solution to social

problems (a presentation of its own, but saving money means getting long term workless jobs)

• Early intervention instead of crisis support• Tackle underlying issues not just the

presenting problem• Make the work fit the resource

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Holistic investment systems• Early investment in children gives better education

outcomes, better social skills, less anti-social behaviour and crime• See in particular Aos and Washington State• Graham Allen's reports

• More anecdotal evidence that treating the whole person/family reduces public intervention and costs• Basis for troubled families programme

• But ...• Timescales can be long• How do you find extra investment at time of cuts - therefore PbR

etc.• Governance issues

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SOCIAL INVESTMENT MODEL

Local

Integrated

Service

Trust

Integrators

Improved Social Outcomes

Investors

Investors

Investors

Local Providers

LocalProviders

Local Providers

Measured by Independent Assessor

Provide themselves and/or Procure from market

Private investment, Some philanthropic

e.g. ‘Big Society Bank’

Advisory Roles

PublicAgencies

PublicAgencies

PublicAgencies

Reduced Social Cost

SAVINGS

Local

&

National

Commissioning

FundingFunding

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Challenges for Social Investment– Does evidence exist? If not how do you assess

VFM? Who pays for it?– Is there a market for social investment (funders,

integrators and skilled service suppliers)?– Can better outcomes be translated into

predictable cost savings?– Is there enough savings to pay for investment,

interest, profit and risk?– Will the Finance Director sign it off? (Risk

assessment)– Have we made savings already?

Make the work fit the resource• Or stop investing in design and concentrate on

doing it• Gary Belkin’s work creating mental health teams in

Haiti and West Africa• Deconstruct tasks so they are allocated to least

expensive of way of doing them• Quick experiments to reject “dumb” ideas and use

good ones• Use for: social work, planning, public health,

libraries etc• Illustrates need for Leadership everywhere in

organisation & empowerment role.

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Conclusion• Local authorities have done really well so far

• There are going to be new challenges

• There needs to be a step change in innovation

• But it's not easy!!

QUESTIONS

Digital and Organisational Design

Delivering ‘Council as a platform’

Really transformative digital

Dave Briggs

Digital and Organisational Design

1. Developing a digital-age operating model

• Council as a Platform• Protecting the front line • Enabling sustainable transformative

change• Bringing together digital and OD to

create a single change function

Digital and Organisational Design

2. Redesign services with users at their heart

• Enabling radical rethinking of what we deliver and how

• Employing service design techniques throughout the process

• Always meeting a need, of our customers and of our staff

Digital and Organisational Design

3. Use best of breed technology

• End to end digital services – not putting lipstick on legacy pigs

• Investing in capabilities, not systems• Evolution, not stagnation, of the

existing IT estate

Digital and Organisational Design

4. Support people to deliver change

• Defining the ‘people’ capabilities we need and delivering them

• Developing a local public service lab for innovation

• Ensure people have the tools, techniques and processes to hand to make change happen

Digital and Organisational Design

5. Consume as well as create on our and others’ platforms

• Becoming system leaders• Building platforms and capabilities

for everyone to share• Recognising where others have the

lead and use their platforms and capabilities

Digital and Organisational Design

Lessons we’re learning• Doing things this way is really, really,

really hard• You need air cover at the very top• Bag those savings early• Chuck some tactical bombs• Don’t stop talking, ever

Digital and Organisational Design

Thanks!Email: dave.briggs@adur-worthing.gov.uk

Twitter: @davebriggs

Blog: http://da.vebrig.gs/

QUESTIONS

COFFEE BREAK

Karen MichaelService Development Team Leader

Vivian DaviesHead of Collections and Credit Control

www.southwark.gov.uk

we can

Digital by Default

Universal Credit - Thinking Digitally

www.southwark.gov.uk

we can

 Current Arrangements

 UC Change / Impact

 Risks

Housing benefit for all council tenants, including those placed in

some forms of temporary accommodation, is paid direct to the landlord [the Council]. This also includes those tenants on

partial HBAROUND 23,000 HB CLAIMS

Housing cost support to any UC claimant will be paid monthly as part of

single payment 

Claimants will have to wait for at least 5-6

weeks for their first UC payment

UC will be paid monthly thereafter

Claimant may not have means to pay rent during period when they are

waiting for first payment

 Change in payment arrangements – for

council tenants in particular – may present budgeting challenges. Some may struggle to deal with this change

 Where a UC claimant has other debts or what they perceive to be more pressing

financial commitments, will they choose not to use their UC payment to

pay their rent?

Where a new claim for HB is made by a Council tenant, the waiting time for first payment is currently

3-4 weeks and a change of circumstances is 1-2 weeks

Housing benefit is paid weekly, reflecting the fact that Council rent

is charged weekly

What we do now

www.southwark.gov.uk

we can

We need to talk ……..• ‘LA’ s share their data across departments’ – They don’t!

– Joined up approach to welfare reform and targeted work has been key

With who

Others areas to engage - where do people present themselves?

• Good working relationship with JCP is crucial • Other departments and key Council Members:

– Adult and Children’s services: Care leavers, Troubled Families – Housing: Temporary/Supported Accommodation, TRAs, TMOs, Resident services – Local Economy: Employment opportunities and support – Community Engagement: VCS/3rd Sector – CCG/PH: Mental Health teams, Family Nursing Practice, GP’s– Commissioning: Commissioning support providers/delivery partners – Legal: Assistance with Delivery Partnership agreements with DWP

• VCS/3rd Sector, community groups, community councils • RSL’s, Private Landlords, ALMOs’ – your Housing providers• Schools

www.southwark.gov.uk

we can

Learning from DPDP KNOW YOUR TENANTS!• Data• Focused intervention and close monitoring of rent accounts

– Nearly half of the total arrears were accrued in the first month/4 week period following migration

• Collection and escalation policies• Consider UC payment cycle to rent payment cycle

– Currently 50% of UC digital claims are made on smart phone/tablet • Advice and support• Financial capability

– Opening and operating a bank account– Mis-handling of direct debits

• Switchback process and Data sharing– Landlord and LA close relationship vital to good process operation – (echoed

from JCP in live running!) Will DWP have the same relationship?– Not enough known about switch backs in UC live/digital running

www.southwark.gov.uk

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Some good news

• Positive outcomes tenants reported from DP – it had made them better at money management – it had made them more likely to look for work, hold down a job or

increase their hours– some reported they now had a better standing with their bank

(such as improved credit ratings)

Supporting tenants achieve these positive outcomes will no doubt have a positive

impact on rent income collection, as well as promoting greater financial inclusion and

financial confidence

www.southwark.gov.uk

we can

Preparation and testing

• GIS mapping – using data sources • Engaging relevant stakeholders and

partner organisations • Triage where people present

– USdl trial – Co-location cold hand off doesn’t work

• Target groups to test and trial interventions that work– Hardship fund and Emergency Support

Scheme applicants – Outreach work (GP’s, monthly events,

home visits etc)

www.southwark.gov.uk

ENGAGEMENT What’s the hook?

l

www.southwark.gov.uk

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HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW YOUR TENANTS?

www.southwark.gov.uk

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How good is our data?

Out of 10…

6

www.southwark.gov.uk

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Need to know

EmailHousehold Composition

Bank details Employment/EmployerLifestyle

Phone numbers

Support Needs

Address

Full names

Benefits

DoB

Household

Income

www.southwark.gov.uk

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Preparation & Risk Management

Transition

Timetable???

HB Direct

in line with DWP UC rollout

timetable

Preparation

Re-engage with

our customer

www.southwark.gov.uk

we can

www.southwark.gov.uk

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UC - what do we know?

• Inconsistencies exist

• Timing

• Arrears spike

• APAs

www.southwark.gov.uk

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Rent payment history

=Positive rating

=Access to credit / contracts

The Rental Exchange Experian / Big Issue

www.southwark.gov.uk

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Risk Profiling - ExperianCustomer Management

Service • Changes in payment behaviour

• Recent credit applications• Loans paid down

Targeted activity

Different strategiesImproved efficiency

Pace, low level interventions

www.southwark.gov.uk

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Staff Skills

Customer Focus

Negotiating Skills

Commerciality

Call R

ecor

ding

Recruitment

NB

Training

www.southwark.gov.uk

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THANK YOU - QUESTIONS

www.southwark.gov.uk

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DID YOU KNOW….

• UC monthly payment - including housing cost element - will always be calculated based on claimant’s household’s circumstances on date seven days before payment is due – this includes the first payment

• Where a UC claim is made on-line the claimant is required to contact DWP by phone to make an appointment to attend jobcentre within seven days of claim. Failure to do so will result in their claim being closed

• When a UC claim is made on-line the claimant is required to set up an on-line account. The claimant will then be responsible for reporting all changes in their circumstances using their on-line account – including, for example, any change of address, or changes to rent

• Post Office Card Accounts (POCA), known to be used by significant numbers of Southwark residents will not suffice for this purpose

• Where a claim for housing benefit is made late the claim may be backdated for a period of up to three months where the claimant requests this in writing and is able to demonstrate “good cause” for not claiming in time - NB. Decision to limit HB backdating to one month was announced in July 2015 budget and will take effect from April 2016

• Thinking about changing your online offerings to support your UC rollout – taking into account how and where your roll out will happen

• CTR – good relationship with JCP would support this, even if you have not opted to deliver support for UC through a DPA

QUESTIONS

PANEL QUESTIONS

THANK YOU