Performance Management in UK Local Government SIX SKILL AREAS have emerged

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

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

3. Scotland – 32 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 Wales – 22 Unitaries Services delivered vary by council type

4. Best Value (‘99-2002) The 4 Cs – Challenge; Compare; Compete; Consult 200+ BVPIs and annual BVPP Very focused on performance scores on KPIs 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 So what would citizens expect if you plotted on 2 axes each council’s overall score on BVPIs and CPA?

5. Co-relation of Agg PI score and CPA score 2 R = 0.1312 2.40 2.30 2.20 2.10 2.00 Agg PI score 1.90 1.80 1.70 1.60 1.50 18 23 28 33 38 43 48 53 58 CPA score Not so!

6. 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 council’s past history Why not? But the real conclusion is that you need to focus on measures that match your priorities; although statutory, many of the BVPIs are not “critical” to each council

7. Benchmarking against similar profile organizations Focus on managing performance in the context of priorities & outcomes Partnership working to deliver on local priorities Staff engagement in a holistic “PM Framework” Usage of technology to support the PM process Reporting performance to citizens, via council website PM skills that have developed as a result of these regimes

8. 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

9. Councils typically report performance compared to a wide range of benchmarking groups

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

12. Skill #2: Focus on managing performance in line with goals • 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”

13. Source: Merton LBC

14. Scorecards are widely used to track the Strategy

15. Many also integrate Budget Monitoring with managing against key goals

16. Skill #3: Partnership working • 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

17. Doncaster MBC Partnership Structure

18. 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 Partnership Issues and Challenges

19. Skill #4: Building Holistic PM Frameworks • 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

20. An overview of one sample framework…. Source: Sedgemoor DC

21. Also important is how the framework will be managed

22. A range of processes form part of the PMF

25. Skill #5: Usage of technology to support the PM process • 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

26. This has driven PM software adoption levels to over 75% Early Adopter Early Majority Late Majority

27. Some are using Covalent to manage performance data on local maps Map shows # domestic burglaries across Doncaster MBC’s 16 neighborhood areas, highlighting hotspots

28. Skill #6: Performance Reporting to Citizens via the website • 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

30. Summarised position, with interpretation

31. Quite detailed levels of Performance Information

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

33. 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 Wrap Up

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