Efficiency Challenge Programme

Background

The Board at its meeting on 21st May 2009 approved funding for the Efficiency Challenge programme. This is an overarching programme with objectives identified to:

• Provide a comparison of authorities cost/performance relative to their peers
• Identify best practice structures to deliver efficiency programmes
• Identify and communicate real, practical, cashable efficiency opportunities - what others are doing. Share best practice and transfer knowledge around the region
• Provide a focus on the cost of corporate services in particular for district councils
• Provide a tailored challenge to authorities on their efficiency plans according to a survey of findings, to test the robust nature and their realistic opportunity to fully deliver and so support achievement of the region's efficiency target
• Provide a challenge to those authorities' services which are considered to be in the bottom quartile of cost/performance compared to peers and to facilitate the re-modelling and improvement of services
• Seek to develop an ongoing programme benchmarking of service performance/cost.

The programme was designed around four phases:
1. Data Collection
2. Dissemination
3. The Challenge
4. Sustainable Benchmarking

The project is steered by a small group of Finance Directors (one per sub region), the SRP Managers and the programme oversight is provided by Cllr. Jeremy Webb, Member Champion for the Efficiency Programme.

Progress Update (September 2011)

Phase one, the data collection, consisted of the following elements:

• Survey - the EM IEP commissioned Tribal to conduct an Efficiency Survey of the East and West Midlands local authorities. The survey was undertaken during October and November 2009 with the report being made widely available at the end of December 2009.

• Revenue Outturn Cost Comparison - A national comparison of relative spending based on the Revenue Outturn financial information was undertaken for all East Midlands authorities. This report was finalised in January 2010.

• Authority Specific Benchmarking Analysis - Authority specific benchmarking analysis was undertaken for all 36 Districts and 4 Unitary Councils in the East Midlands. These reports provided comparison on primary spend areas and cost/performance comparisons on the key service areas of Development Control, Leisure & Recreation, Parks & Open Spaces, Revenues and Benefits, Street Cleaning and Waste Collection. These reports were circulated to Chief Executives during the first week of April 2010.

• Waste Efficiency Project - Complementing the Efficiency Challenge Programme was a project focused on Waste Collection Efficiency. EM IEP commissioned the University of Northampton to undertake detailed research on waste collection and report on their findings. This report was completed at the end of May 2010

• Local Environmental Quality - Also complementing the Efficiency Challenge Programme was a project focused on Local Environmental Quality. EM IEP commissioned the Keep Britain Tidy Group to undertake detailed research on street cleaning activities and report on their findings. A first report based upon an East Midlands Resident Perception Survey was completed at the end of March 2010. A second report focused on Efficiency was completed at the end of June 2010.

All the above reports can be accessed by going to: www.eastmidlandsiep.gov.uk select Procurement Hub, enter/register password then select Efficiency Challenge.

In addition to the reports, the base data for the authority specific reports has also been made available on the web site in spreadsheet format enabling authorities to amend their data and view the changes to their relative positioning within the 4x4 comparator boxes to permit scenario/what if planning.

Phase two, the dissemination. To date presentations on the Authority Specific Reports have been undertaken with various groups including:

• Nottinghamshire Sub Regional Partnership
• Lincolnshire Efficiency Group
• Leicestershire Chief Executive and Finance Officers Group
• Derbyshire Chief Executives Group
• Lincoln City

A workshop was held on 28th April 2010 to disseminate the information on Local Environmental Quality, and a similar workshop held on the 19th May 2010 to disseminate information following the UoN report on Waste.

Phase three, the challenge. The South Eeast RIEP has developed a tool which is used to provide a structured framework for a facilitated challenge with local authorities (district councils) management teams. This framework covers both corporate back office services and front facing services, but the challenge is normally focused on one specific service area. Discussions with the SE RIEP led to a pilot being undertaken on the 30th June with a volunteer East Midlands District Council using their Street Cleaning Service as the focus. This was successful and a "facilitated efficiency challenge" is now available as an offering to East Midlands district authorities.

EM IEP is supporting CIPEM to undertake a project to deliver efficiencies in Leisure and Cultural Services. CIPEM has worked with the LGID (formerly IDeA) to develop an efficiency methodology. Supported by peer challenge this will lead to local authority efficiency delivery plans for each sub region with a focus on 4 efficiency pilot. Derbyshire have completed their Self Assessment and Peer-Led Challenge workshops and are ready to plan and implement their improvements. Leics, Northants and Notts are in Tranche 2 of the programme in early September. This project has a 12 month timescale and is projected to deliver cashable savings of £1m.

CIPFA have submitted a proposal for efficiency work associated with the revenue and benefits workstream. It is proposed that we run an initial pilot programme with six volunteer authorities.

Phase four, sustainable benchmarking. It was recognised that whilst the Authority specific reports have been valuable, this approach was not sustainable on an ongoing basis. It has also been a crowded landscape with a number of providers offering different solutions, including the County Treasurers Somerset benchmarking model, a CLG sponsored Local Area Performance Solution (LAPS) being delivered by the London Councils, plus offerings from CIPFA, PWC, and other commercial bodies.

4.2 Over recent months the Somerset benchmarking model has been transferred to CIPFA, who have advised that they will include unitary and district councils in the service, in addition to its historic base of county councils. A regional meeting was held on the 10th May 2010 to consider the various benchmarking options with presentations on the LAPS and Somerset models. There was general support for the adoption of the Somerset model within the East Midlands.

Subsequently the LGA have now agreed to fund the Somerset benchmarking model nationally. Data collection papers have now been circulated to all East Midlands local authorities for return by end of July so that authorities can view their relative cost performance position when compared to others in early Autumn.

CIPFA and the LGA have established a working group to support the further development of the Somerset benchmarking model with George Spiteri from Lincolnshire CC representing the East Midlands.

However, the Somerset model only covers front facing services, back office corporate services such as HR, Finance, IT, Procurement, Asset Management are excluded and this is recognised as a gap.

In a fast developing agenda the LGA have initiated a Place Based Productivity programme comprising of 9 work streams, each one led by a Chief Executive. One of these work streams, titled ‘Data and Transparency' includes as part of the remit "implement a national sector owned benchmarking solution".

For more informationon the Efficiency Challenge Programme, please visit our Procurement Hub at:
http://www.eastmidlandsiep.gov.uk/efficiency-challenege/

Other Efficiency Projects
The Midlands Highway Alliance (MHA), East Midlands LawShare, East Midlands Property Alliance (EMPA) and the Regional Procurement Programme are four of EM IEP's biggest saving regional projects/programmes.

See also the Business Transformation Programme.

Click on the sub menu links to read more about them.