Performance Management in UK Local Government SIX SKILL AREAS have emerged SALGFMG conference 20 th November 2009 Peter McHugh, CEO and Founder

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

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

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

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

1.Benchmarking against similar profile organizations 2.Focus on managing performance in the context of priorities & outcomes 3.Partnership working to deliver on local priorities 4.Staff engagement in a holistic “PM Framework” 5.Usage of technology to support the PM process 6.Reporting performance to citizens, via council website PM skills that have developed as a result of these regimes

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

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

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

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

Source: Merton LBC

Scorecards are widely used to track the Strategy

Many also integrate Budget Monitoring with managing against key goals

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 Skill #3:Partnership working

Doncaster MBC Partnership Structure Discover the Spirit (Stronger & Sustainable) Safer Doncaster (Crime and Antisocial Behaviour) Younger Doncaster (Children, Young People & Schools) Healthy Doncaster (Older and Vulnerable People) Enterprising Doncaster (Economy & Enterprise)

Partnership Issues and Challenges 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

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 Skill #4:Building Holistic PM Frameworks

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

Also important is how the framework will be managed

A range of processes form part of the PMF

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

Early Adopter Early Majority Late Majority

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

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 Skill #6:Performance Reporting to Citizens via the website

Summarised position, with interpretation

Quite detailed levels of Performance Information

An example of a Web Published Covalent Scorecard

Wrap Up 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

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