Changing for the Better: Northern Ireland Civil Service Reform NICS ICT Conference Changing for the Better: Northern Ireland Civil Service Reform Bruce Robinson Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service 20 October 2009

Context & Challenges Economic and financial context Public expectations Technological advances Devolution – Executive’s Programme for Government

Responding to the Challenges Building a stronger performance delivery culture Sharper focus on customers and delivery through collaboration Developing our people

Performance Delivery Culture Effective financial management: –2008/09 provisional outturn –Account NI –Prompt payment – 10 working days target –Faster closing annual accounts Programme for Government delivery Supporting Executive respond to economic downturn

Reform Achievements Account NI (in-house + strategic partner) –issued 60,000 purchase orders to suppliers & dealt with 140,000 invoices –paid £1.5 billion overall, and is presently processing 5,000 payments per week IT Assist (in-house) –Supporting 18,500 users –Reduced IT cost per user from £1500 to £1200, aiming for £1000. Compares to £1700 under GB public sector Flex contract Records NI (managed service provider) –16,000 users; over 6 million documents stored Network NI (managed service provider) –Over 290 sites networked HR Connect (outsourced) –All modules live, including non-industrial and industrial payroll –400 externally advertised competitions & 3000 appointments to date

Communications & Engagement as visualisation Research with staff

Customer Focus & Collaboration Customer Contact Centre –101 number established –Selected services for 4 ‘Anchor Tenant’ organisations –‘First point of Contact’ resolution –Online source for Government information and transactions, organised in a way to suit the citizen Flooding incident line –Single number for citizen contact –Seamless service with 3 flooding response agencies available 24/7

Developing our People NICS People Strategy Centre for Applied Learning –Course prices reduced by 20%, staff satisfaction up to 99.4% & training attendance up by 32% –UK-wide Civil Service award for HR, Learning & Development and CIPD accreditation Enhancing diversity Health, well-being and further reducing sickness absence NICS-wide staff attitude survey Investors in People

Conclusion Better services for citizens Meeting the challenges Collaboration, innovation & effective management Commitment to public service