An inspectorate of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Report

Charter Mark - Awarded for excellence

Does the BVR drive improvement?

North West Leicestershire’s approach to BV and the HB review

164 The BVR is the mechanism for ensuring that authorities deliver continuous improvement in the services they provide.

165 North West Leicestershire’s corporate approach to BV is set out in the BV service review manual. In developing its approach to BV it has set up a corporate BV team headed by the director of resources. It was decided that each review would be led and researched by the relevant division.

166 We were pleased to note the commitment evident during the inspection on the part of officers and Members to achieving BV. A strong feature of North West Leicestershire’s approach to BV is the close involvement of Members, this was clear in the BVR of Housing Benefits.

167 There is a scrutiny board consisting of 8 elected Members. The board’s role in the BVR was to oversee the work of the review team and report to the executive board. Member involvement is ongoing and the role of the scrutiny board has now been extended to review progress against the improvement plan. Members’ commitment to and review of progress of the plan is highly commendable.

168 The review team was led by the Manager of Housing. There was a core team, which comprised:

169 The review team identified a number of users who had involvement with the Benefits Service and representative views were sought from:

170 An independent assessor was also involved from a neighbouring council. The use of a critical friend is seen as good practice and enhanced the external challenge to the authority.

171 The BVR also included an independent review of Housing Benefits Service by IPF. Its role was to critically review the service and report on the outcomes. Findings from the IPF report formed the basis for recommendations and informed the improvement plan. We commend this element of the external scrutiny and consider it added weight to the compete process particularly on the involvement of the private sector.

Challenge

172 LAs have a statutory obligation to provide HB and CTB service under the current legislation.

173 With performance in most areas already in the top quartile, North West Leicestershire found it difficult to substantially challenge the service and this has posed it a problem in setting improvement targets. However in areas where it is not performing quite so well, such as recovering overpayments, it has set a target for 2001/02 which gives only a modest improvement over earlier years achievements. We think that the internal challenge to the services provided is one of the weaker areas of the BVR.

174 The challenge process did not include any mapping to establish whether processes were operating as effectively as possible. In particular, the current system where further information is required to assess claims involves staff reviewing all files manually on a daily basis. The IT system has a diary facility which could be used to identify review dates more efficiently and effectively.

175 During our on-site discussions in December 2001 we established that there was no analysis of management information to identify trends or areas that could be improved.

176 The fraud officers currently visit all private tenants who make new claims, which represents about a third of new claims. XXXX XXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX X.

177 There was no information available about why claims are not processed first time around. This could provide North West Leicestershire with information to improve the claim form or determine other factors it needs to address.

Compare

178 North West Leicestershire conducted an extensive and comprehensive comparison of the Benefits Service. The BVR shows that North West Leicestershire compared its performance against a range of other groups which included:

179 During its comparisons the authority looked at issues such as:

180 The BVR review also considered differences that might affect cost between themselves and the other authorities such as size of caseload and the impact of VF.

181 The BVR also compared quality variations of the overall service reviewing performance levels on:

182 The result of that comparison is as follows:

183 Accuracy of benefit payments is an important element of the quality of the service. Any correction takes up valuable time and resources and offers reduced service to customers. Any reduction in error rates represents a cost saving. This is recognised by BVPI 79(a) that tracks assessment error. The IPF report compares North West Leicestershire's performance with the groups mentioned earlier. The report concludes that North West Leicestershire:

Consult

184 Consultation is an integral part of a BVR, particularly for the Benefits Service because of the wide range of stakeholders involved, and the impact it has on social well-being.

185 North West Leicestershire has consulted claimants by conducting a user satisfaction survey as prescribed by the DETR to establish levels of customer satisfaction with the services provided. It was also used to calculate performance against the BVPIs.

186 North West Leicestershire added questions with a view to setting up a customer panel. Of those who replied, 69% said that they would be willing to give views on any of the council’s services. At the time of our on-site visit in December 2001 there was no evidence to show that North West Leicestershire had taken advantage of this to consult its users further.

187 The survey showed very high levels of satisfaction across all areas as we said earlier. The only aspect not in the top quartile was the clarity and understanding of forms and letters. North West Leicestershire has not undertaken any further research to identify the reasons behind those who where not as satisfied.

188 North West Leicestershire identified, through customer surveys and discussions with staff, that facilities and standards of the Benefits reception area should be improved to give privacy and better access to the service. The redesign forms part of the overall improvement plan.

189 North West Leicestershire also consulted using nominated officers who liaise with other stakeholders such as:

190 North West Leicestershire included internal stakeholders in the review and sought the views of representatives from other areas of Housing including:

191 The outcome of consultation reported in the BVR was generally positive, although 2 areas were raised as causing difficulty – the application form and award letters. As a result these were included as actions in the improvement plan

192 A Members’ review panel was also involved in all aspects of the BVR.

Compete

193 A robust competition assessment is a fundamental part of demonstrating BV. In its guidance DTLR has consistently placed strong emphasis on the importance of competition in BV.

194 North West Leicestershire has a corporate procurement policy which gives an undertaking to provide services in accordance with BV and sustainability. It verifies that the council will keep an open mind to the method by which its services are provided.

195 The IPF report which formed part of North West Leicestershire BVR included a comprehensive review of alternative service providers. It considered several options including:

196 The BVR identified joint commissioning/delivery with a neighbouring authority as a valid option for consideration in North West Leicestershire. It is a small authority and it has borders with other small authorities. The potential advantage of this is achieving economies of scale of service delivery. However, as North West Leicestershire has considerably better cost and quality performance than most of its neighbours it would have to select a service delivery partner carefully. The report also highlighted potential conflict between the political and service aims of any potential partner.

197 The BVR identified partnership working as a useful option to access private sector skills and investment but this is only likely to be viable if North West Leicestershire works jointly with at least one other authority.

198 The BVR concluded that externalisation does not warrant further consideration at this stage as the in-house provider already demonstrates competitive comparisons in cost and quality, and does not have serious staff or skill shortages.

199 As part of the review, North West Leicestershire contacted 4 private contractors to establish whether contracting out of the service was a viable option. All contractors expressed concern that the scale of operations at North West Leicestershire is too small for both sides to gain if only Benefits is offered for tender.

200 We acknowledge that North West Leicestershire has taken a comprehensive look at alternative methods of procurement of the service and will continue to do so. The IPF report concluded that allowing the in-house team to improve itself incrementally over a 5 year period, in accordance with an improvement plan, was the lowest risk but the least ambitious of the 5 options.

How good is the improvement plan?

201 A BVR should produce an action plan that sets out what needs to improve, why and how that improvement will be delivered. It should contain targets which are not only challenging but designed to demonstrate and ensure the continuous improvement required to put the service into the top 25% of all councils within 5 years.

202 With the exception of one BVPI, North West Leicestershire is already in the top quartile. But North West Leicestershire needs to challenge itself to improve its already good performance. If performance does not improve those councils that are currently performing at lower levels may catch up and overtake North West Leicestershire.

203 North West Leicestershire has produced a plan that details actions in a table with the following headings:

204 Although the improvement plan does not contain specific performance targets using the BVPIs, they are included as part of the BVPP under the Social Well-being objective. Each BVPI is listed for the 5 years of the improvement plan, 2000/01 to 2004/05, as well as some local measures. Actual performance for the year the plan was written (1999/2000) is also included.

205 We think the targets are not sufficiently challenging. Most show a modest improvement for each year to ensure that North West Leicestershire will remain in the top quartile for the plan period to 2005. The improvements are measured in fractions of percentages and lack ambition. For example the average time, in days, for processing a notified change of circumstance is planned to reduce from 5.9 days to 5.6 days over the 5 years. The average time for processing a new claim is planned to improve from 19.5 days to 18.5 days.

206 Again, we acknowledge that North West Leicestershire is achieving good results and understand that it is not always easy to significantly improve on such good performance.

207 The improvement plan is not prioritised nor are actions grouped in any logical way. There is little or no explanation or link between the action being taken and its effect on specific performance measure other than in very general terms. The plan should explicitly show how the improvements are to be achieved. This lack of organisation tends to reduce the plan into a summary of individual actions rather than give any clear indications of a controlled process of improvement flowing from the BVR, and it suffers accordingly.

208 The improvement plan also includes actions to implement changes in policy such as the introduction of the revised DWP anti fraud incentive scheme and the new Decision Making and Appeals process.

209 There are some examples in the improvement plan where actions are identified for further investigation rather than immediate improvement over recognised deficiencies. For example:

210 Whilst we were on site in December 2001 we told the council it needed to review the priority of the proposed plan, where potentially low cost improvements could be implemented quickly but it was already past their planned date. These included:

211 The plan could be improved by addressing the following issues:

212 The improvement plan has been presented to Committee and endorsed by it. Implementing the improvements within the plan is the responsibility of the Head of Housing and he is required to report regularly to the Scrutiny Board to inform it of progress.

213 North West Leicestershire accepted that the improvement plan could be enhanced and worked closely with us whilst on site and took on board our comments about the original plan. An improved plan was subsequently prepared in response to issues raised at the interim challenge meeting. This shows a willingness to listen to our findings and respond positively, we give North West Leicestershire credit for this. Our comments relate to the original version, we acknowledge that the revised one is better.

214 The revised plan is grouped into 3 categories and prioritised within those categories with clearer targets. North West Leicestershire reports that significant progress has been made on the items particularly with regard to fraud.

Will the authority deliver the improvements?

215 We look for evidence that an authority will deliver on the improvements it has set for itself in the action plan. We look for a track record in managing change within the council and within the service. The plan should also have sufficient support from Members, stakeholders and staff.

Commitment

216 It is evident that Members are committed to the delivery of actions within the improvement plan. We spoke to Members as part of the inspection and were impressed by their commitment to the plan and their determination to support its implementation. In particular we were impressed by their involvement on the Scrutiny Board and Members commitment to ensuring that the improvement plan is delivered on time and at cost.

217 It is evident that senior managers are committed to the plan which is the responsibility of the Head of Housing, supported by the Head of Housing Benefits.

218 During our on-site visit in December 2001 we discussed the BVR with staff. It is clear that they were given the opportunity to contribute to the review at regular meetings and fully support the council’s aim of providing a good quality service.

219 Key stakeholders have been involved and there are service level agreements in place with housing associations. During our on-site visit they confirmed a commitment and support to the service.

Resources

220 Many of the actions in the improvement plan will be delivered at minimal cost and will be funded from existing budgets. Those that need extra funding have been identified and specific budgets have been made available to pay for them. Specific funding has been secured for:

221 North West Leicestershire is aware of the difficulties in fully meeting the needs of claimants in rural areas and their risk of isolation. Specific improvements that have been funded include:

222 There are some improvements where the required resources are not yet decided. These include:

Delivery

223 North West Leicestershire has made a promising start on addressing issues in the improvement plan. This has been most marked in:

224 In addition to these we found that progress was ongoing at the time of our on-site inspection in December 2001 on:

225 North West Leicestershire has a good track record for managing change when brought about by changes in legislation. It had demonstrated its ability to adapt to change by introducing personal computers for the revised Decision Making and Appeals process. This has led to better use of the systems by allowing staff to send personalised letters and improve internal communication by using e-mail.

226 We felt that the minimal effect on processing times during the potentially disruptive period of changeover is an good example of North West Leicestershire’s ability to introduce change whilst maintaining speed and quality of service.

227 We feel that the use of IT should be further explored to maximise the effectiveness of the systems in place. An example of this would be the using the diary system as a reminder of claims awaiting further information.

228 In view of the level of North West Leicestershire’s already good current performance as measured by BVPIs, we have some doubt about its ability to substantially improve its performance levels, particularly from the customer’s perspective. North West Leicestershire did not sufficiently challenge itself and had not considered whether its processes were the most efficient. There was no analysis of:

229 North West Leicestershire monitored performance of the BVPIs monthly and quarterly against the targets within the BVPP. The summary was a good example of reporting. The targets are reviewed annually. Whilst the targets were monitored at management level, there were no team or individual targets.

230 During our on-site visit in December 2001 we recognised that North West Leicestershire needs to further develop staff awareness of the links between the corporate aims, anti poverty strategy, provision of benefits and counter fraud activities. Developing these links will enhance services whilst not detracting from the corporate anti poverty aims.

Summary

231 We have concerns over the extent to which North West Leicestershire can improve in view of the high levels of performance it already achieves. Whilst we accept that the BVR drives improvement, there is limited scope in this already high achieving authority. There are minimal improvements in the improvement plan, even in recovery of overpayments which is a lower performing area. Lack of ambitious plans and targets may result in other authorities with more challenging improvement plans overtaking them. There is some evidence of North West Leicestershire’s ability to deliver change, however this is not extensive. But we recognise that:

232 This leads us to conclude that the prospect for improvement is uncertain.

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