N ORTH AYRSHIRE COUNCIL

I:\FSPUBLIC\Directorate\Committee Reports 2019\Cabinet\2019 02 12\Transformation 2 Update.docx

NORTH AYRSHIRE COUNCIL

12 February 2019

Cabinet

Title:

Delivery of Transformation 2

Purpose:

To update Cabinet on progress and achievements of Transformation 2

Recommendation: Cabinet notes the deliverables from Transformation 2 and approves the approach to the next phase transformation.

1. Executive Summary

1.1. The appendix to the report provides a summary of the main achievements from the Council’s second phase transformation programme. The focus of the programme was around the Council’s strategic priorities as set out in the current Council Plan, alongside this were work streams to support better management of demand and redesign to deliver more agile public services.

1.2. The report provides a high level summary of the main achievements within each of the workstreams, highlighting a significant outcome within each of the workstreams with appendix 1 of the report providing a brief update on all of the projects originally approved as part of the transformation programme. In addition to noting transformation savings of £6.7m it also notes the broader organisation benefits of and lesson learned from the programme.

1.3. Delivery of the second phase transformation has helped shape the approach and next phase of transformation. This will be embedded in the refreshed Council Plan which will be presented to Council in March 2019.

2. Background

2.1. The Executive summary of this report outlines the structure of the update report and deliverables from Transformation 2, which is attached as an appendix to this report.


2.2. This section of the report highlights some of the longer term initiatives which have been developed over the course of the programme and some of the more significant transformation activity.

2.3. The Council Plan has a number of initiatives which will deliver benefits to North Ayrshire over the medium to longer term. The key initiatives are highlighted below:

Anticipated announcement of funding for the Ayrshire Growth Deal which has the potential to secure investment of around £240million across Ayrshire

Establishment of 5 Employability Hubs to give residents access to a wide range of services to support them into work

Establishment of a sector leading approach to locality planning including the creation of a Community Investment Fund, progress in community asset transfers and extending the participatory budgeting approach to wider decisions on resource allocation

Sector leading and significant progress is being made in improving the educational attainment, including poverty related attainment, of our young people through significant investment in the education estate, attracting external funding from the Scottish Attainment Fund

Investment in Nurturing North Ayrshire to improve the education experience and social and emotional development of our most vulnerable young people and their families

A number of initiatives to support the health and wellbeing of our residents within our Active Communities Strategic approach, including physical and mental health programmes operated by KA Leisure, our holiday hunger programme, our ambitious housebuilding programme, and the HSCP Healthy Active Rehabilitation Programme (HARP) programme, leading to North Ayrshire being identified as one of three Scottish Government “Trailblazer” sites for the diet and healthy weight Public Health priority.

Significant progress increasing recycling and energy efficiency and reducing the Council’s carbon footprint

2.4. A summary of the activity which sits within the more widely recognised description of transformation, including how we manage and mitigate demand and deliver more agile and efficient services, is provided below. These have already delivered savings with more savings anticipated as we move into the next stage transformation;

A number of examples of mitigating demand include; comprehensive review within Roads, the Housing First pilot, Care at Home Reablement, integration of processes to improve the customer journey and fly tipping


Establishment of the Council’s digital and technology strategies and investment in our ICT infrastructure to support new ways of working;

Integration of teams to ensure more efficient working within Place, the HSCP and the FACS “One Team” approach with plans for further roll out

Reduction in crime and anti-social behaviour as a result of the Prevention First Initiative

A significant programme of Lean Six Sigma including assisted waste collection, building repair services, Scottish Welfare Fund, Occupational Therapy equipment and Freedom of Information.

2.5. In addition to the key initiatives highlighted above the Transformation 2 report includes a summary of the organisational outcomes and lessons learned. This includes;

Transformation at scale and pace is required to ensure the Council continues to deliver financially sustainable services;

Tracking of benefits and outcomes to demonstrate the impact of change;

Collaboration and engagement with all key stakeholders in particular our communities; and

Clear accountability and responsibility for the ongoing development and delivery of transformation opportunities.

2.6. The Council’s approach to and delivery of its wider objectives and transformation secured recognition as APSE Council of the Year in 2017.

2.7. The above has helped inform the approach and components of next phase transformation and establish the foundation for future year savings.

3. Proposals

3.1. Cabinet notes the deliverables from Transformation 2 and approves the approach to the next phase transformation.

4. Implications

Financial: T2 has delivered £6.7m of savings and established the foundations for future service redesign and savings securing financially sustainable service delivery.

Human Resources: Service redesign impacts on the size and configuration of the Council’s workforce.


Legal: No direct implications.

Equality/Socio-economic Duty:

All transformation considers the wider impact of change.

Children and Young People:

All transformation considers the wider impact of change.

Environmental & Sustainability:

All transformation considers the wider impact of change

Key Priorities: All transformation considers the wider impact of change.

Community Benefits: No direct implications.

5. Consultation

5.1. The Executive Leadership Team has contributed to the development of the Transformation update report.

Laura Friel

Executive Director (Finance & Corporate Support) For further information please contact Laura Friel, Executive Director Finance and Corporate Support on 01294-324554. Background Papers None

Delivery of Transformation 2

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Executive Summary

The Transformation 2 (T2) Programme was approved by Cabinet in

November 2015 with an aspiration of: “Good” to “Great” to “Leading”.

In developing the programme most of the transformation activity was

identified as being addressed in the Council Plan and Directorate Plans.

There were seven suggested workstreams to the Council’s transformation

programme, five aligned with the strategic priorities of the Council Plan

with two additional areas for focus:

• Facilitating better demand

• Leading and delivering more agile local public services

A range of projects were delivered against each of these workstreams.

A number of these are medium to longer term projects, the benefits of

which will be delivered in future years. Some of the initiatives include;

• Ayrshire Growth Deal

• Employability Initiatives

• Locality Planning

• Investing in education and nurture, improving educational

attainment

• Physical and mental health initiatives

• Waste management and energy efficiency impacting positively on

our carbon footprint

Activity described as transformation and which can delivery savings in the

short to medium term accounted for £6.7million of savings over the life of

T2, 23% of the savings for that period. Some of the initiatives in this category

include:

• Mitigating demand within a range of services including care at home

and environmental crime

• Applying our digital and technology strategies to support streamlined

and more efficient ways of working

• More efficient integrated teams to deliver a better outcome for our

customers

• A programme of business improvement via Lean Six Sigma

As well as the medium to longer term activity, and the significant savings

realised, there were a number of other notable outcome and lessons

learned:

• Development of organisational capacity to support transformational

activity

• An increasing focus on outcomes and understanding customer need

• The importance of collaboration to harness skills and experience from

across the organisation

• The need for meaningful engagement with citizens, colleagues and

partners

• Empowering citizens, colleagues and communities to reimagine the

relationship they have with the Council

• Transformation must be clearly owned by all services with effective

communication

• We need to maximise the outcomes and benefits of transformation

and deliver this at pace

• There must be effective tracking of outcomes and benefits

Transformation 2 has established a number of medium to long term

initiatives that will have a positive impact on our communities. It has also

helped the Council bridge its funding gap.

The outcomes and lessons learned from Transformation 2 provide an

excellent foundation for the next stage of the Council’s Transformation.

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There were seven suggested workstreams to the Council’s

transformation programme.

Five of the workstreams (1 to 5) aligned with the strategic

priorities of the Council Plan.

Workstreams 6 and 7 were created to help address the

financial challenges faced and increasing demand for

services.

Elements 2, 6 and 7 were identified as requiring additional

planning, resourcing and support.

Introduction

The Transformation 2 Programme (T2) was approved by Cabinet in November 2015.

In developing the programme most of the transformation activity was identified as being addressed in the Council Plan and Directorate Plans. It was felt

that the changes the Council had made in the past 18 months – and its existing set of programmes, projects and activities – were addressing the majority of

the challenges it faced.

Some areas requiring additional focus, increased collaboration and resourcing were identified and related to:

• The need to explore and deliver further efficiencies, accelerated service redesign, more radical service provision and more agile ways of working

• The need to lead on more preventative initiatives

• The need to find other ways of reducing demand and cost for services

The long-term aspiration was: ‘Good’ To ‘Great’ To ‘Leading’.

This report summarises the projects undertaken and the key outcomes of the Transformation 2 Programme.

Requires monitoring and ad hoc support

Requires additional resourcing, monitoring and ad hoc support

Requires planning, resourcing, monitoring and support

Programme Workstreams

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1. Growing our economy, increasing employment and regenerating towns

This workstream focused on improving employment opportunities, attracting investment and ensuring that growth is inclusive.

Central to these aspirations is the Ayrshire Growth Deal bid which is worth around £240million. The Growth Deal has the potential to generate significant

investment across North Ayrshire and create jobs. As part of this collaborative work an Ayrshire Regional Partnership governance model is being developed.

Our nationally recognised approach to inclusive growth has meant that:

• Five Employability Hubs were launched, with 1,612 residents registered since April 2016

• The employability pipeline (including hubs) assisted 1,861 residents to find employment

• There was an increase of 91% in the number of unemployed people obtaining employment in three years

• Better Off North Ayrshire provided over £1million of financial gains to residents

Our work is underpinned by a number of key strategies including:

• Local Transport Strategy - £3million of external funding sourced plus up to £30million to secure Ardrossan as the long-term mainland ferry terminal

• Tourism Strategy “Making Waves in North Ayrshire” - to attract over 1 million more visitors

We have successfully created employment opportunities by reimagining how we deliver some services:

• The flagship Team North Ayrshire approach which has revolutionised support to business

• Our flagship partnership with ‘Cunninghame Furniture Recycling Company’ resulted in sixteen new training and employment opportunities

• Employment opportunities were created as a direct result of the increased commercial activities such as new cafés at the Portal and Garnock

Campus, events catering and winning a contract to provide catering services to a local business.

Ayrshire Growth Deal

A programme bid value of around £240million, consisting of 21 projects has been finalised. There are four major areas of investment and it has the potential

to leverage £2billion of external funding and create jobs. This could result In significant investment at Ardrossan, Hunterston, Great Harbour (Irvine and

Ardeer), i3 and our marine infrastructure with inclusive growth at its core. Positive feedback has been provided on the submitted project business cases by

the UK and Scottish Governments. The business cases approval could be in place by spring 2019.

The establishment of an Ayrshire Regional Partnership governance model with East and South Ayrshire Councils is required to secure Ayrshire Growth Deal

approval and oversee its delivery. Reports are due to be taken to all three Ayrshire Councils for approval. The partnership will develop an Ayrshire Regional

Economic Strategy, delivery plan and measurement framework.

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2. Working together to develop stronger communities

Strong communities are crucial when considering long-term service delivery. This workstream focused on engagement and encouraging and facilitating

active participation in the decision making processes of the council.

All six locality partnerships, priorities and plans have been established and a Locality Coordinator appointed for each. Communities have been actively

involved in allocating funding in their area with Participatory Budgeting (PB) events held in all localities. We also held Scotland’s largest ever online Youth PB

exercise in 2018, attracting 5,048 votes and distributing £60,672.

We are leading the Ayrshire engagement for the Local Governance Review and have created a Community Empowerment Unit. Community Link Workers

who provide a social prescribing service, referring people to alterative services in their communities, are in place in 19 GP practices with plans to expand.

Four Community Investment Fund bids with a total value of over £195,000 have been approved and 8 Community Asset Transfers were completed,

including the transfer of the land for the rebuild of the Fullarton Community Centre with £2million of external funding.

Our approach has been recognised as sector leading with:

• Best practice visits by the Scottish Government

• Participation and Citizenship Framework awarded a COSLA Gold Award

• Mainstreaming PB a finalist in the 2017 APSE awards

Locality Approach

All six Locality Partnerships are established with locality plans in place. Our Locality Approach is recognised nationally as sector leading due to:

• the focus on embedding a consultation culture within North Ayrshire Council and its partners (with 150 Community Planning Partnership staff

trained in best practice community engagement techniques)

• the integration of community and spatial planning; a strong focus on inequalities

• establishing strong links with H&SCP Locality Forums and Youth Forums.

Partnerships are supported by Locality Coordinators appointed in 2017-18, a significant step in coordinating community and CPP actions. Partners are

following our example, with Police Scotland reshaping their policing team along locality areas.

Our approach has reduced the impact of nearly £2million savings in the last four years through building community capacity and was awarded the

Consultation Institute's 2016 award for consultation.

Due to the success of marketplace Participatory Budgeting and the mainstreaming PB pilot in the Three Towns, where £750,000 of grounds maintenance

budget was allocated, mainstreaming PB will be rolled out to all localities by the end of March 2019.

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3. Ensuring people have the right skills for learning, life and work

Education is key to improving outcomes for the young people of North Ayrshire. More than £100million was invested in improving Educational infrastructure

including the development of new Garnock and Largs campuses. A further £100million investment will be made in: the new ASN campus, including

residential and respite facilities; the new Ardrossan campus; our two new primaries at Montgomerie Park and Moorpark; and Early Learning and Child Care.

Our Scottish Attainment Challenge activity is part of the Scottish Government’s Attainment Scotland Fund, which focuses on reducing the poverty related

attainment gap between North Ayrshire’s most and least deprived learners.

This initiative has provided school leadership teams, practitioners, learners and families with a range of supports, resources and programmes to improve

attainment and achievement for pupils living in North Ayrshire’s areas of highest deprivation. Significant strides in reducing the poverty-related attainment

gap have been made over the 4 years of this funding and North Ayrshire Council is able to report attainment has been raised for almost all learners in almost

all aspects of literacy and numeracy:

• The attainment gap in primary numeracy has reduced by 2%

• The attainment gap in secondary numeracy has reduced by 17%

• The attainment gap in secondary literacy has reduced by 20%

Our approach was also recognised as sector leading in July 2018 as part of Education Scotland’s inspection of the local authority’s progress in improving

learning, raising attainment and closing the poverty-related attainment gap.

Nurturing North Ayrshire

Pupil learning and achievement is underpinned by their emotional health. Our embedded nurturing approaches have centred on enhancing positive

relationships and putting wellbeing needs at the centre to enable learners to have the best possible outcomes.

Evidence indicates when nurture is present at home or in a home setting children do better at school, attend regularly, enjoy activities with friends and are

significantly less likely to offend or experience problems with poor physical or mental health. Nurture groups provide all children and young people with the

opportunity to experience early nurturing experiences, which are vital to enabling learning, developing social skills and emotional resilience.

Through Scottish Attainment Challenge funding, a range of nurture interventions have been developed and implemented across North Ayrshire education

establishments. This includes nurture groups in 20 primary schools, 9 early years’ classes, 7 secondary schools and delivery of whole school nurture training

across North Ayrshire. Our focus on nurture and restorative approaches has been shown to have a positive impact on social and emotional development.

40 children have completed early years nurture, 137 pupils have completed primary nurture, and 114 young people have received secondary nurture

group support - overall a positive impact has been evidenced. Nurture has ensured greater numbers of children and young people in North Ayrshire are

ready to learn and attain to their full potential with 89% of young people showing improvement in the development strand. Almost all schools report gains in

terms of attainment for targeted pupils through nurture.

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4. Supporting all our people to stay safe, healthy and active

Physical and mental health programmes run in conjunction with KA Leisure have exceeded targets. We are, in partnership with NHS Ayrshire and Arran, to

be one of three national ‘Trailblazers’, for the new national Public Health priority: ‘diet and healthy weight’.

The out of school meals holiday hunger programme has been hugely successful - serving 6,500 meals in 2015, rising to 22,500 in 2018. It supports children to

access a healthy meal out with school time and is supporting the Council’s commitment to reduce ‘holiday hunger’.

The Safer North Ayrshire Partnership (SNAP) developed and agreed new strategies and priorities which put community safety at the heart of all they do.

Positive impacts have been seen in the reductions in crime, domestic violence, disorder crimes and drug deaths statistics across North Ayrshire.

Welfare Reform Advice Team (WRAT) in partnership with the Department of Work and Pensions were instrumental in minimising the impact of welfare reform

providing digital support, working with credit unions, facilitating workshops and offering personal budgeting advice to council tenants.

Our Council house building programme delivers quality new housing which reduces fuel poverty, improves health and wellbeing, and, for older people and

those with complex needs, provides housing solutions which allow them to live independently in their own homes for longer, reducing demand for support

services and ensuring residents are part of community life. New social housing is having a positive impact on those who are homeless, or at risk of

homelessness. Good progress is being made in reaching our target of 1,375 new houses by 2024.

The Carer Appreciation Card has been introduced to support people who provide unpaid care to look after their own health and wellbeing.

Healthy Active Rehabilitation Programme

The HSCP supported a Healthy Active Rehabilitation Programme (HARP) to provide health and wellbeing programmes for people with multiple conditions.

People attending HARP classes benefit from weight reduction, blood pressure reduction and an increase in general physical activity.

Given the impact of the preventative ill health agenda in North Ayrshire there was a desire to enhance the range of preventative approaches available,

building on the clear evidence base of the benefits of exercise across all age groups and conditions.

There were a total of 559 new referrals to the service in 2017-18 alone.

Evidence from the programme shows that in the period following referral to the service there has been a sustained reduction in the statutory health and

social care service input to support service users. Person centred outcomes are central to the delivery of the service and participants consistently report

feeling more positive and supported in self-managing conditions.

The programme, delivered in partnership with KA Leisure, has resulted in a new sustainable model of supported self-management with condition specific

rehabilitation and has widened access to services specifically targeting rural and deprived areas.

The HSCP have maintained a commitment to continue to develop the programme further to expand the service to support additional classes and also to

respond to demands to support service users with further conditions.

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5. Protecting and enhancing the environment for future generations

This workstream recognised the key role that the Council has to play in protecting the environment, both locally and in the wider world. Increasing recycling

rates and improving energy efficiency in buildings across North Ayrshire were central to this work.

During the T2 period a new waste strategy was developed and implemented which ensured North Ayrshire achieved a household waste recycling

performance in excess of 55%, (exceeding the Scottish target rate of 50%). Furthermore, a revised model of organic waste collections and household waste

recycling centre opening hours has realised savings of £122,000 whilst still providing good levels of customer satisfaction.

The ambitious Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy has resulted in the Council’s carbon footprint reducing by 17% since 2015. In

addition, the completion of a number of district heating projects is providing 100% renewable heat, at a low cost, providing truly affordable warmth for our

most vulnerable residents. The roll-out of the Council's £1.4million solar panel retrofit programme on Council housing commenced in November 2018, to date

140 existing homes are benefitting from free electricity from the panels. We will fit solar panels as standard to all of our new homes.

Further improvements have been seen with the introduction of new LED street lighting across North Ayrshire. The successful Lighting Up North Ayrshire

Responsibly (LUNAR) project resulted in a significant reduction of energy use, reduced carbon emissions by 1664 tonnes a year, financial savings of around

£500,000 per year in energy and maintenance costs, and more importantly, improvements in our repairs performance to 96%.

The use of thirty-three low-emission or electric pool cars as an alternative to grey fleet has seen a reduction of 600,000 total business miles travelled, with

300,000 of those now being facilitated by the pool cars. CO2 emissions have been reduced by almost 200 tonnes as a result of this change.

Since 2015, £3.364million has been invested in our housing stock to ensure it meets the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing by the target date of 31

December 2020. Our current EESSH performance is 97.5%.

Waste Management Strategy

The Waste Management Strategy led to a number of environmental improvements:

• Improved utilisation of our collection vehicles while reducing the number of operational depots

• Improvements to our re-use and recycling systems offered to our communities

• Movement away from a landfill based disposal method to a sustainable recycling and energy from waste solution

• A review of services meant that North Ayrshire was one of only nine Scottish Councils to exceed the Scottish Target of recycling 50% of all waste

Building on from this success a new strategy was approved in December 2017 including: enhanced and new waste collection methodologies progressing

towards Scotland's Charter for Household Recycling; and supporting local communities to develop re-use and recycling initiatives including progressing

actions to become single-use plastic free.

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6. Facilitating better demand

This workstream was focused on better understanding future demand and identifying opportunities for early intervention and prevention.

A centralised analytics team has been established and is aligned with the work of the Transformation Team, providing information on customer demand

and Council spend to support decision making.

A review of the Roads service allowed a comprehensive restructure which realised savings of £300,000 and allowed the service to focus and develop its

technical knowledge to meet future demands.

The Housing First pilot to reduce repeat homelessness proved successful and meant that tenancies were sustained, lives improved and demand for Health

and Social Care and Housing support was reduced. This is now being rolled out across North Ayrshire.

A Care at Home Reablement service has been established which has provided individuals with intensive support from occupational therapists and care at

home assistants, this has successfully supported people to regain skills and independence. For those in receipt of the service 50% have either needed no

further care support or had a greatly reduced care package.

The North Ayrshire Wellbeing and Recovery college was established to offer participatory courses that focus on wellbeing and recovery for people affected

by mental health problems. The courses support an approach to prevention and wellness promotion to support people to get well and stay well.

Our customer services has more than 75 fully integrated processes online with the usage of these growing with a 57% increase in the number of cases being

reported online. Where a self-service option is available, on average 35% of customers choose to use this channel. This has resulted in savings of £45,000.

A new strategy for fly tipping, dog fouling and litter took a holistic approach to educate, enable and enforce. Significant changes were seen in the

demand for services whilst also increasing the income generated. There was also improvement in the national performance for street cleanliness by 1.6%.

Council Tax One Team

A review of Council Tax processes was undertaken. The objective was to provide the best service possible for customers, getting it right first time and

avoiding repeat contact. Change of Address, which accounted for 40% of the total workload, was identified as the process to review first.

A One Team approach was taken where resources were realigned, resulting in:

• realised savings of £85,000

• 96% of transactions being dealt with at first point of contact

• processing times being reduced by 63% (to 11 minutes) for change of address

• an increase in customer satisfaction to 95% (3% increase)

• a reduction in customer complaints by 37%

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7. Leading and delivering more agile local public services

The changing needs of residents mean that the Council must adapt and improve continuously. Increased efficiency, new technology and new ways of

working were all part of this workstream.

A service review of Property Maintenance & Investment, Housing, and Building Services developed further integration across these services including the

elimination of cross-over and duplicate practices, improved working relationships and significant improvements in performance and services to customers.

The HSCP created the integrated North Ayrshire Drug and Recover Service team and has seen improvements in performance as a result with all national

and local targets being met including waiting times and interventions e.g. reduced numbers of people reliant on methadone and methadone dosage

levels reducing.

A new business support team was established, centralised within Cunninghame House. A number of processes have been reviewed and automated

including Occupational Health, absence management and HR amendments. These improvements resulted in savings of £62,000.

The Council’s Digital Strategy supports smarter ways of working and better use of technology and has delivered savings of £235,000, with more anticipated.

A range of technology options are available to enable colleagues to work in a flexible (and more efficient) way with 800 having remote access.

There were a number of examples of successful joint working such as the Prevention First initiative with Police Scotland. This aimed to prevent crime, reduce

victimisation and reduce locations where offending takes place, through a partnership early intervention approach which gets to the heart of issues and

identifies the best way to solve problems and tackle community concerns. The programme contributed to a 4% reduction in violent crime and a 31%

reduction in anti-social behaviour.

Lean Six Sigma

There are 79 Lean Six Sigma greenbelt practitioners and 274 colleagues who have been through our Lean Awareness course. A number of Corporate Lean

projects have taken place across the Council, one case study is provided below and Appendix 1 provides a full summary of projects delivered.

Assisted Waste Collection

An assisted waste collection service is provided for householders who are unable to present their containers for collection due to medical infirmity or where

there is no other able-bodied adult residing in the household. The process for adding customers on to the assisted service took too long and was leading to

complaints. The service had no reliable renewal process and there was a need to ensure the service has capacity to meet increasing future demand.

The project followed the Lean approach in order to understand and then improve the process and achieved the following:

• Complaints reduced by 25%

• Application time reduced by 80% leading to a faster service

• The online application process was improved to avoid incomplete applications being submitted

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Transformational activity accounted for £6.7million of savings made over

the life of T2. This was 23% of the savings total of £29.7million for that period:

The Transformation 2 Programme was a co-ordinated plan of work that was

aligned to the priorities of the Council Plan.

As well as the significant savings realised there were a number of other

notable outcomes:

• Capacity - The Lean Six Sigma training provided a pool of colleagues

to support transformational activity.

• Opportunity - The Programme recognised that transformation shifted

from a choice to a necessity offering opportunity for new ideas and

ways of working.

• Strategy - A range of Strategic documentation was produced to help

embed transformational activity and provide vision and guidance.

• Outcomes - There was an increasing focus on outcomes and the

need to fully understand customer need.

• Culture - Participation was actively encouraged through Lean Six

Sigma projects and transformation was shown to be an activity that

all can contribute to.

• Collaboration - The importance of collaboration was recognised as

projects sought to harness skills and experience from across the

organisation.

• Engagement - Many of the projects utilised and encouraged

meaningful engagement with citizens, colleagues and partners.

• Empowerment - Work was undertaken to empower citizens,

colleagues and communities and to start to reimagine the

relationship they have with the Council.

It is important that future transformational activity recognises and builds

upon these elements.

Key Outcomes

Savings

Stopped

Rationalised

Reduced

Transformed

Income

Other

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Lessons Learned

The Transformation 2 Programme involved a significant volume of work across the whole Council. Whilst there were many notable successes there were also

a number of lessons to be learned.

The following areas have been identified as being key to future transformational activity:

Bigger Picture

All Transformation activity should align with the Council’s priorities. We must collaborate across services and with key partners.

Ownership

Transformational activity must be clearly owned by services - transformation can be facilitated by the Transformation Team, but it must be driven by the

services with their subject matter expertise.

Engagement & Communication

The whole Council must be aware of the Transformation activity, why it is taking place and what the outcomes and benefits will be. Effective

communication should be a core component of all projects and must become part of who we are as an organisation.

Truly Transformational

It is essential that Transformational activity maximises the outcomes and benefits - some work has established a precedent, but further development has

been slow. We must recognise the need to see transformation through to its conclusion and not be distracted by new opportunities, but also recognise the

contribution of business improvement activity.

Delivery at Pace

Transformational activity must be delivered at pace. As an organisation we must create an environment that enables transformation (and removes barriers)

- this includes ensuring that there is sufficient resource to deliver transformation alongside business as usual.

Scalable

Transformation activity must be scalable - it is essential that successful pilots can be scaled up and rolled out more widely.

Track the Outcomes and Benefits

There must be clear and consistent tracking of the outcomes and benefits of the Transformational activity. This must be done across the organisation to

ensure that evidence and learning can be gathered from all activity. We need to know what works (and what doesn’t) if we are to improve.

Measure the Right Things

It is crucial that we measure the right things when considering progress and performance - we must measure the things that accurately reflect the project

aims and encourage the behaviours that support transformation and delivery.

Documentation

Clear and effective documentation is required to ensure that the Council’s Transformation activity is coordinated, complementary and shares a standard.

Appendix I: Transformation 2 Projects Project updates for the Transformation 2 Programme

Appendix I: Transformation 2 Projects

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Growing our economy, increasing employment and regenerating towns Game Changer Projects—

Ayrshire Growth Deal

A programme bid value of around £240million, consisting of 21 projects has been finalised. There are four major areas of

investment with the potential to leverage £2billion of external funding and create jobs. This could result in significant

investment at Ardrossan, Hunterston, Great Harbour (Irvine and Ardeer), i3 and our marine infrastructure, with inclusive

growth at its core. Positive feedback has been provided on the submitted project business cases by the UK and Scottish

Governments. The business cases approval could be in place by spring 2019.

The establishment of an Ayrshire Regional Partnership governance model with East and South Ayrshire Councils is required to

secure Ayrshire Growth Deal approval and oversee its delivery. Reports are due to be taken to all three Ayrshire Councils for

approval. The partnership will develop an Ayrshire Regional Economic Strategy, delivery plan and measurement framework.

Business Development

including Business Gateway

The Team North Ayrshire Approach has revolutionised business support by moving to a demand led relationship based

approach with partners which has been acknowledged by Scottish Government as a model of best practice. The target of

generating 1,000 jobs in three years was exceeded in 18 months with 1,516 jobs have been created by supported businesses in

North Ayrshire. In addition Business Gateway services were brought in house resulting in a significant increase in the number of

start-up businesses supported. During 2016/17 and 2017/18, 269 and 266 start ups were supported, more than in previous years

and up to 24% higher than 2010/11.

Irvine Bay Urban

Regeneration Company

(URC) legacy projects

Working with partners there was a successful transformation plan implemented by the Council and the URC resulting with the

wind up of the company, agreement that the council would be the single lead body to coordinate regeneration of NA, with

the Council investing in a new team and acquiring land and developing projects at i3 and Ardrossan Northshore, legacy

assets were transferred to NAVT and funding secured for future regeneration priorities including extensive public realm

improvements in Irvine and Ardrossan Harbour redevelopment.

Employability Hubs The first Employability Hub opened in the autumn of 2015, increasing to five by August 2018: Irvine, Kilbirnie, Kilwinning,

Stevenston and Ardrossan. Since April 2016, 1,612 unemployed people have registered with the hubs. The employability

pipeline, of which the hubs form part, has assisted 1,861 people find employment, with 1,996 jobs filled during that time period.

There has been an increase of 91% in the number of unemployed people obtaining employment in three years.

Reshaping Modern

Apprenticeships

programme

A new pay scale, pre-recruitment and post exit support for all Modern Apprentices as well as a buddy scheme have been

introduced with all of the recommendations from the review now implemented. Diversifying the types of Modern Apprentices

resulted in eight new types of Modern Apprenticeship frameworks being utilised by services.

We are expecting to achieve our three year target of 270 places during 2018/19. In 17/18, the programme became more

inclusive, with five ring fenced places for care experienced young people. Plans are in place to ensure other excluded groups

such as disabled people can take up the opportunities.


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Tourism Strategy North Ayrshire Council’s tourism action plan “Making Waves in North Ayrshire” was launched in May 2018. It aims to utilise the

area’s coastal beauty and opportunities as a key driver of the strategy. The four-year plan, covering 2018-2022, focusses on

promoting the marine and coastal tourism opportunities along the mainland coast and islands. As part of this, a new initiative,

The Coig, is bringing together private sector industry, public sector partners across Ayrshire and beyond.

Transport strategy The Local Transport Strategy 2016 - 2021 was approved by Cabinet in October 2015. In excess of £3million of external funding

has been secured towards its delivery. This is in addition to up to £30million secured for the long term status of Ardrossan as the

mainland ferry to Brodick. The strategy identifies four flagship actions to: Strengthen links to Glasgow and regional centres;

Increase the accessibility and awareness of i3 Irvine Enterprise Area; Improve Ardrossan Harbour and Ferry Terminal; and

Develop and support community transport in North Ayrshire.

Game Changer Projects—

Locality Planning

All six Locality Partnerships are established with locality plans in place. Our Locality Approach is recognised nationally as sector

leading. Partnerships are supported by Locality Coordinators appointed in 2017-18, a significant step in coordinating

community and CPP actions. Partners are following our example, with Police Scotland reshaping their policing team along

locality areas. Due to the success of marketplace Participatory Budgeting (PB) and the mainstreaming PB pilot in the Three

Towns, where £750,000 of grounds maintenance budget was allocated, mainstreaming PB will be rolled out to all localities by

March 2019.

Neighbourhood planning

approach

Locality Planning is fully implemented and has secured two COSLA Bronze Awards. The six Locality Partnerships have identified

priorities and action plans and continue to develop. Services and some CPP partners are aligning staff to localities.

Outcomes include increased decision-making in localities, alignment of community and spatial planning and development of

relational approaches. It has also reduced the impact of nearly £2million savings in the last four years through building

community capacity.

Four Community Investment Fund bids with a total value of over £195,000 have been approved, including a Men’s Shed in the

Garnock Valley and the redevelopment of the local park in Kilwinning. The Food Forum is mapping, redeveloping and

improving access to community food opportunities.

Community Empowerment

Bill planning

The Community Empowerment Unit has been established and Community Contracts have been signed by almost all

Community Associations. One new Community Council has been established giving North Ayrshire 13 active Community

Councils out of a possible 17. All Community Councils have representation at their Locality Partnership with 12 regularly

attending meetings.

The Youth Participation and Citizenship Framework was awarded a COSLA Gold Award and is embedded in our democratic

processes. North Ayrshire is a test site for Carnegie UK Place of Kindness and has a new Poverty Truth Commission.

Working together to develop stronger communities


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Participatory budgeting Participatory Budgeting (PB) events were first held in all six localities in 2016/17. As at April 2018, 2,604 people had voted in

person at these events. In addition, the first online Youth PB event was held in 2016/17 which attracted 130 applications and

distributed £60,672. This success was built upon with “Youth PB Digital” set up per locality in February 2018, attracting a national

record of 6,814 online votes from young people.

A Grounds Maintenance mainstreaming Participatory Budget pilot was developed and successfully trialled within the Three

Towns. This has helped develop and shape our Participatory Budget approach for Grounds Maintenance across North Ayrshire

which will see local communities influencing an overall spend of £750,000 across all localities by March 2019. This builds on the

£1.2million library budget distributed in 2015. The work of North Ayrshire in this field has been featured in a Scottish Government

and COSLA PB information film.

Community asset transfer

In three years 8 assets have been transferred. This included Fullarton Community Centre which then attracted £2million

external funding investment to rebuild to include a community garden, MUGA, health and employability facilities. Other

transfers are Pilot House (Irvine), Irvine Beach park Toilets, Littlestane Hall and Parterre Hall.

Cabinet has also agreed Asset land transfers for Garnock Valley Rugby Club and Skelmorlie Sports Club and transfer of public

toilets have also been completed. We are currently processing 21 applications for asset transfer within the reviewed policy and

procedures. North Ayrshire Council’s first Community Asset Transfer and Empowerment report has been recognised as best

practice by Glasgow Caledonian University.

Social enterprise

development project

The Social Enterprise Strategy was launched in 2016. The team is undertaking considerable engagement including identifying

the scope of each of the 133 Social Enterprises (SEs) in North Ayrshire.

Key projects in development or being delivered relate to procurement, Living Wage, Supported Businesses, Public Private

Partnerships, Food Poverty, Early Years provision and the development of North Ayrshire’s Social Enterprise Network (NASEN).

The aim is that NASEN will become the voice of the sector.

Civic pride In 2016, 91% of people rated their neighbourhood as either a very good or fairly good place to live. This figure increased from

89% in 2012 and 90% in 2013. 89% of those in regeneration areas gave a very good or fairly good rating compared to 84% that

did so in 2012 and 84% in 2013.

Pride in open spaces was 78% and volunteering levels were 23% in the same survey. Ratings for play park facilities / multi-use

games facilities increased and 64% of respondents were satisfied with these compared to 57% in 2012 and 63% in 2013.

During 2017/18, 99% of 593 participants said they were able to access the opportunities and support they need locally.

The 2016 People’s Panel of 1,317 people reported a score of 50.76, above the Scottish average for wellbeing using Warwick-

Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale WEMWBS.


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Ensuring people have the right skills for learning, life and work Education Estate (including

Largs Campus)

Investment in the school estate will ensure the Council secures the best possible outcomes for our young people and their

families.

The Largs campus project adopted a multi-agency and collaborative approach which resulted in the campus being

completed on time and within budget. An innovative learning environment which is fit for 21st century education has been

created with high quality facilities at the heart of the local community. We will build on this as we invest a further £100m in our

ASN and Ardrossan campuses, our primary schools at Montgomerie Park and Moorpark, and Early Learning and Child care.

Scottish attainment

challenge

Education & Youth Employment’s Scottish Attainment Challenge programme has a specific focus on reducing the poverty

related attainment gap and improving outcomes for all learners in North Ayrshire. This project is now in its fourth year of funding

and the £6.3million invested has had a significant positive impact. A reduction in the attainment gap has been supported by

targeted interventions delivered through 6 established workstreams. North Ayrshire Council is able to report attainment has

been raised for almost all learners in almost all aspects of literacy and numeracy:

• The attainment gap in primary numeracy has reduced by 2%

• The attainment gap in secondary numeracy has reduced by 17%

• The attainment gap in secondary literacy has reduced by 20%

Nurturing North Ayrshire Through Scottish Attainment Challenge funding, a range of nurture interventions have been developed and implemented

across North Ayrshire education establishments. This includes nurture groups in 20 primary schools, 9 early years’ classes, 7

secondary schools and delivery of whole school nurture training across North Ayrshire. Our focus on nurture and restorative

approaches has had a positive impact on the social and emotional development of learners. Nurture has ensured greater

numbers of children and young people in North Ayrshire are ready to learn and attain to their full potential.

Our analysis shows that almost all children who have had primary nurture intervention are now successfully engaged back in

mainstream education within their school. The impact of nurture within the authority has also helped to reduce the number of

referrals to Enhanced Support Resources. This suggests Nurture groups offer a more inclusive alternative to meeting needs.

Early Intervention and

Prevention

The North Ayrshire’s Children’s Services Improvement Board focusses on early intervention and prevention. This includes:

• The development of Children’s Services Locality Teams

• Intergenerational working

• Review of Extended Outreach Delivery Model

This has reduced care admissions and improved outcomes for our young people.


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Early Years collaborative Children and Young People Improvement Collaborative (CYPIC) award was achieved for speech and language therapy. The

Directorate are currently scoping out further CYPIC projects based on the four established Scottish Government quality

principles for Early Learning & Childcare. This work will improve learning and developmental progress and outcomes before

entering Primary School.

HSCP change programme Tarryholme Road Development - Programme under way, 20 housing tenancies for learning disabled (LD) clients, 6 residential

places for highly complex learning disabled clients and 9 community mental health step down rehabilitation beds. Work

enhanced by an LD sleepover review which has increased client independence at home. £2million investment Phase 1

Challenge Fund, focus on tackling inequalities, prevention and early intervention and bringing services together, savings

delivered to sustain successful projects.

Developing Active

Communities strategy

As a result of the success and national recognition of the North Ayrshire CPP Active Communities Strategy North Ayrshire

Council alongside NHS Ayrshire and Arran, have been asked to be one of three national demonstrator sites, ‘Trailblazers’, for

the new national Public Health priority ‘diet and healthy weight’. This is a significant step forward for North Ayrshire’s profile in

this area of work.

Both physical and mental health programmes with KA Leisure have exceeded targets. The physical health programme met

the needs of 480 people (target 400) and mental health work supported 222 people . The programme has also developed

volunteer led walking groups as an exit strategy from classes.

DrEAM (Drop Everything and Move) is North Ayrshire’s approach to encouraging people to have fun, while living healthier and

more active lives. DrEAM week is now an annual event in the North Ayrshire calendar.

Community Justice

Authorities planning

Successful implementation of Pan Ayrshire Community Justice Authority arrangement within CPP structure with a positive

impact on offending and reoffending.

Improving children’s

outcomes (multidisciplinary

teams)

The Introduction of a school based multidisciplinary team at Greenwood and Elderbank Primary Schools has resulted in no

children being added to the child protection register, due to early intervention approaches. The model is being expanded in

2018/19. A team in a secondary school setting is planned and will be implemented when accommodation becomes

available.

Supporting all our people to stay safe, healthy and active


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Waste Management

strategy

The improved utilisation of our collection vehicles, reduction of operational depots, improvement of our re-use and recycling

systems, and the movement away from landfill towards a more sustainable recycling and energy from waste solution

contributed to North Ayrshire's excellent recycling performance.

Building on from this success a new Zero Waste strategy was approved in December 2017 including the introduction of

enhanced and new waste collection methodologies and supporting local communities to develop re-use and recycling

initiatives including progressing actions to become single-use plastic free.

Renewable energy strategy

The latest Strategy was approved in January 2017. Completed projects include implementation of a £1million Energy

Performance Contract which is delivering revenue savings of £100,000 per annum, construction of a District Heating scheme

providing 100% renewable energy to sheltered housing and neighbouring primary school. The commencement of the Solar

panel refit programme resulted in up to 500 council houses now benefiting from free electricity. In addition, the installation of

external wall insulation to 205 private homes is now contributing to the reduction of fuel poverty (reduction of 3.7%) across

North Ayrshire. A total of 30 solar panel installations have been installed on our non-domestic buildings, generating 1.5MW of

renewable energy and reducing our carbon emissions.

Coastal protection strategy

Taking the Lead role and working collaboratively and in partnership with South Ayrshire, Scottish Water, SEPA and Forestry

Commission helped develop the strategy and target investment and co-ordinate actions across North Ayrshire. Furthermore,

the service continues to take a proactive approach in protecting local communities by mapping, assessing and monitoring

areas of high risk. Proactive and specific engagement with local communities enabled local actions to be taken to address

coastal erosion at Brodick and Lamlash. Further, community engagement has also helped shape additional options being

considered for Millport Coastal Flood Protection scheme.

Open Spaces strategy Integral to the strategy is working with a number of community groups who were interested in the transfer of open space

assets. This engagement resulted in an increased focus on quality of play park provision and the agreement of completing

surveys. The first biannual open space satisfaction survey was completed which identified 75% of respondents visits a North

Ayrshire Council space area at least once per week with over 70% being satisfied or very satisfied with North Ayrshire Parks,

Beaches and Open spaces. A highly successful public wood giveaway event was arranged for the re-use of wood which

resulted in positive local and national press coverage.

Environmental crime

enforcement

New strategy for Fly tipping, Dog fouling and Litter. This took a holistic approach to educate, enable and enforce. Significant

changes were seen in the demand for services whilst also increasing the income generated. Year on year increases were seen

in the number of paid Fixed Penalty Notices which over the period resulted in an additional £52,000. Furthermore, there was

improvement in the national performance for street cleanliness by 1.6%.

Protecting and enhancing the environment for future generations


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Flood Risk Management

Plan

A comprehensive action plan has been developed outlining a number of activities which are progressing well. Two major

flood protection schemes are being developed for Millport Coastal and Upper Garnock Valley. Which will see in excess of

£45million invested to protect vulnerable communities from the risk of flooding.

Review of business travel Policy created and approved. After a successful pilot to promote alternative travel, together with the introduction of electric

vehicles and low-emission vehicles to reduce our mileage and reduce the environmental footprint by the grey fleet it was

rolled out across the Council. This resulted in a reduction of 600,000 grey fleet miles and a shift to over 300,000 miles driven by

low-emission and electric cars - 33 such pool cars are now operational. CO2 emissions have been reduced by almost 200

tonnes as a result of this change.

WarpIT An innovative and new online portal was developed, designed and introduced during 2015 which allows staff to advertise

surplus items that they no longer required which thereafter can be recycled or put to good use by others. The introduction of

the portal and its use has avoided 43,950kg of CO2 emissions and saved over £57,000 in disposal costs.

Energy efficient street

lighting

The successful Lighting Up North Ayrshire Responsibly (LUNAR) project resulted in a significant reduction of energy use, reduced

carbon emissions by 1664 Tonnes a year, financial savings of around £500,000 per year in energy and maintenance costs, and

more importantly, improvements in repairs performance to 96%.

The LUNAR project introduced new LED light fixtures to existing columns across North Ayrshire. This included the annual

replacement of deteriorated street lighting assets. The network is now 69% energy efficient.

Improving customer

experience

More than 75 fully integrated processes are now available online with the usage of these growing - there has been a 57%

increase in the number of cases being reported online. Where a self-service option is available, on average 35% of customers

choose to use this channel. This channel shift has resulted in savings realised from the contact centre of £45,000.

Ebilling launched for Council Tax with approximately 10,000 customers signed up.

These improvements provide residents with convenient 24/7 access to information and functionality.

Internal demand

management

Electronic payslips have been provided for 74% of employees. Expenses and mileage claims are available as self-service,

providing an easier/more accessible process for our workforce to take ownership for their own online submissions.

A range of processes have been automated including for occupational health and absence management. This automation

has increased efficiency, removed potential points of failure and improved customer satisfaction.

Facilitating better demand


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Service redesign

opportunities

A One Team approach was taken in Council Tax where resources were realigned to deliver improved services to residents

more efficiently. This work resulted in: savings of £85,000; 96% of transactions being dealt with at first point of contact;

processing times being reduced by 63% (to 11 minutes) for change of address; an increase in customer satisfaction to 95% (3%

increase; and a reduction in customer complaints by 37%.

Cash collection was redesigned with the removal of over the counter payments and the introduction of self-service payment

kiosks in the Customer Service Centres. This work allowed customers to make cash and card payments for all council services

and realised savings of £62,690.

Developing demand insight

A centralised analytics team has been established and are aligned with the work of the Transformation Team, providing

information on customer demand and Council spend to support decision making.

Behaviour change initiatives

More than 150 members of staff have signed up to be Digi Gurus and champion new technology and ways of working. They

have received additional training and support and are assisting with the testing of new technology. Office365 training will also

support change in the way in which people use technology/do their job. These initiatives will continue to be expanded across

the Council.

During 2018, Flexible Workforce Funding has been utilised to support O365 training and digital skills awareness with more than

200 staff receiving digital training. Further funding from this fund has been secured for 2019 which will allow our staff more

access to digital skills training to support our implementation of O365.

Alternative delivery models,

including external shared

service provision

The Cabinet considered the proposals to transfer a range of Connected Communities Services to an arm’s length organisation

and approved the conclusions reached within the Options Appraisal, which were not to proceed to transfer the services in

scope.

We are part of a consortium with four partner local authorities - East Dunbartonshire Council, East Renfrewshire Council, North

Lanarkshire Council and Renfrewshire Council - to construct and utilise a new state of the art residual waste treatment facility.

The contract is expected to be worth around £700 million over a 25 year period. Construction of the new facilities which

includes a separate energy from waste facility continues to progress with an anticipated service commencement date of 1

December 2019.

Business support

transformation

A new business support team was established and centralised within Cunninghame House. This centralisation has created a

more flexible and robust team able to more effectively support services. A range of performance indicators were agreed to

support service priorities. A number of processes were reviewed and automated including occupational health, absence

management and HR amendments. The centralisation and improvements resulted in savings of £62,000.

Leading and delivering more agile local public services


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CPP partnering agenda Examples of successful joint work include:

• the Multi-agency Environmental Visual Audits led by Police Scotland

• Prevention First Model using data to develop solutions quickly

• The continuing success of MADART and the Multi-Agency Assessment and Screening Hub (MAASH) for Children's Panel referrals

• Fair For All Strategy

• Safer Shores Initiative

• Joint work with SFRS and business to identify people or businesses most at risk, enabling targeted visits and fitting of smoke alarms

Integration of internal

services

Integration of North Ayrshire Drugs and Alcohol Recovery Service is now in place in Caley Court.

Successful transfer of the Aids and Adaptation service form Housing services and the use of Challenge Fund Phase 1 monies to

address service user waiting list.

Roads and Streetscene aligned their asset management systems, resources and staff to improve service delivery.

Electronic Document

Records Management

System

A number of bespoke solutions were investigated, but it was felt that the costs associated with these were prohibitive. Instead

a solution utilising Office365 is being tested.

This solution will enable staff to maintain a single version of a document and avoid the proliferation of out-of-date information.

Agile Working A range of technology options are available to enable colleagues to work in a flexible way with 800 having remote access.

Sensor technology to monitor desk usage is in place. Offices are now open plan to support agile working. Profiles have been

developed and significant engagement has been undertaken to support cultural change and a number of successful pilots

indicate savings opportunities of between 10% and 25%.

Improving LAN/WAN Over the last couple of years investment in improving Wide Area Network (WAN) connectivity for NAC sites has continued with

bandwidths being upgraded and new sites being brought on to the WAN Infrastructure. Investment in the Local Area Network

(LAN) has seen end of life and legacy hardware being replaced with a more robust and better managed infrastructure now in

place. A fresh review of Network infrastructure will be undertaken over the next 12 months.

This work plays a key role in supporting the delivery of the Council’s technology strategy as more and more systems go online.

Staff must have the technology and connectivity to increase efficiency and work in a more agile manner.


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Data An Open Data portal has been launched with more than 70 sets of data shared to date. A Hackathon was held to gather

community representatives and technology experts to consider potential uses of the data. A range of activities are planned to

further encourage use of these data sets for community benefit.

An approach has been agreed for master data management and this will be implemented as part of the new platform. Better

understanding and management of data is crucial to the successful transformation of council services.

Outcome Based Budgeting

A number of Outcome Based Budgeting (OBB) models were developed to try and secure greater alignment between

resources and outcomes. The complexity of a full OBB model and resource input to implement this was not considered

commensurate with the additional benefit of the model. Alignment of resources with the refreshed Council Plan and next

phase transformation programme will be undertaken in 2019.

Property and asset review

This review developed a new operational model for managing the Industrial Property Portfolio which has delivered increased

occupancy and rental income whilst offering improved premises for local businesses. In March 2017 Cabinet approved a new

Estates Strategy which focusses on co-location and integration of services and supports our commitment to ensure we have

the right buildings, in the right place for serving our customers. As a result we have exited 50 operational properties and saved

£350,000 to date.

Commercialisation Significant progress has been made securing additional income through commercial waste, catering and cleaning services.

Alone, these services now generate in excess of £3million. The Catering Team also won its first external contract to provide

catering services to the private sector. Further projects supporting Municipalisation such as the opening of the café within

Cunninghame House, increased external catering provision at events and through providing catering at Saltcoats Town Hall,

The Portal and other locations together with the provision of MOT services via the Transport Hub have all developed and

continue to do so.

Lean programme There are 79 Lean Six Sigma greenbelt practitioners and 274 colleagues who have been through our Lean Awareness course.

Corporate Lean projects have taken place across the Council covering subjects like Education invoicing, Road construction

consent, Assisted waste collections, PVG Checks, Occupational Therapy Equipment and External mail.

The following pages contain further information about the Lean Six Sigma projects undertaken.


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Lean Six Sigma projects Education Invoicing

Education & Youth Employment consistently fail to meet the Council’s target of processing 95% of supplier invoices within the

required timescales. The project introduced purchasing and invoicing guidelines for education establishments specifically to

account for holiday periods and unique delivery requirements in schools. A pilot was conducted in the poorest performing

schools to monitor the improvements. This project resulted in an improvement in performance from 77% to 91%.

School HR Absence

The project focussed on sickness absence in schools. An improved process was required to streamline reporting, remove

duplication and accurately measure performance. The process was mapped at workshops and three key measurements were

identified - time, variation and duplication. A consistent process was designed and tested with pilot schools. Non-value added

steps and duplicate steps were removed. The result was a much faster process that was positively received by schools.

Wrap Around Care

Wrap Around Care is the process of purchasing additional hours, over and above the nursery entitlement. Currently, parents

who utilise the Wrap Around Care service are acquiring debt. The project examined this problem and created appropriate

solutions. The process was streamlined, communication was improved and a consistent approach developed to prevent debt

being accumulated. Invoices are sent sooner and alternative payment methods have been introduced.

Road Construction Consent

Roads Construction Consent is the process of gaining consent to build or extend a non trunk road. The variable and often poor

quality of developer applications led to a high number of resubmissions. The problem was examined and a number of actions

taken. A pre-application meeting was introduced with the developer. Performance indicators, SLAs and ongoing monitoring

were put in place. Paper based work was reduced and some steps automated to improve efficiency.

Assisted Waste Collection

An assisted waste collection service is provided for householders who are unable to present their bins for collection. The

process for adding customers on to the assisted service took too long and was leading to complaints. The online application

process was improved as was communication with customers and crews. The application time was reduced by 80% by

removing wasteful steps in the process. As a result of this work complaints were reduced by 25%.

Building Repair Follow-ups

Building Services submit requests for follow up work to Property, Maintenance and Investment (PMI). The process was time

consuming and could result in customers complaints. A streamlined process was developed which only required authorisation

for new requests not revisits. The process was made more transparent so that all stakeholders were able to see progress. The

time to raise revisits reduced from 4 days to 7 minutes. The total process time was reduced by 51% saving staff time of £6,452.


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Building Repair Reporting

The way repairs are reported by properties to their Maintenance Officer is a manual and protracted process. The focus of this

project was to improve the reporting of routine, non-emergency, non-housing maintenance repairs. Issues with time taken and

communication were identified. Previously it took 7.2 days to collect and acknowledge requests. This was reduced to 0.51

days during the pilot. 70% of the repairs reported were ordered without the need for a physical visit to the property.

Commercial Waste Duty of Care

The Council has a legal obligation to provide commercial waste customers with an annual duty of care which demonstrates

that the customer, the producer, and the Council have taken reasonable steps to comply with legislation. This was resource

intensive and paper based. A more efficient process was developed which reduced the time taken from 17 days to 5 days.

Duplicate data entry was reduced and the Duty of Care form was emailed to customers rather than posted.

Rent Refunds

The Rent Refund process had tenants waiting an average of 15 working days for refunds. The process was heavily paper

based, with no defined procedure. More staff are now able to process a rent refund and there are an increased number of

authorised signatories able to approve refunds. The process used to take an average of 15.7 days, the pilot study observed an

average of 3.3 days. There were also significantly reduced numbers of phone calls from tenants enquiring about their refund.

Timesheets (Building Services)

The time sheet process within Building Services was time consuming, subject to multiple point of checking and often contained

errors. An improved process would benefit internal customers. The new streamlined process achieved £35,880 savings on

timesheet processing. There was a: 75% reduction in paper sheets from 4 to 1 per operative; 55% reduction in non-value add

and duplicate checks; 40% reduction in manager, supervisor and admin staff time from 2.5 to 1.5 days per week.

Transport Hub External Hires

The process in place was time consuming and contained too many errors and a high level of duplication of effort across

services. The project identified the common themes as Communication, Data Issues, Resource and Processes. They were

addressed by a simplified approval processes and the use of electronic rather than paper invoice filing. The time taken to

inform the Hub of a hire request was reduced from 18 hours to 1 hour.

Imprest Petty Cash

The Petty Cash process was both outdated and inefficient with thousands of low value purchases being generated across all

departments, placing a high administrative burden across the Council. The main goal of the project was to reduce time and

costs and to free up staff time to do other value added activities. It was agreed to utilise and pilot the Council’s Procurement

Card system. There was a 61% reduction in processing cost and a 70% reduction in staff time.


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PVG Checks

The PVG checking process took an average of 20 days to complete and had an error return rate of 18% from Disclosure

Scotland making it the longest and most complained about element of the recruitment process. New documentation was

collated to produce a Standard Operating Procedure. The process was reduced from 42 steps to 31 with turnaround time

reduced to 16 days from 20. The cost of processing time was reduced by 42% saving £5,606.

Scottish Welfare Fund

The Fund provides two types of Grants: Crisis Grant and Community Care Grant. The project aimed to improve two key

elements: reduce avoidable contact and improve the speed of decision making. Customers are now routed to the right

person and can track their application. Text messaging and access to Carefirst support the process. Avoidable contact

reduced by 11% to 29%. The number of Community Care Grants completed within 15 days increased by 16% to 97%.

Care Home Customer Arrears

The project focussed on the level of debt acquired by Care Home customers. The former arrears handling process had too

many stages, was ineffective and restricted the amount of time that was available to deal with the cause of the arrears. A

new streamlined process was developed which allowed arrears to be identified earlier. Whilst the volume of referrals increased

by 27% over a 9 month period, the cost of these arrears to NAC fell to £26,189, a reduction of 70%.

OT Equipment

The number of referrals received at the equipment store was increasing so the project team felt it should focus its efforts on

processes that help reduce either the supply of or demand for equipment. A new process was created to reduce:

unnecessary paperwork; at least two service user visits; and reduce waiting time per person by 2 days. The new process

reduced delayed discharges from hospital by 8 days and enabled the recycling of an additional £19,278 of equipment.

OT Equipment Store

The OT Equipment Store delivers and installs aids and adaptations to service users’ homes throughout North Ayrshire. Delays in

the fulfilment of equipment requests and the lack of clear service standards led to a breakdown in trust in the service. A new

process with 13 “right first time” steps and improved customer communication was introduced. This meant that 95% of all

service users receiving their equipment within 7 working days and a 34.5 days average lead-time was reduced to 1.56 days.

External Mail

North Ayrshire Council spent significantly more on postal services than South or East Ayrshire. It was decided to implement

‘Hybrid Mail’ (a method whereby mail is securely emailed and processed off site) and use email rather than post when

possible. It is hoped that all services in Cunninghame House and Bridgegate will use Hybrid mail by 31 March 2019 with savings

in the 2019/20.


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Kaizen Blitz projects Pest Control

The Pest Control process needed to be made more efficient and needed updating to be made more cost effective. New

documentation was collated to produce a Standard Operating Procedure which included: better screening to reduce

unnecessary visits; a method for recording service requests to reduce inconsistency; policy changes to reduce the number of

no access visits; and a streamlined admin process (27.5 days were saved). 20 steps removed from the 54 step original process.

Maximising Attendance

The challenge was to devise a better process addressing: duplication; missing information; long processing times;

inconsistency; poor communication; and the unnecessary recording of information. Standard operating procedures were

created and additional training was provided. There was a reduction in paper based work and duplication was removed from

all parts of the process. All of this resulted in a reduction of 2 FTE (from HSCP) required to manage the process.

Ad Hoc Taxi Bookings

Social Services are required to book taxis to ensure service users/children are transported safely and securely. This process

resulted in incorrect invoices, payment issues and budget control implications for the Transport Hub. A new process was

created involving: a new ad hoc request form; admin booking the taxi instead of social workers; and dedicated email

addresses. The process was reduced from 59 steps to 39. The new process takes 86 minutes compared to 217 minutes.

Freedom of Information

The FOI process was inconsistent, not effective and in some places, was non-compliant. The project made improvements to

governance and the use of data and technology including creating a performance management and reporting system and

improving data capture. These changes led to: improved efficiency - 38 steps removed from a 68 step original process; and

improved compliance - a 95% target set for number of responses delivered within 20 day statutory time limit.

Documents

N ORTH AYRSHIRE COUNCIL