The business process used to make policy decisions at Warwickshire County Council has been greatly improved thanks to CMIS Democratic Services software and a close working relationship between the council and the software provider, Astech Consultants Ltd.
As part of its on-going pursuit of good governance, in 2010 Warwickshire County Council undertook a review to find out if the council was making the best possible use of ICT. The project was led by the council’s Democratic Services Team in a programme of radical improvements to the decision making process aimed at achieving greater speed, consistency, accessibility and efficiency.
The review found that, for historical reasons, each of the nine directorates had their own process, resulting in serious inconsistency, confusion and waste. The Democratic Services team quickly agreed the improvements that were needed to unify and streamline the process and then produced a business case for purchasing a commercially available ICT system.
The resulting formal tendering process led to Warwickshire County Council choosing Astech to provide a tailored solution to suit the council’s requirements, on the basis of the outstanding flexibility of the CMIS software.

Software tailored for Warwickshire County Council

The CMIS suite of Democratic Management modules has provided the council with a software application capable of delivering the workflow control and functionality it required.

At the heart of the applications is a streamlined, error free process that:

• is designed to match WCC’s needs precisely
• simplifies the creation of proposals and reports
• creates reports, agendas and minutes
• proceeds on an intuitive, logical, step-by-step basis
• automates many historically manual procedures such as document distribution, consultation, collection of comments and approvals
• enables visual tracking of progress so giving the author full control and allowing other parties to check the stage of a job
• uses reminders to keep all interested parties to an agreed timetable
• speeds up and simplifies consultation and decision making
• significantly reduces costs

Additionally, the web-based nature of the CMIS system allows council officers remote access and flexible working from any computer, anywhere.
The package from CMIS includes comprehensive technical support and training, as required.

Saving Warwickshire County Council £124,000 a year

Warwickshire County Council have already, within the first year, recouped their initial investment in CMIS many times over.The savings have been achieved by a reduction in paper usage, distribution costs and an increase in productivity.In Warwickshire County Council’s own words, “The electronic preparation, consultation and distribution of reports and agendas has also resulted in considerable savings in printing and distribution costs.”Officers’ time previously spent administering the process is now diverted to other duties with resultant savings in all the council’s directorates.

Association of Democratic Services Officers: ADSO is pleased to announce that bookings are now being taken for the 2011 Conference. The theme of this year’s one day event is Collaboration, Communication and Communities – facing the future together. The blend of key note speakers and practitioner workshops will build on the success of last year’s conference and be of benefit to all staff working in Democratic Services.

The conference will take place in London on Thursday 17 November 2011 at Mary Ward House, Tavistock Place, London.

Click here for the programme: 2011 ADSO Conference Programme

The key note speaker for the day will be Professor George Jones from the London School of Economics. (click to see LSE profile)

The cost of the event will be:

£149 plus VAT for ADSO Members

£199 plus VAT for Non ADSO Members

CLICK HERE to book now.

For any enquiries, please contact conference@adso.co.uk

The event is aimed at all those with an interest in local democracy including officers and elected members from local authorities, as well as those who work together with the public sector. It will focus on the future shape of local government and the question of how we can ensure democratic accountability when the private and voluntary sectors are involved in the co-production and delivery of public services.

Featuring a lively mix of practitioners, academics and councillors, the event will explore the impact of the last 12 months on local government and look forward to the radical reinvention of councils as facilitators and supporters of businesses and voluntary and community organisations. It will also examine the enhanced leadership and representative role of the modern councillor as authorities continue to take tough decisions.

The day will comprise a mixture of keynote speakers and interactive workshop sessions as well as the opportunity for you to enjoy networking. Sessions include:

• Implementing the Big Society – Andrew Elkington, Lead on the only Big Society Pathfinder in the South East, Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
• Role of Local Enterprise Partnerships – Geoff French, Chair of the Enterprise M3 LEP and Paul Kinvig, Chair of the Hampshire Economic Partnership
• The Future Shape of Local Democracy – Dr Mike Rowe, University of Liverpool
• The Future Shape of Service Delivery – Kim Ryley, Chair of SOLACE and Chief Executive of Shropshire County Council
• Making Localism a Reality – Paul Wickenden, Kent County Council

We are offering a special discounted rate for Opportunities readers of £99 (plus VAT) – please quote OPP11 after your authority on the booking form.

If you would like to book a place, please complete the booking form online by clicking on the Enhancing Local Democracy Conference link at www.seemp.co.uk/eventscal. For further details, please email Helen Looker at helen@seemp.co.uk.

As the impact of the recession continues to be felt, Local Authorities are reporting high volumes of new claims and a growing caseload as a result. With no sign yet of a reduction in long term unemployment the numbers of people qualifying for HB and CTB seem set to increase further.   New claims require significant effort in terms of process and specifically verification to ensure they are not false or erroneous. However, a substantial proportion of these claims are both genuine and accurate.  Time spent verifying these claims is effectively wasted.  It is the work that goes into finding the fraudulent and erroneous claims and preventing it entering the gateway that delivers the real value to both the local authority and the DWP.

The challenge is directing Benefit Officers’ work so that the bulk of their effort is spent on those claims where fraud and error are more likely to be found, leaving those claims with a lower likelihood to be assessed more rapidly.  One approach successfully piloted by several authorities around the country is Risk Based Verification (RBV).  This uses predictive risk modelling software to profile all new claims and to classify them with High, Medium or Low Risk status.

Risk Based Verification in Action

The risk score empowers the assessment officer to dispense with traditional verification checking for new claims at a low risk of containing fraud or error but directs them to scrutinise more closely those at high risk. The results from the early adopters are compelling.

At Denbighshire County Council, which has high levels of unemployment, worsened by the effects of the recession, benefits processing staff were struggling to cope with the backlog of claims.  Risk Based Verification has significantly increased the speed of processing claims – average days to process a claim reduced from 27 days to 7 days from February to April 2010. And in the same period, perhaps more significantly, the amount of fraud and error detected at the gateway has actually increased despite the level of verification across the caseload reducing.

“The risk based approach is the logical one, as there is no point wasting time verifying claims when the majority have no fraud or error associated with them. Processing times have decreased significantly, giving a better service to our customers.  I wouldn’t want to go back to traditional verification, this is the way forward.”

Ken Jones, Head of Revenue and Benefits, Denbighshire County Council

Value of the Risk Based Approach

The results from these early users have shown that the RBV-based approach can help overcome many of the issues arising from traditional verification methods which are labour intensive, slow, inflexible and expensive.  Local Authorities can now apply verification which is appropriate and proportionate to the risk posed by each claim.  This solution enables managers to target resources on those claims which pose the greatest risk and to simplify the process for those that pose the least.  The value of the RBV approach can be summarised as:

• Simplifies benefit processing for up to 60% of new claims
• Reduces overall processing times by more than 30%
• Improves efficiency by reducing effort for low risk claims
• Improves customer satisfaction
• Shifts fraud and error focus from detection to prevention

coactiva intercept applies data analytics to add insight and value to Housing Benefit data. Our risk based approach to verification enables resources to be more efficiently targeted, delivering step-change improvements in performance and reductions in costs.

For more information, please contact James Hilton on 0207 868 4726 or visit our website at www.coactiva.com/intercept

The keynote speaker was Jo Miller, Deputy Chief Executive of the Local Government Association. She gave a brief overview of her role and background in Democratic Services and then talked about ‘the New World’ of transparency and openness, reinvigorated democracy and accountability, decentralisation and communities in charge of planning. Jo explained that Authorities now have the “freedom to spend a lot less to do what we have to deliver”. She also provided an insight into the forthcoming Localism Bill and the concept of the Big Society and encouraged those present to ‘hold their nerve’ in what were exciting but scary times. Following a question and answer session, Jo stated her intention to maintain a dialogue with ADSO about the impact of the Localism Bill.

Seltzer Cole from Fizz Media then provided a change of tone with his presentation on Social Media and the implications for Local Authorities. He explained how social media can be used in democratic support and outlined the latest ways to use social networking. Seltzer also described some of the potential pitfalls, particularly where personal and professional lives overlap and stated that it was not a replacement for traditional consultation and engagement. He concluded with an interesting insight into the number of emails, tweets and Facebook posts that had been sent during his presentation.

The afternoon consisted of a number of workshops which gave delegates the opportunity to glimpse behind the scenes at the Local Government Ombudsman, hear how scrutiny works in a 4^th option Authority or pick up some ideas for engaging young people from the UK Youth Parliament. Some delegates chose to hear about Local Democracy in Belgium and Holland and how they could join the International Institute of Municipal Clerks and there was a lot of interest in the workshop run by the Vale of White Horse District Council on Shared Services.

The Association held its first AGM at the end of the day, providing ADSO members with the opportunity to ask questions on the reports which had been circulated previously. The membership fees were agreed and auditors appointed for the Association. Tom van der Hoven, the Association’s Secretary confirmed the first elections to the Board would take place next year. Delegates were then able to enjoy the hotel’s leisure facilities before attending the conference dinner where they were joined by the Lord and Lady Mayoress of Leeds.

The second day opened with a welcome from Clive Parker, Vice Chair of the Association and then delegates were able to attend one of a range of workshops including the chance to share good practice in Member development and hear about the role of the Civic Office in the modern era. Bristol City Council shared their experiences of E-petitions and Councillor Stuart Langhorn facilitated a discussion on working in political collaboration. A number of delegates learnt about Overview and Scrutiny in a changing world from the LB Enfield and the Metropolitan Police Association.

The next speaker to the full conference was William Benson, Chief Executive of the Royal Borough of Tunbridge Wells. He talked through his career to date, from Scrutiny Officer to Chief Executive and explained how Scrutiny had been a good foundation for his professional development. He highlighted some key issues and challenges for his Authority in the current financial climate and then answered a range of questions from delegates.

Those present then received an update on the success of the new Democratic Services qualifications from Mark Towers and Sue Keogh who are running the accredited Qualifications and Development Centre for ADSO. Mark outlined the proposed new Diploma in Local Democracy and encouraged people to get involved as Advisers or learners.

Professor Steve Leach took on the ‘graveyard slot’ with a lively and thought-provoking speech on local democracy in a time of austerity. He covered a range of issues including Elected Mayors and Local Authority mergers, warning against reducing the number of Councillors in an attempt to save money: “Councillors roles as local facilitators will be heightened in a time of austerity, we certainly don’t need fewer of them.” He then shared his views on a number of Local Authority initiatives including ‘Easy Councils’ and the ‘John Lewis response’ before taking questions from delegates.

The next part of the afternoon was taken up with the opportunity to attend another of the workshops from the morning session plus an additional workshop from Teignbridge District Council, winners of the MJ Democratic Services Team of the Year. The conference then concluded with final thanks and best wishes from John Austin.

Some Delegate Comments from the event:

‘I found the networking opportunities most useful as it was a chance to meet colleagues from across the UK and to discuss issues affecting a variety of different authorities. Some of the workshops were also interesting as this provided a forum in which colleagues could potentially share experience, tips and good practice.’ Lorraine Brook, City of London

‘The Keynote speech in particular was useful summarising what challenges lie ahead and the future of Democratic Services. I also enjoyed the session on the Dutch and Flemish LG set ups and exchange programme.’ Erika Farris, Surrey Police Authority

‘Jo Miller, William Benson and Steve Leach were all very interesting and engaging, and their content was very useful. As ever, one of the major strengths of the event was the opportunity to network.’ Nick Lamper, Wigan MBC

‘I particularly thought the wide selection of workshops was excellent and meant that people could select workshops that were relevant to them. I also thought that the exhibitor workshop on presentation skills by Graeme Ratten was excellent.’ Julie Batt, Basildon BC

‘A very useful and well organised event, thanks to all those who helped to pull it together.’ Matthew Archer, Canterbury BC

‘I really enjoyed it. Important that the profession is represented and develops a more influential voice. Thanks to all involved.’ Richard Mell, North Lincolnshire Council

‘I found the networking and e-petitions workshop most useful. It was great to put some faces to names and to meet the ADSO team. The e-petitions workshop was very interesting because this is something we could improve on at Wiltshire Council.’ Alexa Smith, Wiltshire County Council