Over the past three years, Ignite has been working in partnership with Colchester Borough Council to develop and apply a fresh and effective model for fundamental service reviews. Based on Ignite’s innovation and change approach, Colchester has found that the FSR approach provides:
A systematic and consistent way of looking at services. The approach allows the Council to look at services and the work they do in a consistent way by having meaningful conversations across the council about the approach and results and to communicate with staff and members in a consistent way. It also instils a sense of predictability of how long a review will take and the nature of the results that will emerge. It allows them to build capability and to share resource around the organisation. This in turn allows good practice to spread across the organisation.
An approach that develops sustainable internal capability to improve. The approach is thorough, well documented and straightforward. The Council is now able to train the Corporate Support Team to support the services in delivering reviews. Service teams will also acquire new skills that will be invaluable in striving for further improvements and in responding to new challenges emerging in the future.
Support for the development of common solutions/services across the council and partner organisations. The development of Colchester’s Customer Service Centre offered the opportunity to provide a common access point for the customer, but also a common method of delivering services. By applying the principles of this approach it will inevitably identify further areas where common approaches will yield benefits. This is particularly true when taking a broader look at services offered by both the organisation and its partners where there are likely to be real efficiencies and benefits to the customer by co-ordinating efforts and working more closely together.
Support for an integrated approach to serving the customer. By looking at services from a customer perspective, the approach quickly identifies areas where customers are being pushed from one part of the council to another or from one team to another and where a more coordinated and integrated approach is required.
A channel for innovation. The approach looks outside the council and beyond local government to find solutions to challenges. This approach challenges everyone’s thinking and opens the way for a range of potential improvement options.
