Following the Local Government Finance Settlement, all councils have been requested by government to produce a productivity plan by July 2024.
The plan is expected to cover four main areas:
- Transformation of services to make better use of resources
- Opportunities to take advantage of technology and data
- Ways to reduce wasteful spend
- Barriers preventing activity that government can help to reduce or remove
We have set out our plan below which has been considered and agreed by the council’s cabinet at its meeting held on 17 July 2024.
1. How you have transformed the way you design and deliver services to make better use of resources.
Following a change in political and organisational leadership in 2023 there has been a renewed focus on understanding and responding to the priorities and needs of communities across the city. Following extensive consultation with residents, businesses, and key partners, a new community led plan ‘We are Norwich’ for 2024-2029 has been introduced, which sets the direction of travel through setting high level priorities and ambition.
To ensure that the ambition set out in ‘We are Norwich’ is delivered, we have developed a new business planning process which will embed an outcome-based methodology, service development plans and bespoke work programmes, aligning all resources to effectively transform and improve delivery of all services, deliver the city’s priorities, and deliver a balanced Medium-Term Financial Strategy.
We are developing a new performance framework alongside business planning; this framework will allow us to evaluate the effectiveness of our actions rather than solely tracking outputs. Our approach will establish specific key performance indicators, clear measures of success and milestones aligned with our priorities. By using data and insight, we will ensure that our services remain oriented towards people and are driven by evidence. Performance evaluation and regular feedback mechanisms are in place to monitor progress and inform necessary adjustments. Additionally, the City Vision1 plays a pivotal role in maximising assets and benefits across the city and ensuring our alignment with the priorities of partners as a means of effectively addressing community needs.
We are dedicated to collaborating with communities and partners to inform change. For example, we have bolstered engagement with residents through enhanced communication channels such as Get Norwich Talking and other feedback mechanisms, resulting in user-friendly and targeted services. Our commitment to iteratively consulting the city we serve has enhanced our ability to listen to and act upon its priorities and ambitions. Using digital services has enhanced accessibility and cost-effectiveness while maintaining face-to-face contact for those requiring it with a digital first, not digital only, approach. These approaches have not only raised the standard of our services but have also contributed to greater financial stability for the council, empowering us to reinvest in further innovations and enhancements for Norwich.
Our recent peer review has validated our ability to respond to our communities needs in a way which maintains the financial resilience of the council.
1 Published in November 2018, the Norwich 2040 City Vision outlines the council’s strategy to collaborate with partners on five themes: a creative, connected, fair, liveable, and dynamic city. Key achievements include the Norwich Climate Commission (net-zero by 2045), the Norwich Good Economy Commission (tackling COVID-19 economic inequalities), the £25 million Norwich Town Deal (regeneration projects), the Norwich Creative City Compact (arts and culture growth), and the Norwich Cities of Stories campaign (visitor brand).
2. How you plan to take advantage of technology and make better use of data to improve decision making, service design and use of resources.
The council’s ‘Customer and Digital Strategy for 2024-2029’ supports the new community-led corporate plan which identifies that to be an open and modern council, service provision needs to be efficient, data-driven, and evidence-based. We will achieve this by supporting the delivery of the priorities through objective, secure and reliable solutions that:
- Improve the quality of customer data, including contact details through the development of our master data management (MDM) solution.
- Use data to support customers and inform strategic outcome-based planning.
We have delivered phase one of the MDM project – this is the first step in ensuring the organisation has a unique record for all customers and properties. The next phase of this project will focus on utilising the existing data we store to identify and address needs.
A key part of the strategy is to standardise our approach to our systems to ensure effective functionality and governance is in place. Historically, systems have not been fully exploited and the new strategy will provide a framework which will ensure that systems are utilised as efficiently as possible.
Our information and data strategy outlines how the organisation will collaborate with other organisations to process data from multiple sources, including internal service areas, external partners, customers, and third-party sources. This shared data can encompass various types, such as structured data, unstructured data, real-time data streams, and historical data archives. Such activities are undertaken in a secure, lawful, and proportionate manner ensuring we adhere to the UK’s data protection requirements whilst delivering data-driven outcomes for the city.
Further strategic objectives include utilising new technologies to improve workflow and systems. Some examples of the actions we will take include the following:
- Migrate shared folders to Microsoft 365.
- Develop the use of Microsoft apps and streamline processes to support collaborative, agile working for the workforce and its partners.
- Deploy automation where appropriate, for example exploring the use of AI and virtual assistant technology internally and on the website.
3. Your plans to reduce wasteful spend within your organisation and systems
Our approach to identifying and reducing waste incorporates a focus on strategic planning; to ensure that we deliver efficient services, rigorous governance, and continuous improvement. Our transformation plans build on the foundations laid by the Future Shape Norwich (FSN) programme, which was initiated in early 2022 to support the delivery of balanced medium term financial plans in the face of escalating demand and reduced government funding. By prioritising digital projects and service improvement, we have streamlined operations and reduced the time required to complete tasks.
The FSN programme has supported the implementation of a new asset management system, improving our understanding and performance of the assets we hold and informing ‘retain, improve and dispose’ decisions in support of effect resource allocation. Our focus on similar IT projects, such as the new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, exemplifies our commitment to ‘doing the basics well on the services we provide’ across all services.
Our monitoring process is moving to a performance framework with defined measures of success and milestones by transitioning towards an outcomes-based model that aligns with our strategic priorities. Regular performance reviews and feedback is integral to our monitoring process, allowing us to track progress and make necessary adjustments. The FSN programme includes a system of closure reports at the end of strategic projects, providing detail of outcomes achieved and lessons learned.
One of the Future Shape Norwich projects reviewed the Norwich City Services Limited (NCSL) contract, specifically focusing on grounds maintenance and street cleaning, to identify actions for improvement and savings. FSN was initiated in 2021 due to a projected £11.8m budget gap for the council over the period 2022-2026 and this project was initiated due to concerns about NCSL's outdated operating model, the project commenced with a high-level external review. This review benchmarked NCSL's performance, identified significant savings opportunities, and proposed clarifications of roles and responsibilities. The project has achieved £268k in savings for 2023/24 and planned an additional £1.013m in savings over 2024-2027. New governance arrangements and a finalised asset management database were established, and ongoing work is set to implement a new operating model and detailed targets within NCSL's Business Plan by June 2024. Improvements in productivity and efficiency in streets and grounds maintenance have already led to better service delivery and fewer complaints.
Collaborative partnerships in Norwich have significantly improved the community by using resources effectively and achieving better outcomes. The Financial Inclusion Consortium (FIC) has helped 1088 residents manage debt, renegotiating or reducing £1,007,142 in debts and generating £4,822,014 in benefits. The Real Living Wage Action Group increased accredited employers from 64 to 80 in 2023, with a goal of 110 by 2024. The Norwich 2040 City Vision uses partnerships to drive major regeneration projects like the £25 million Norwich Town Deal. The Norwich Health and Wellbeing Partnership (NHWP) improves health by addressing inequalities and coordinating services. Collaborations with Orwell Housing Association ensure affordable housing, reducing vacancy times and refusal rates.
4. The barriers preventing progress that the government can help to reduce or remove
Over the past 14 years, local government funding has reduced significantly. This, combined with continuing demand pressures constrains our ability to plan and innovate further as capacity is focused on managing daily operational pressures. The recruitment and retention of the exceptional talent required to deliver essential and critical services to our residents is hampered by the uncertainty of operating in an environment where no long-term financial planning by the government exists and legislation often takes place without appreciation of the reality in which councils operate. The government must undertake to fund local government properly and give certainty over funding streams on medium term (3 – 5 years) rolling basis.
Additional, buoyant funding streams linked to the services that councils provide is essential to our long-term financial sustainability. Reform of the existing funding streams is also needed with less reliance on constrained grant and bidding mechanisms; a rebased council taxbase need not result in significant additional pressure on low-income household finances but the number of bands could be increased to remove the inequalities that exist between those in the lowest bands and the highest.
It is inequitable that those in the highest banding pay only double the average level of council tax yet there is wide disparity on property values. Artificially imposed caps on council tax increases have suppressed growth to levels significantly below compound inflation at a time when key social care and housing services including homelessness have experienced extraordinary demand and inflationary pressures above headline inflation rates. Without other compensatory sources of income, it is unsurprising that financial risk taking and consequent failure in the sector is now prevalent.
Business rates is not strongly aligned to the provision of council services and there has been a failure by the government to incentivise growth activity in this area with the promise of fully retained business rates never being achieved universally. Full devolution of a number of funding streams into a single universal funding grant source without expensive bidding processes is an essential ingredient for all councils to provide the first-class services that we have demonstrably delivered against.
Another major barrier is the systemic challenges posed by national government policies and funding mechanisms. The intermittent nature of funding and the competitive bidding processes create significant obstacles to long-term planning and increases costs unnecessarily. The tight turnaround times for funding applications leave little room for strategic development, especially with partners, forcing us to react rather than proactively plan. This not only hinders our productivity but also affects the ambition of the services we could otherwise provide. To remove these barriers, we require substantial changes from all key stakeholders. From the government, we require more consistent and predictable funding streams that allow for long-term planning and development. We need you to reduce the bureaucratic hurdles and streamline regulations which could facilitate faster project approvals and implementation.
For instance, the new waste regulations have significantly impacted Norwich City Council due to underfunding. DEFRA's allocated funding of £0 is insufficient to implement weekly food waste collections for all households. Norwich currently offers extensive recycling services but needs additional resources to extend food waste collections to 7,446 flatted properties. The estimated cost is at least £0.300 million, covering a new Refuse Collection Vehicle and extra bins, but the lack of funding prevents these expansions. It is illogical to believe that a service can be expanded further with no additional resource and the council cannot commit to providing new services until adequate funding is secured.
The sector has consistently asked for the removal of the constraints associated with retained right to buy receipts; although we recognise some limited changes have been made, there remains market failure in the provision of social housing that could be addressed if the artificial constraints on this funding stream were removed.
We would also ask for a review of the Housing Benefit subsidy arrangements whereby this council is penalised for its innovative approaches to address homelessness. We would ask that the Housing Benefit regulations be amended to update the Temporary Accommodation subsidy cap to use the current year LHA rates rather than the 2011 ones, and the Housing Benefit regulations be amended to update the Supported Exempt Accommodation subsidy caps to return 100% subsidy for all non-profit, charitable and voluntary sector social landlords, rather than just registered providers. The inconsistent policy messages between DWP and DLUHC create inefficiencies and frustrate delivery.
By not doing so the cost to this council is currently c£2.36m per annum in lost subsidy, and this is predicted to rise to c£3.04m by the end of this financial year.
In addition, the onerous requirements on the production of information such as the numerous statutory requirements to place notices in newspapers or issue written copies of routine notices, excessive amounts of information that is required in annual accounts or has to be published under the transparency code and the need for statutory overrides such as the requirement to value assets for accounts every year are all examples where a more thoughtful approach to providing relevant information could be taken to reduce the administrative burdens that are faced by all councils.
A concerted effort from the government, is essential to overcome these barriers. By addressing the financial, regulatory, and systemic constraints, we can significantly improve our productivity and the quality of services we provide, leading to a thriving and more resilient community.
Cllr. Mike Stonard (Leader of Norwich City Council)
