Local Area Agreement Strengthening delivery Improving Outcomes Jon Bright Director of Policy and Delivery Birmingham City Council

“When we look ahead, we can see just how much there is to do before the public services are delivering the outcomes citizens want to see and the standards necessary to make this country the place we’d like it to be… We need to accelerate and intensify our drive for delivery.” Michael Barber, Former Head of the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit

The LAA - A big deal for a big city A Big Deal - Year 1 (06/07) – pooled £40M and aligned £350M. Will increase significantly The challenge of scale and size – making it work for Birmingham as a whole (1m people) – “triple” devolution and ‘closing the gap’ Working with our 10 Constituencies – understanding what is delivered at different spatial scales Reputation – Deputy Leader providing political leadership

Birmingham’s approach Refreshing our partnerships Planning for outcomes Strengthening delivery

1. Refreshing our partnerships Refresh LSP and family of partnerships Key task is to agree: - shared vision / priorities for the City - strategies to deliver these priorities - targets and delivery arrangements - how we will performance manage - how we will allocate funds Challenge, trust and respect

Refreshing our partnerships Expect to deliver the LAA through 5 main partnerships: Economic partnership Community safety partnership Children and young people’s partnership Health and well-being partnership City Housing partnership

Goal: transformational change Principles: Prevention, Targeting, Sustainability, Personalised services Building Transformation in the LAA: - Focussing on what drives the local economy - Getting people from welfare to work - Shifting care from secondary to primary / community - Moving from crime management to crime prevention - Investing in early prevention with families / children - Turning consultation into active citizenship

2. Planning for outcomes The City Council is building outcome planning into its Business Management so there is alignment: outcomes, services and budgets a consistent approach to preparing strategies a consistent approach to service planning an understanding of how delivery chains work access to knowledge of ‘what works’

Key questions for services Are services focussed on priority outcomes? How well are they doing (compared to other local authorities)? Are they delivering the right activities in the best way to meet outcomes? How do we know? Have they considered approaches that might work better? Are they doing it cost effectively (compared to other local authorities)? What can they stop doing / reduce to better focus resources on priority targets? Outcome-based service planning: Key part of new Business Management process – links outcomes, services and budgets Services scored by Members / Directorates and subjected to challenge Services then ranked re: 1. contribution to priority outcomes; & 2. efficiency and performance Decisions made re investment / disinvestment or performance / efficiency review Quality Assurance via Business Management Office Testing process this year for roll out in 09/10 Planning for outcomes

So for each LAA priority, theme Partnerships need to Understand the problem and the trend Agree indicators and targets Agree on what will work Develop focussed plans (not lists of activities) Link funding to outcomes Know how they will measure progress Project manage delivery very well Keep it simple

3. Strengthening delivery Helping organisations succeed… means understanding why they fail: Strategy failure - poor understanding of the problem - failing to identify the actions that can deliver the best results - not doing enough of the right things with the right people at the right time Delivery failure - too little attention to programme and project management - poor performance management and too little ownership by senior managers - ineffective ‘delivery vehicles’ Measurement failure - not clear what outcomes are to be improved - failure to assess the starting point - poor evaluation design and failure to measure progress

So we have set up a Delivery Support Unit to Analyse small area information Ensure strategies are plausible / evidence based Ensure delivery plans are simple and effective Strengthen our focus on ‘what works’ and how to make ‘what works’ work Provide intensive attention to off-track, business critical targets Manage risk and track performance ……..so that…….

The Delivery Support Unit approach …. we can help meet key Council Plan and LAA outcome targets… Priority Reviews Performance Management Spreading best practice Work with Directorates / partners to improve performance on most difficult challenges Eg Worklessness Aligning outcomes, services and budgets; Focusing on priorities Intervening when performance slips Outcome planning ‘Smart’ strategy Doing ‘what works ’ What we do

When delivery is off track, the DSU initiates a short, intense period of work with Directorates / partners to understand the problem and develop solutions. Example: Priority Review

Example:Priority Review - Worklessness Birmingham – 3 rd worst of all core cities Initial focus – the City Council’s role Focus: analysis, strategy, delivery and governance Access best practice: City, UK, USA Methods: analysis, fieldwork, consultation, dialogue Key recommendations – focus on city’s priority wards - attract private sector investment - set up community-based employment projects - strengthen BCC’s corporate recruitment efforts - streamline governance and delivery arrangements - agree a challenging but achievable target

To conclude But its not all about analysis, strategy, planning and management Its also about vision, passion, inspiration, innovation and dynamism

Knowing what to do and how to do it is vital. So invest in people who can plan and manage delivery very well It will save a lot of time and money and make the LAA a success But also find people who can lead and inspire!