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ITEM CA7

CABINET – 21 NOVEMBER 2006

TAKING FORWARD THE CHANGE AGENDA

Report by the Chief Executive and the Cabinet Member for Change Management

1. The Cabinet considered a report entitled "Taking Forward the Change Agenda" at its meeting on 15 November 2005 and formally adopted revised objectives and values. At the same time the Cabinet confirmed the setting up of the Change Management Board as the body responsible for overseeing the coordination of change management within the authority and agreed its terms of reference. The Cabinet also requested a further report outlining a new organisational development programme. The Change Management Board is responding to this request through the submission of a first Annual Report outlining its work over the past year, which is attached at Annex 1 (download as .pdf file).

The Board’s First Year

2. In the past year the Change Management Board has developed a Change Programme which addresses the organisational and behavioural changes that are required if the Council is to achieve its objectives and live its values.
3. The aims of the programme were developed in consultation with the Cabinet and other elected members, and with the County Council Management Team and other senior managers.
4. At the same time the Board has assumed the top-level management of the Council’s key strategic projects and programmes.
5. In the attached report the Board provides an account of its first year of operation, setting out the extensive progress that has been made under each of the Seven Key Changes for Success which make up the aims of the Change Programme.

Future Priorities

6. A number of important developments have already been set in train for the coming year. The changes advanced in 2006 now need to be fully implemented and the new behaviours embedded into the Council’s culture. This is the most important focus of activity for 2007. To do this, a number of projects have already been put in place:

• The restructuring of posts at Director level has provided an opportunity to create a new senior post with responsibility for Change Management. The HR, ICT, Corporate Change, Customer Service and Communications & Marketing functions will report to the new post, ensuring a clear focus and accountability for the delivery of the Change Programme.
• The Council is in the process of selecting a company to deliver a Change Development Programme to ensure that managers are equipped with the skills to manage continuous and complex change.
• A Communication Plan for the Change Programme has already been agreed and this will be supported by an Engagement Strategy to ensure that staff understand the need for change, are clear about what is expected of them and are encouraged to become involved in the shaping and implementation of the programme.

7. The Council is embarking on a Fundamental Review of ICT. In a new departure, this will be undertaken jointly with the Corporate Governance Scrutiny Committee, under terms of reference agreed by the Cabinet. The Review will put forward costed options for the future operation of the Council’s ICT services based on benchmarking and value for money.
8. 2007 will be crucial to the successful implementation of the Shared Services Centre. The recent Government White Paper on local government reform gives a heightened importance to shared services. The Board will be monitoring progress and ensuring that opportunities – where viable – are taken to maximise the contribution shared services can make to the wider public sector in Oxfordshire.
9. Over the next year the Board will use the framework of the Seven Key Changes to develop further proposals to transform the way in which the Council operates in order to deliver low taxes, real choice and value for money.
10. A priority for the Board will be the development of a comprehensive strategy and business case to improve the Council’s knowledge management in order to improve customer experience, deliver better value for money and achieve significant cashable savings. A key aim of this strategy will be to introduce radical changes to the way in which customer contact is managed across the Council, building on the success of projects such as Oxfordshire Highways and the Access to Information & Services initiative in Social & Community Services.
11. A further priority will be to develop the principles underlying the establishment review (which has already achieved a 6% reduction in non-schools posts) and to integrate them fully within the new planning and budgeting framework, with the aim of ensuring a better match between:

• the number and location of established posts;
• service requirements; and
• available budgets.

12. Priority will also be given to working with Directorates to identify areas of duplication and to ensure that opportunities are identified for fundamental Business Process Re-engineering in the way services are delivered.

Risk Assessment

13. All the projects and programmes within the Change Programme are required to adopt a risk-based system of reporting. At each of its six-weekly meetings, the Change Management Board receives progress reports from the projects and programmes that report to it (this currently stands at six). These include a description of the top risks to the project/programme and the action being taken to address them. Issues are then escalated to the Board for action if risks are not being successfully managed within the project.

RECOMMENDATION

14. The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to receive the first Annual Report of the Change Management Board and agree the Board’s priorities for its second year of operation, subject to any changes that the Cabinet Member for Change Management would wish to make in light of any comments by the Cabinet.

JOANNA SIMONS
Chief Executive

COUNCILLOR JOHN HOWELL
Cabinet Member for Change Management

Background papers: Nil

Contact Officer: Hilary Simpson, Corporate Change Manager, Tel: 01865 815487

November 2006

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