I managed to grab a word with Sir Michael before his keynote address. He is Executive Director of the Institute of Government and Chair of the Total Place high level officials group.
He delivered a very sobering speech at the event which made a strong case for Total Place.
He said, "We're wasting money... We have a countless number of public bodies delivering fragmented and often similar services... Residents receive services from 6 or 7 different agencies often with poor links between them... We seem to have accepted some failures in the system."
"Other countries do better... We need to find new ways of working together... We need to own up to the fact we're not using our resources very efficiently... £220bn a year being spent in procurement... £110bn a year being spent on common things like energy, travel, etc. Only £12bn a year goes through procurement agencies... We need to manage our supply network better."
"£25bn a year spent on public estate yet often there are many buildings closely clustered run by different services... This is hard to defend and is often because of our own organisational self interest."
"X County Council has 100 staff costing £4m a year to support inspection. A focus on process not outcome stops innovation. Government must listen to what localities are saying and to change... Aim is better services at less cost... Centralisation is not the way... Best ideas for improvement come from the frontline."
Everything we do from now on must be focused on residents and citizens. We must drive out unnecessary processes... Total Place is not a new concept... It aims to encourage people to behave in different ways. As well as the 13 (national) pilots there are 75 parallel local initiatives... Not about detailing to the last decimal point how much is spent on things... Need to quickly move on to making savings... Total Place must not be the same everywhere... Test is whether anything will change... Need more horizontal management of performance rather than vertical... Need to have health at the table... Encouraging that District Councils are recognising that don't need separate chief executives and management teams."
"Cabinet Secretary says we are convincing people in Government of the need to change."
"Successful collaboration depends on leadership. It's not now just about leading a single organisation. That's not enough. It's now about leading a place... Need a shared vision that impacts on the way people do their work... Need a set of public service values we can share... Organisations need to know more about each other's capabilities... Need trust between organisations and senior people have an important role in setting example by what they say about partners."
"Need people who are good at listening, influencing, negotiating, building relationships, shaping services... Do performance assessment frameworks reflect these different skills? Do we create the climate for innovation? There's not going to be much money in the budget next year and that's exactly why we need to innovate."
He delivered a very sobering speech at the event which made a strong case for Total Place.
He said, "We're wasting money... We have a countless number of public bodies delivering fragmented and often similar services... Residents receive services from 6 or 7 different agencies often with poor links between them... We seem to have accepted some failures in the system."
"Other countries do better... We need to find new ways of working together... We need to own up to the fact we're not using our resources very efficiently... £220bn a year being spent in procurement... £110bn a year being spent on common things like energy, travel, etc. Only £12bn a year goes through procurement agencies... We need to manage our supply network better."
"£25bn a year spent on public estate yet often there are many buildings closely clustered run by different services... This is hard to defend and is often because of our own organisational self interest."
"X County Council has 100 staff costing £4m a year to support inspection. A focus on process not outcome stops innovation. Government must listen to what localities are saying and to change... Aim is better services at less cost... Centralisation is not the way... Best ideas for improvement come from the frontline."
Everything we do from now on must be focused on residents and citizens. We must drive out unnecessary processes... Total Place is not a new concept... It aims to encourage people to behave in different ways. As well as the 13 (national) pilots there are 75 parallel local initiatives... Not about detailing to the last decimal point how much is spent on things... Need to quickly move on to making savings... Total Place must not be the same everywhere... Test is whether anything will change... Need more horizontal management of performance rather than vertical... Need to have health at the table... Encouraging that District Councils are recognising that don't need separate chief executives and management teams."
"Cabinet Secretary says we are convincing people in Government of the need to change."
"Successful collaboration depends on leadership. It's not now just about leading a single organisation. That's not enough. It's now about leading a place... Need a shared vision that impacts on the way people do their work... Need a set of public service values we can share... Organisations need to know more about each other's capabilities... Need trust between organisations and senior people have an important role in setting example by what they say about partners."
"Need people who are good at listening, influencing, negotiating, building relationships, shaping services... Do performance assessment frameworks reflect these different skills? Do we create the climate for innovation? There's not going to be much money in the budget next year and that's exactly why we need to innovate."
Good to see Sir Michael's comments on making services more outcome focused for residents and citizens.
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