London Borough of Croydon

Rising to the Challenge

August 2014

Rising to the Challenge Rising to the Challenge

Foreword We are Croydon - An Ambitious Borough led by an Ambitious Council

Having agreed our vision and ambition for Croydon with our communities and partners, we must

bring it to life in times of unprecedented challenge. We need to redefine our purpose and role.

The challenge for all councils is uncertain but in Croydon our belief is ‘The best way to predict the

future is to create it’.

As a leadership team we set out on a journey to review our purpose and have agreed that our role

as an organisation is to lead and shape the future of our borough by enabling growth,

independence and liveability. Together, these three strategic pillars will provide a framework

through which we will prioritise the services that have the most positive outcomes for the people

and partners of Croydon.

In the connected world in which we operate the only certainty is change. We must be able to

adapt and react to face rapidly changing, growing and complex demands while dealing with

almost certain contraction in Government funding. By 2018 we expect to be half the size that we

were at the start of the decade. For many councils this equation simply does not add up and they

are exploring how to manage withdrawal and retreat to core and statutory services.

We are taking an alternative approach. We set out on our journey to explore what we want to

achieve, assessing everything we do through an equation testing outcomes against needs to

foster ideas, innovation and new thinking about our future delivery model. As a leadership team

we have used this process to look not just at efficiencies and economy, but at how we become

more effective in achieving our outcomes and strengthening our collective leadership as a result.

Our efficiency drive over the last four years has successfully reduced our net operating costs by

£100m but we cannot keep doing more with less. Cutting services is not the right starting point, it

should be the point of last resort. Instead we need to look strategically at the challenge we face,

rebuild the council from the bottom up, and think radically, creatively and pragmatically about how

we deliver value for money in everything we do. The agenda detailed here sets out how we are

proposing to transform our council again by 2018.

The resulting range and level of innovation in the solutions identified provide very real options and

opportunities that can move us a considerable way to meeting our financial challenge whilst

critically continuing to support the key needs of the people of our borough.

“The best way to

predict the future

is to create it…the

best way to deliver

the future is in

partnership.”

2

Rising to the Challenge Rising to the Challenge

Over the next three years we will complete our journey to becoming a more efficient and effective

council. There is no blueprint for what we are about to embark on: we will be creating a new local

government for Croydon.

We will be a strategic enabling body; smaller but more effective, able to leverage our resources for

maximum outcome impact. We will set ambitious goals, use data to create insight and use insight to

reduce demand and enhance the impact of our interventions. Smart choices on how to influence

the future will be supported by structures, governance and reporting that support a flexible and agile

organisation focused on delivering outcomes.

This will require tough choices. We need to stop activities that are not core to the borough’s key

outcomes. Some services will be delivered in partnership with other organisations and the

community. Others we may stop delivering altogether. We need to clarify where we add value and

where we don’t. If others can do it better, they will. We will help partners, providers and residents to

secure shared outcomes and support each other whatever the model of delivery.

We will be digital by design both for customers and staff: enabling us not just to automate more of

what we do and improve engagement, but to support new ways of working and applying disruptive

innovation to public service markets.

We know the challenge ahead is going to require us to think much more radically but as the

Council’s leadership team, we recognise that we are excellent at managing services but have found

change harder to achieve. As a result of the Croydon Challenge programme, we have agreed an

agenda and the need to support change and provide the visible mandate to push forward the

culture and actions necessary to achieve our goals consistent with our values. If we harness the

talents of our staff, our communities and our partners, we will create a council for the future and our

borough will prosper and thrive.

Foreword

3

Tony Newman

Leader,

on behalf of the

Cabinet

Nathan Elvery

Chief Executive,

on behalf of the

Corporate

Leadership Team

“We will have 70% of our

existing resources to affect

positive outcomes for the

People of Croydon”

Rising to the Challenge Rising to the Challenge

Executive Summary Introducing the Croydon Challenge

Local Government is facing an unprecedented set of challenges with significant financial

reductions and increasing service demands generated by growing needs of some of the

most vulnerable communities it supports. There is also growing public pressure to maintain

and improve services and Croydon is no different to any other authority in this regard.

Having absorbed a funding reduction of 31% over the last three years and despite the upturn

in the economy as a whole, Croydon is expecting at a minimum to have a further reduction

over the period 2015/18 due to the Government deficit reduction, which coupled with

growing demand pressure, will result in a budget gap of £36.56m in 2015/16, £34.57m for

2016/17 and 32.96m in 2017/18 – therefore a total of £104m over the next three years

represents the ‘Croydon Challenge’. For many authorities their response to this situation is

to plan for service cuts and managed withdrawal from service provision, to manage decline.

Our strategy will be different. As an ambitious borough we have approached the ‘challenge’

in what we believe is a unique and necessary way. We have come together to embark on a

fundamental review of our purpose and priorities. We have worked as a team to understand

our shared challenge and explored collectively where we can best add value to Croydon as

a place and to the people who live and work here by assessing everything we do through the

lens of a ‘Challenge Equation’ .

Before jumping to solutions we tested our understanding of local need and the impact of our

current approach against outcomes we want to achieve for our Borough and prepared the

foundations for fostering ideas, innovation and new thinking about our future delivery model.

We’ve landed as a team on a clear purpose for the Council being to lead and shape the

future of our borough, which we can do best through enabling growth, independence and

liveability across a number of themed areas. This matrix provided a framework through

which we were able to prioritise interventions with the greatest impact on what matters.

Over the following sections we set out the journey we undertook to agree as a team what we

needed to achieve, the interventions to make it happen and how to structure our approach to

implementation.

“Through the savings we

have already made over the

last four years, we have

delivered major levels of

efficiencies. Our focus as

we move forward will now

need to be both efficiency

and effectiveness” Budget 14/15 Cabinet Report

4

Rising to the Challenge

Executive Summary The Challenge Equation

Purpose of the Challenge programme

This document provides an overview of the challenge facing Croydon

Council. It describes the approach that was taken to work together to

redefine the role and purpose of the authority and develop a three

year programme to create an agile and sustainable organisation fit

for the future and for the residents we serve.

We are clear on the political ambition to respond to the challenges

we face and to determine early the programme of transformation.

The greater certainty this provides will empower our leadership to

work together in delivering a coherent strategic agenda, shared by

the leadership, that focuses on the using the resources we have

available most effectively.

As a result of reaching this shared agreement we are much better

placed to close the budget gap. Over the next three years we have a

common understanding of:

• Why we need to change;

• The outcomes on which we will focus;

• The building blocks of an agile organisation; and

• An implementation pathway to make it happen.

5

Approach

Underlying the approach and framing conversations on solutions has

been a ‘Challenge Equation’, illustrated below and explained

overleaf, which will form the core challenge and framework for

everything we do and decision we take over the next three years.

We started by considering the wider context and mega trends

affecting the operating environment, prior to reviewing and identifying

future strategic outcomes and the indicators of success. This meant

when we undertook work to understand the current need and the

cost drivers in the current service model we had an outcome to aim

for. Thematic group discussions, involving 100+ colleagues, then

focussed on what this meant for a future efficient and effective

delivery model.

The process has evolved but the iteration and development of ideas,

switching between needs and outcomes, using equation helped

recognise the relationship between needs and outcomes. The

resulting range and level of innovation in the solutions identified

provide very real options and opportunities that can move us a

considerable way to meeting our financial challenge whilst continuing

to support the key needs and deliver effective outcomes for the

residents of our Borough.

We will continue to use this equation to challenge everything that we

do, in developing policies and programmes. The approach provides a

baseline way of thinking for our organisation that we will revisit

regularly as we adapt to the pressures facing local government and

our Borough to make the most effective use of the resources

available to us.

Rising to the Challenge

Executive Summary The Challenge Equation

6

Need

New Delivery

Model Outcome Indicator

Building the council

from the bottom up

Partners Community

Current Service

Model

Design Principles

Politicians

Key questions

• How is the cost

driver changing?

• Can we influence

the cost driver?

• Can we change

demand?

• Can we intervene

early?

• Can we change

eligibility / access?

Key questions

• Can we change

quality standards?

• What is the

statutory

minimum?

• Can we negotiate

lower rates?

• Can we change

providers?

Key questions

• What is a digital

version of this

service?

• Who can we

collaborate with?

• Can we charge or

trade?

• Are there alternative

providers?

• Are there alternative

services?

Key questions

• Are our interventions

effective in changing

outcomes?

• What would be the

consequence of not

intervening?

• Should we intervene

more?

Key questions

• In what direction are

we travelling?

• How do we compare

to others?

• Do we have timely

and accurate

indications of what is

happening?

Rising to the Challenge

Executive Summary Overcoming the Challenge

In seeking to redefine our core purpose we landed

on a simplified framework of three holistic

ambitions which underpin every aspect of our role.

These are enabling:

• growth

• independence

• liveability

Enabling in these areas leads us to strategic

outcomes which describe our ambition for

Croydon. We believe those outcomes describes a

positive, enterprising and deliverable agenda for

the Council to lead.

It is an ambition which every politician, leader,

member of staff, partner organisation and

resident can be passionate about. They describes

areas in which we can and should take the lead

and which will drive success.

Our proposition is that this positive agenda, and

our enterprising collaborative values, will energise

everyone to be more effective with the resources

available. It is however, also part of the equation

that we have had to make trade offs, and that

some things we do today will no longer be

considered core to achieving our ambition. In

these areas we will look to exit our involvement,

by stopping or spinning out of the Council

activities without adversely affecting outcomes.

7

Croydon Challenge Strategic Outcomes

Rising to the Challenge

We considered and agreed a limited number of core design principles.

These were our guiding principles informing the development of solutions.

Croydon

Challenge

Design Principles

We are efficient We are effective

We do what

works

We lead

together

We share

accountability We adapt

Less Cost

We continually drive

forward the efficiency of

everything we do

One Croydon We focus on what we can do best.

If others do it better we let them.

We only compete if we could

better achieve our outcomes by

doing so.

We encourage shared

approaches through co-creation

and market making for public

goods

One Council We take a holistic approach to

consider the impact of what we do in

one area on other Council functions.

We have a shared agenda and

collective accountability for each

others responsibilities

We harness all of the talent available

to tackle our challenges together

More Value

We constantly drive to improve

the effectiveness of what we do

Pragmatic Creativity Our approach is pragmatic. We ask first

what best serves the best interests of our

community irrespective of provider.

Our approach is creative. We are open to

different ideas, models and methods that

have potential for measurable benefit.

We prefer evidence but will prototype and

pilot where necessary to test ideas.

Resilient Enterprise We encourage and facilitate independence,

adaptability and enterprising solutions.

We help people, communities and business

to help themselves and help each other

We protect and support people who need

help

Rising to the Challenge

Executive Summary Design Principles

8

Rising to the Challenge 9

Vulnerable

Adults Environment

Vulnerable

Children Housing

Economy

Education

& Skills

Enabling

Core

Health Crime &

safety

Croydon

Challenge

Themes

Crime & safety Developing reassurance and support within local

communities by a greater focus on local places,

based on the principle that perceptions about place

are linked to neighbourhoods more intrinsically than

the Borough as a whole.

Environment Moving to more localised and intelligence

led approaches to managing the public

realm and special investment projects to

secure longer term benefit

Vulnerable Adults Reframing our approach to focus on the

assets of individuals and communities,

mobilising community support and

prioritising Reablement, early

interventions and integration to maximise

opportunities to maintain independence

and reduce reliance.

Health Public health outcomes should be built into all

solutions rather than be stand alone, repositioning as

an integrated function and releasing resources.

Vulnerable Children Creating a ‘Family orientated care system’

underpinned by data analysis and

intelligence and integrated in a way that

prevents progression towards greater

levels of need delivering better outcomes

for those in and on the edge of care and

reducing volumes.

Economy, education & skills Playing a leadership role in messaging, advocating and enabling

strategic change to help make changes happen by leveraging our

position and networks. In some cases that also means handing control

over to others and lending them our support to thrive outside of the

council.

Housing Tackling the failure of the market to

provide enough supply of stable and

secure accommodation, affordable and

effective in meeting local needs through

greater intervention both directly and

indirectly in the market.

Enabling Core Interrelated and interdependent changes with

significant potential to put in place the foundations of a

future agile council, primarily in the middle and back

office for further simplification and sharing of support.

Executive Summary Theme group focus

The outcomes and design principles identified informed work to

understand what drives our costs and opportunities for different

interventions. Reaching beyond our leadership and engaging head of

services in thematic groups we broke into groups to develop

solutions for the future

Rising to the Challenge

Eyes &

Ears

Health

Integration Asset

Management

People

‘Think

Family’

Integration

Places

Cultural

Development

Trust

Commercial

Croydon

Phase II

Procurement

Digital by design

Enabling

Challenge

Programme

Health &

Social Care

Integration

Eyes &

Ears

Needs and assets

assessment

Single Assessment

Model CWD & SEN

Adult Social Care /

Social Capital

Smart citizens

Data analytics

Council a

s a

develo

per

Priv

ate

La

nd

lord

Sch

em

e

10

Executive Summary Fifty solutions connecting our strategic direction

Family based early intervention

Fostering – alternative delivery model

Project

Key

Building block

GROWTH

INDEPENDENCE

LIVEABILITY

CORPORATE

Strategy

Rising to the Challenge

Executive Summary Forming the building blocks of the future council

11

From the wide range of solutions we have

drawn out ten building blocks for the future

council forming the basis of our case for

change, collated in four strategies.

We need to first establish a strong enabling

spine to the organisation which is flexible and

adaptable for the future. That means having the

insights to make smart decisions and

understand our business. Such a model must

be fit for the digital age, which means

fundamental change to many of our processes

and procedures.

To be successful in our change, we need

liveable places where communities have local

capability to act and influence successful

interventions.

We also need to align structures behind

delivering our goals for the Borough – meaning

we will shift resources into enabling growth,

independence and liveability and out of areas

that do not contribute to these goals.

Finally, we need to enable activities which are

not core to our role in delivering the goals of the

Borough to spin out into sustainable models

that can thrive outside of the council.

This building block will support community assets and talent to design, deliver and improve services; to help themselves with services shaped at a community scale.

This building block will support development of sustainable future business models for discretionary services.

This building block will focus on creating a platform for growth through the key levers of skills, infrastructure, investment and innovation to accelerate delivery of jobs and homes for our residents.

This building block will maximise the impact of our visible presence, with multi-skilled teams focused on the entire Challenge not single silos

This building block will apply agile digital solutions to help reduce the cost and way in which we do business, transforming both the customer experience and our internal services so we are fit for the digital age

This building block will consolidate, rationalise and digitalise enabling support helping automate, eliminate and streamline processes.

This building block will consolidate expertise in commercial approaches to commercial opportunities and achieve multiple policy objectives, raising money while promoting positive outcomes.

This building block will explore further potential for building on cost reduction in our third party spend to adding value through supplier relationships.

This building block will put people and families at the heart of our approach, taking the opportunity to create a family centred and networked approach to care and wider support services

This building block will reset and reshape our relationship across the health economy to determine the right delivery models for effectively supporting healthy communities.

Rising to the Challenge

Executive Summary Building blocks – a strong enabling spine

12

Our first strategy is to establish a strong enabling spine to the organisation which enables the Council to be flexible and adaptable for the

future. That means having the insights to make smart decisions based on understanding gained from our business intelligence and the

predictive analytics of how our markets are changing. It also means being fit for the digital age, fundamentally changing many of our processes

and procedures both for the customer experience and our internal business experience. The building blocks of this strategy are:

This building block will

consolidate, rationalise and

digitalise enabling support

helping automate, eliminate

and streamline processes.

By adopting a more aggressive

approach to simplify, standardise

and share support resulting in a

more agile and resilient function

with an ambition to secure

significant savings and process

improvements. This will impact

on every service area of our

organisation.

Enabling

This building block will apply

agile digital solutions to help

reduce the cost and way in

which we do business,

transforming both the

customer experience and our

internal services so we are fit

for the digital age

This will support implementation

of agile enabling services and

customer interactions,

disrupting, transforming and

reshaping our operations.

This will affect every service

area as well as service design

and business insight using

analytical capability to create a

shared understanding using the

challenge equation.

.

Digital by

Design

This building block will

consolidate expertise in

commercial approaches to

commercial opportunities and

achieve multiple policy

objectives, raising money

while promoting positive

outcomes.

The programme will potentially

impact on every service area

with an income or investment

need as it develops.

Commercial

This building block will

explore further potential for

building on cost reduction in

our third party spend to

adding value through supplier

relationships.

The programme will impact on

every service area with third

party spend and supplier

relationships.

Early projects will focus on

contract management & risk

appetite. Utilising different

approaches, levels of risk and

markets the project will ensure

the best return.

Procurement

Rising to the Challenge

Executive Summary Building blocks – local capability

13

Our second strategy is to ensure we are able to better responding to the need for different places to improve local responsiveness to divergent

needs and increase the liveability of all parts of the Borough. This will include expanding our community development support and through

better utilisation of assets to achieve policy outcomes, as well as assessing and implementing the right delivery model in secure a sustainable

future for non-core activities outside of the council. The building blocks under this strategy are:

This building block will support

community assets and talent within

communities to design, deliver and

improve services; to help themselves

with services shaped at a community

scale.

There is significant capacity and capability

in local communities and if we are to

maximise the effectiveness of our

resources we have to engage and

empower local people.

A range of options from local delivery

through to resident engagement to shape

services will define the optimum service

approach for individual communities.

Places

This building block will maximise the

impact of our visible presence, with

multi-skilled teams focused on the entire

Challenge not single silos

Across our business many teams and

functions are operating in communities and

with businesses. We need to make the

most of our presence, by being more visible

and having greater positive impact. We will

do this by taking shared ownership of

Borough outcomes, multi-skilling operatives

and empowering teams to generate and

utilise operational insight and intelligence to

improve outcomes in their own service and

that of others.

Eyes & Ears

This building block will support

development of sustainable future

business models for discretionary

services relating the environmental and

cultural services.

The initial focus will be on taking forward an

assessment of the potential for a Cultural

Development Trust.

These are service areas which are under

pressure within the Council structure yet

have the potential to thrive from

empowering their managers and leaders to

delivery in new ways for the people they

service.

Cultural

Development

Trust

Rising to the Challenge

Executive Summary Building blocks – aligned structures

14

Our third aim will to align structures behind our outcome goals and operational excellence – meaning we will shift accountability and resources

to enabling co-ordinated approaches to promoting growth and independence. This will help align us to support people and families more

holistically and result in greater independence, and to focus on stimulating and enabling growth that benefits the whole Borough. The building

blocks of these strategies include:

This building block will put people and

families at the heart of our approach,

taking the opportunity to create a family

centred and networked approach to care

and wider support services.

Ensuring we are clear on the key outcomes

for people and families our approach will

consolidate and align process to maximise

their effectiveness towards independence.

Aligning our services with key partners and

utilising data to ensure we are pro-active in

our approach and manage key transitions

through life.

.

People

‘Think

Family’

Integration

This building block will reset and

reshape our relationship across the

health economy to determine the right

delivery models for effectively

supporting healthy communities.

The approach will maximise the

effectiveness of our resources by aligning

effort to our key outcomes and wherever

appropriate integrating the approach with

other council and partner services and

assets.

The focus will be on proactive

interventions, using data and insight to

shape and monitor outcomes.

Health & Social

Care Integration

This building block will focus on

creating a platform for growth through

the key levers of skills, infrastructure,

investment and innovation to accelerate

delivery of jobs and homes for our

residents.

The approach will shape, develop and

stimulate the best environment for

Croydon.

Different methods will be developed for the

various market sectors, including council

assets.

Asset

Management

Rising to the Challenge

Which solutions matter?

Executive Summary Building blocks – summary of the potential benefits

The building blocks of our strategy

are mutually reinforcing in

contributing to the £55m potential off

the baseline currently identified.

Collectively the identified solutions

mean that we have identified the

means to cover local pressures on

our budget over the next three

years.

As a result we have positioned the

Council to be more resilient in

responding as the need to find

additional savings as a result of the

loss of Government funding arises.

15

Challenge Building

Blocks

% share of savings identified

£12.8m 23%

£4.5m 8%

£4m 7%

£5.9m 11%

£0.6m 1%

£5.1m 9%

£8.1m 15%

£12m 22%

£1.9m 4%

£0.1m 0%

Enable

Digital

Commercial

Procurement

Health

People

Asset Management

Places

Culture

Eyes & Ears

Rising to the Challenge

Executive Summary Building blocks – summary of potential benefits

The Croydon Challenge will require us to plan for and invest in change across our operations over the next three years, as we seek to identify

and implement savings of over £30m each year. The scoping through this phase of work has provided the basis for a three year plan setting

the direction of travel through which we will secure benefits through a range of initiatives, and as a result of becoming more flexible and agile,

be better able to identify additional opportunities.

We have identified net savings after anticipated investment costs equivalent to the local pressures we face, accounting for 53% of the

challenge requirement, and meaning the remaining budget gap is equivalent to the cut in government grant. To achieve these savings there is

a need to maintain momentum and undertake further analysis to inform the implementation planning and budget setting. While further savings

need to be identified the Challenge process has shown how we can prepare the organisation and use the challenge equation to continually

challenge our current approach and find further opportunities.

Our work together will continue to develop the financial case of the projects identified and additional departmental initiatives to add to and

complement the savings identified in the challenge process.

-40

-30

-20

-10

02015/16 2016/17 2017/18£

m

Budget gap Identified Savings Remaining Gap

£36.56m £32.96m £34.57m £23.77m £12.78m £20.14m £11.12m £14.43m £21.84m

16

Rising to the Challenge

Executive Summary A future blueprint

17

The blueprint diagram builds

represents a draft to inform

development of an operating

model design – it should not be

regarded as complete.

Our operating model design will

ultimately lead to the new

structure of the Council.

The Challenge programme should

lead the co-ordination and

enabling core and change pillars,

with departmental leads on the

three goals. However it is

important that the whole

programme operates in an

integrated manner to avoid

duplication and divergence.

This scale of transformation

needs a strong engine to provide

the drive and co-ordination

across multiple programmes and

projects, including work in flight

and business as usual.

Delivery

partners

Challenge

Leadership DMT

Extended Leadership

CABINET

CLT

Engagement &

Communication

LSP Leadership LSP Leadership

Challenge

Management

Office

Enabling

Digital by design

Eyes &

Ears

Health

Integration Asset

Management

People

‘Think

Family’

Integration

Places

Cultural

Development

Trust

Commercial

Croydon

Phase II

Procurement

Digital by design

Enabling

Health &

social care

Integration

Eyes &

Ears