Innovation and Improvement through Collaboration: a CFOs Perspective

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Innovation and Improvement through Collaboration
a CFOs Perspective
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Innovation and Improvement through Collaboration
a CFOs Perspective

• Geoff Dobson, Head of Strategic Finance,
• Suffolk County Council

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Innovation and Improvement through Collaboration
A CFOs PerspectiveFinance Shared
Service(and much more)

• Geoff Dobson
• Head of Strategic Finance

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Suffolk County Council

• A large Rural Countyby the Sea
• Population 709,400
• Revenue Budget - 1bn
• Capital Budget - 176m
• A four star Council, improving well

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Innovation and Collaboration

• Innovation
• Depends where you start from
• If you ADWYADYAGWYAG
• Collaboration
• Suffolk is pursuing a large transformational
  agenda and has a mix of collaborative
  arrangements
• Finance Shared Service

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Customer Service Direct (CSD)

• A Joint Venture Company (JVC) between BT (80.1),
  Suffolk County Council (16.4), and Mid Suffolk
  District Council (3.5)
• 10 year Contract started June 2004 worth 330m
  plus 52m of investment funding
• Provides Shared Services for Finance, HR, ICT and
  Public Access

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Background

• New approach to back office services
• Improved ICT infrastructure
• Public Access
• Change Vehicle
• Developed with Mid Suffolk District Council
• Potential to trade with other public bodies

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Finance Function

• About 200 Finance Staff seconded into the
  partnership
• Most financial activities undertaken by Customer
  Service Direct
• Nine Finance Staff in the Councils Strategic
  Finance function (including Section 151 Officer)

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SCC Finance Structure
Joint to Service Directors
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Transition Period

• Initially business as usual honeymoon period
• Uncovering of Previous Practice within Finance
  Teams
• Restructuring of Teams to support the agenda of
  both Suffolk County Council and Mid Suffolk
  District Council.
• Service Improvement Plans
• Culture Change for Partnership secondees much
  more than council employees

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Benefits of Shared Service

• Process Improvements
• Training Improvements
• Finance Transformation (Oracle R12)
• Investment in infrastructure
• Resilience / Capacity
• Standard processes and systems across the council
  
• Improvement in quality (reflected in CPA)

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New Skills, Behaviours and Roles

• Concept of self service
• Budget Management skills
• Focus on performance not micro management
• Negotiation / Flexibility
• Well formulated outcomes
• Recognise each others position

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How Relationships have changed

• Still good but harder edged
• Importance of business partner model
• Not a call centre solution
• Alignment of CSD Finance staff to Strategic
  Finance Matrix management
• Focus on outputs
• Stronger corporate approach to reporting and
  accounting

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Governance Issues

• SCC has a golden share
• CSD board
• Importance of setting the agenda together at
  Strategic Finance Board (SFB)
• Ready access to Senior Management in CSD
• Contract and performance remedies
• CSD is subject to Audit ad Scrutiny Committees

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Service Levels

• Regular reporting on SLAs / KPIs at Contract
  Review Board
• Softer measures around quality
• Sharper focus on priorities what gets done and
  what doesnt (SFB)
• Section 151 Report
• Regular Finance update meeting
• Resource planning in a commercial environment
• Internal Audit of financial systems etc.

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Ongoing Improvements

• Shared vision agreed at Strategic Finance Board
• Business Case for change including benefits
  realisation
• Revitalising the partnership half way through the
  contract
• What is now business as usual
• Management of change controls
• Affordability
• VFM
• Revisit KPIs

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Critical Success Factors / Observations

• People / Personalities / Relationships are key
• Business as Usual
• Where people are located is important
• Keeping up performance
• CSD tremendous energy and commitment
• Communication / Promote partnership
• Ownership of decisions
• Watch de-skilling of partnership employees

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Thank you for listening