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Change management specialists from Campion Willcocks are working with Lambeth council's in-house team to drive forward the modernising government agenda. Led by Terry Dailey, seconded to the ODPM in 2004, these projects have major implications for governance. Indeed, Lambeth is now recognised by the ODPM and others as an important player and successful contributor in critical change priorities for local government.

The background

The largest inner London borough, Lambeth has been developing its capabilities in programme and project delivery since 2002. “As the council moved into 'rapid improvement mode' in 2004 it was able to access additional grants and support from the ODPM,” says Dailey. “My involvement is to help it identify issues and develop programmes, gain approval from key stakeholders, and enable it to establish long-term ownership. It's all about teamwork and sharing best practice. This means taking the lead in essential projects, providing an overall framework to move things forward."

Programmes of work

Dailey brought a wealth of experience gained from hands-on involvement in areas including the National CRM project and RYOGENS National Criminal Justice project. His approaches, which set new standards in programme and project management, have since been applied elsewhere to improve the quality of the concepts applied and of project documentation. “This is a huge programme of work at Lambeth,” he continues. “Success is only possible because of the excellent team: external interim managers working closely with Lambeth's skilled people." The work covers key areas including:

• The ROADS (roll-out, dissemination and sustainability) Programme to co-ordinate the 'build once, use often' National Projects. The objective was to design a new organisation to take on ownership and control on a self-sustaining basis; this included designing and implementing a Transition Programme to enable transfer from National Projects to the LGOne framework, and providing appropriate exit strategies. ROADS has been particularly useful in embedding best practice in other areas.
• The Supplier Engagement Programme – with two Campion Willcocks Associates, Programme Manager Tim Wootton-Beard and Business Analyst Susan Farnes, successes include pulling together all supplier-based information, creating a standards-based collaborative environment for local authorities and suppliers, and enabling high levels of collaboration with the OGC and e-Government Unit.
• The Capacity Building Programme – with Andy Pilgrim, another Campion Willcocks Associate, as Project Manager, this takes OGC best practice on project and programme management and helps local authorities define 'soft' entry points depending on their level of development. The goal is to build their maturity and embed a standards-based approach, with key workstreams including: Business Case; Change Management; Engaging the Professions; Regional Support Networks; Supplier Roadmaps; and Embedding Capacity in the fabric of local authorities. Dailey says, “At the same time we're working to combine e-Government with the Efficiency Agenda through, for example, collaborative working with Regional e-Government Partnerships. We've also brought in different perspectives to challenge perceptions, includes organising change seminars. At one event Barclaycard's Director of Change talked to council representatives about using capacity and maturity models as a way of enabling change and embedding best practice.
  

The results

In addition to the positive impacts on Lambeth's operations and how it delivers public services, the council is increasingly seen as a leading borough in local government reform and a driving force in modernising government.

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