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Crime, worklessness, social care and energy are the cross-sector themes Total Place pilot Lewisham LBC is examining says Kevin Sheehan. Like most other local authorities, Lewisham LBC has for many years worked closely with partner organisations across a whole range of issues. Participating in Total Place now provides a fantastic opportunity to redouble our efforts to improve collaboration to achieve better outcomes for all our citizens. "We will be exploring the interaction between citizens and our services and agencies because we believe it is often at those points of contact and on the journey through and across different agencies that most inefficiencies occur..." We have made good progress in developing and building on partnership working in recent years; improving our networking, co-ordinating our activities better and co-operating on the alignment of resources to meet shared outcomes. However, we are now aiming to increase significantly the effectiveness of networks of collaboration not only across and throughout our agencies and different tiers of government, but with all our stakeholders. In particular, we recognise the importance of using customer insight to redevelop and improve services. Our aim is that together, we will work better, faster and cheaper. We are looking to the Total Place pilot to provide us with an even greater impetus in all aspects of our work but especially to improve in the four areas of crime reduction and offender management, commissioning of health and social care, worklessness and unemployment, and assets and energy. We have chosen these four strands because they offer the greatest scope for collaboration between partners due to the extent of either overlaps in organisation design or service delivery. Tackling crime, the first of our four strands, is a key strategic priority for Lewisham and, alongside anti-social behaviour, continues to be a major concern for residents. We have begun to develop a sophisticated approach to offender services and intervention based upon strong joint working and multi-agency collaboration. We are currently the site of a ‘Project Diamond' crime reduction initiative which aims to reduce the number of re-offenders in the borough. We will be looking closely at any successes we achieve and to see if we can use these experiences elsewhere. In terms of health and social care we intend to explore ways of further integrating functions, services and working arrangements on a borough-wide basis to deliver more seamless services to vulnerable residents, meeting needs and cutting out duplication, overlaps and complexity. We will also be considering whether different overall organisational models might deliver efficiencies. On worklessness and unemployment, there are a range of agencies operating at local, regional and national level so, in theory, we believe there is potential for more collaborative working. In particular, we know that providers have difficulty tracking individuals' progress through the whole system especially where individuals are moving between different providers. Together we will look for more effective and efficient use of public money. In recent years, our approach to assets and energy has increasingly taken a borough-wide focus. The price of energy and volatility of energy markets has strengthened the rationale for a collaborative approach to procurement and collective energy-reduction measures. With assets, we have already achieved a considerable amount through the co-location of a leisure centre, library, doctor's surgery and access point to information and advice services. We have achieved increased savings and better services using this approach and will be exploring other opportunities for similar initiatives. Real efficiencies, savings and improved outcomes can best be achieved when partners come together to deal with seemingly intractable problems in an innovative way to find solutions which improve the quality of life or life chances for citizens. Better value for money is achieved when partners relentlessly cut out duplication and waste and ensure that every penny is well spent. We will be exploring the interaction between citizens and our services and agencies because we believe it is often at those points of contact and on the journey through and across different agencies that most inefficiencies occur. As single agencies we can be protective and precious about our boundaries to the detriment of service to our citizens and customers. We need to build on the instinctive motivation of our staff to provide solutions for citizens and ensure that they have the necessary space and licence to operate across artificial boundaries and silos. We need to foster a capable, confident and can-do approach which encourages creative problem solving. Crucially ,we need to do this within the constraints of much tighter public sector budget settlements. This is an approach which demands agility and the ability to learn quickly and honestly from mistakes before moving on to try again. Exploring how we work within tighter financial constraints whilst overcoming other barriers to maximise efficiency and collaboration is the overarching focus of Total Place in Lewisham. We will use a range of techniques and catalysts to question what we do now, test conventionally accepted hypotheses and help spark new and imaginative ways of working. Of course Lewisham is an inner-London borough and we would be foolish to assume that our challenges start or stop at the physical borders dictated by our administrative boundaries. Every day some 80,000 of our citizens travel outside the borough to work, learn and experience services elsewhere. So we will also be working with our colleagues across the city and the wider sub-region to ensure that in the process of dissolving organisational barriers we don't create new geographic silos. Sometimes a nudge on the accelerator is enough but there are moments when a change in gear is required before you can overcome the obstacles in your path. Our challenge is to complete a smooth shift in gear which increases our momentum forward seamlessly and avoids juddering to a halt half-way through. Kevin Sheehan is head of strategy, Lewisham LBC

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WHITEHALL

A gear shift in collaborative working

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