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PUBLIC FINANCE INNOVATION AWARDS 2018 | 3 2 | PUBLIC FINANCE INNOVATION AWARDS 2018

The Public Finance Innovation Awards are our opportunity to shine a spotlight on some of the most impressive initiatives, projects and transformations taking place across the public finance world.

It is a world that does not stand still – with service demands increasing, funding levels shifting and reporting requirements tightening. And it is the public finance professional’s role to ensure the delivery of services and to balance the books while all this change is happening.

To do this, we have had to make the most of every public pound. It requires the rigour and expertise of traditional accounting practices – but it also needs resourcefulness, flexibility and creativity.

Tonight’s winners and runners up represent those who have managed to maintain that rigour and expertise, while at the same time injecting a spark of creativity and flair.

What has been particularly striking is the calibre of entries from organisations across the public sector. The role of the public finance professional is evolving rapidly and this change is fostering real talent and ingenuity.

If the country is to achieve long-term financial sustainability – and it must – these are the leaders whose drive will deliver the game-changing innovations that will enable better use of public money. Recognising how this is being achieved in practice is what makes these Public Finance Innovation Awards so important for us all.

Rob Whiteman, CEO, CIPFA

INTRODUCTION

PUBLIC FINANCE INNOVATION AWARDS 2018 | 3

CONTENTSThe Judges 4

GRAND PRIX and Community 6 Engagement Project of the Year Finance Training and Development 8Initiative

Good Governance Award 9

Innovation in Treasury and Asset 10 Management

Innovation in Risk Management 11

Innovation in Internal Audit 12

Achievement in Financial Reporting 13 & Accountability

Outstanding Procurement Initiative 14

Digital Finance Project of the Year 15

Alternative Service Delivery Model 16of the Year

Solutions Partner of the Year 17

Public Finance Leader of the Year 18

Finance Team of the Year – 19 Local Services

Finance Team Of The Year – Health 20

Finance Team Of The Year – 23National Bodies


Our judging panel comprises leading experts from the world of public finance and governance. We are extremely grateful to all of our judges for sharing their time and expertise, as well as for their support in studying and reviewing this year’s entries and in identifying the examples of innovation and excellence that form tonight’s winners at the Public Finance Innovation Awards.

CAROLINE AL-BEYERTYDeputy Chamberlain

City of London Corporation

THE JUDGES

LEE HAMILLDeputy Director of Finance

The University of Edinburgh

EMILY ANDREWSSenior Researcher

Institute for Government

MOHAMED HANSProcurement AdvisorCIPFA Procurement

& Commissioning Network

RICHARD DOUGLASConsultant

Douglas Advisory

JACQUI MCKINLAYChief Executive

Centre for Public Scrutiny

NATALIE ELPHICKE OBEChief ExecutiveThe Housing &

Finance Institute

MATT MILLERFinance Director

Dreadnought BAE Systems Submarines


JANE PAYLINGChief Finance Officer

West Suffolk & Ipswich& East Suffolk CCGs

JOHN THORNTONDirector

e-ssential Resources

VIVIENNE RUSSELLEditor

Public Finance & Public Finance

International

HARDEV VIRDEEChief Finance Officer

Central & North West London NHS

Foundation Trust

JANET SENIORExecutive Director

for Resources & Regeneration

London Borough of Lewisham

CHRIS WOBSCHALLGroup Chief

Internal AuditorGovernment Internal

Audit Agency

IAN THOMPSONCFO & Deputy

Chief Executive Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner

for Thames Valley

THE JUDGES

MARCINE WATERMANNon -Exeuctive Director

Ashford & St Peter’sNHS Hospitals

FoundationTrust

ROB WHITEMANChair of Judges

CEO, CIPFA


LISTENING TO AND WORKING WITH THE LOCAL COMMUNITY HAS ALLOWED THIS COUNCIL TO ADOPT A SOCIAL APPROACH TO TRANSFORMATION, MEETING SAVINGS TARGETS, MAINTAINING SERVICE LEVELS AND SUPPORTING SUSTAINABILITY

Thanks to The Deal, Wigan Council has succeeded in keeping its libraries open, its school crossing patrols active and its council tax one of the lowest in the Greater Manchester area.

Back in 2010, Wigan faced a daunting financial challenge – a savings target of £160m, equivalent to 40% of its overall budget. According to the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies, these cuts were the third deepest facing any local authority in the country.

Simply cutting services would not do, and the council realised that early and proactive engagement with local people, with an emphasis

on service transformation, had to be the way forward.

Launched in 2013, The Deal for Communities Investment Fund is a simple but revolutionary way for the council to re-engineer its relationship with residents.

The Deal aims to stimulate the third-sector economy, matching community groups and projects against services. Each group bidding for a share of the fund is encouraged to demonstrate how it will operate without council support after three years. Wigan, however, acknowledges this is not possible in all cases and so keeps an eye on the social and economic benefits of each investment,

WINNER THE DEAL FOR COMMUNITIES INVESTMENT FUND, WIGAN COUNCIL

GRAND PRIX AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROJECT OF THE YEAR

GRAND PRIX AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROJECT OF THE YEAR


“This was a very impressive initiative that demonstrated wide impact for a small investment. Developed for and with the community, it allows Wigan Council to invest in creative, bright ideas and projects that contribute to sustainable solutions. Wigan estimates that for every £1 invested, The Deal produces £5.62 of public value.”

JUDGES’ COMMENTS

as well as new networks that help nurture strong and resilient communities. A community funding manager has been recruited to support community projects looking for funding and help them shape their bids, and other dedicated officers work with groups to help demonstrate impact and show value for money.

Since launching The Deal, Wigan has seen a reduction in demand for council services. There was a 13% fall in the number of looked-after children over 2015–16, welfare-desk presentations have decreased, and the number of people receiving formal adult services fell by more than 1,000 in 2016–17.

Its overall savings programme has remained on track, with £115m (72%) of the savings target already secured.

At the same time, resident satisfaction has increased, with 65% of residents in 2016 saying they are satisfied with the way the council runs things compared to 48% in 2008. Perceptions that the council provides value for money have increased from 30% to 50%.

In adult social care, an area in high demand, The Deal has fostered a fundamentally different approach to assessments that looks at someone’s strengths and assets rather than their weaknesses. This has enabled the council to save

allowing it to make informed decisions about increasing, retaining or possibly discontinuing funding.

By the end of 2017, The Deal had pledged a total of £9m to community initiatives across the borough and fostered, co-designed and co-produced models of service delivery.

The council and community groups work together closely to identify gaps in service and develop ways to close them. For example, there is now a co-ordinated multi-agency and community approach to tackling ‘holiday hunger’ among vulnerable children and young people.

An on-going cycle of consultation, engagement and feedback allows The Deal to be continually modified and refined. For example, community responses have inspired the creation of ‘getting going’ funding, which is now available for small projects looking for an investment of no more than £200. This has allowed grassroots groups to purchase basic gardening equipment to support ‘Wigan in Bloom’ and to grow food that is then distributed to the community under the banner of ‘incredible edible’.

The council says the relationships formed through The Deal create bonds of mutual trust and respect,

£25m – but to be rated the seventh best-performing local authority on the NHS social care interface dashboard.

For 2018–19, Wigan intends to mainstream The Deal for Communities Investment Fund into its budget, rather than using the investment reserve.

Health partners have been recruited into the co-design of the latest funding round as part of wider efforts to support health integration.

• Aspire Wrestling Academy at St. Marks Church, Derby Homes• Community Hubs, Wiltshire Council• Don’t Be A Waster – Reduce, Reuse, Respect, Selby District Council • Library Service Re-configuration, North Yorkshire County Council• Live Well, NHS Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group• Local Emergency Support Team, Buckinghamshire County Council • The Mersey Gateway Project, Merseylink and the Mersey Gateway Crossings Board

FINALISTS


FINANCE TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE

WINNER GOVERNMENT FINANCE ACADEMY

A COLLABORATIVE AND CROSS-CUTTING APPROACH TO TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT FOR THE 10,000-STRONG GOVERNMENT FINANCE FUNCTION IS SUPPORTING NEW WAYS OF LEARNINGLaunched at the start of 2016, the Government Finance Academy works across Whitehall departments and geographical locations. Part of the government’s Financial Management Reform Programme, the academy aims to boost the capability and talent of the government finance profession, as well as to introduce more consistent ‘core’ skills.

The GFA is the first initiative of its kind to support around 10,000 civil servants working across 39 different bodies in the UK and overseas. It has the endorsement of financial leaders across Whitehall and is funded by an annual levy they approve.

Learning is also available to non-finance staff and the academy is working hard to break down functional boundaries and nurture relationships with policy and commercial teams.

A curriculum has been developed bringing together a wide range of

learning and development materials and the OneFinance website has also been launched, hosting a virtual community where users can access resources and share views.

Run by a team of just six, the GFA has had to develop relationships with external partners such as accountancy institutes, firms and training providers in order to develop offers and products for learners.

Collaboration across departments and within professional networks has also been an important way for the academy to highlight what it has to offer and test out new ideas.

Participants in GFA programmes have praised the short and snappy nature of the modules available, hailing them as thought-provoking and engaging.

Others say the academy’s collaborative approach to designing and delivering learning ensures each department contributes its best ideas, approaches and people.

The GFA was the first government function to offer an online career pathway, helping people plan their careers in a structured way, highlighting the roles available and the skills and experiences required. People also share their own stories, exposing the diversity of career paths that can be followed.

The academy is keen to emphasise that there are many different ways to learn and not everything has to be classroom-based.

A recent Twitter campaign showed how learning is changing, directing followers to explanations of different learning methods and stressing that what matters is not the time spent learning but the value of that learning.

“By challenging the traditional classroom mode of training delivery and embracing innovative ways of learning focused on individual learning styles, the Government Finance Academy has created a world-class initiative.”

JUDGES’ COMMENTS

• Finance Function, Department for International Development• Finance Directorate, DVLA• The Finance Team, North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust• Veritau

FINALISTS


GOOD GOVERNANCE AWARD

WINNER ROB WINTER, HEAD OF INTERNAL AUDIT FOR SOUTH YORKSHIRE POLICE AND THE FORCE EXECUTIVE TEAM, SOUTH YORKSHIRE POLICE

SOME FRESH THINKING ABOUT GOVERNANCE AND CONTROL IN THIS POLICE FORCE HAS USHERED IN A MORE EFFICIENT, ENABLING AND PERMISSIVE ENVIRONMENTThe executive team at South Yorkshire Police wanted to crack a dilemma: how to embed good governance and control in a way that would provide management with meaningful focus and information.

With the support of the force’s finance director, head of internal audit Rob Winter set about developing an approach that would deliver a culture change at the organisation.

Dubbed Organisational Infrastructure (OI), the approach draws together 11 domains including financial management, information governance, asset management and ethical standards.

Each of these 11 domains is underpinned by around 15 high-level controls, which were initially reviewed and approved by the force’s strategic and tactical leads, before being adopted. Managers then went on to consider whether the controls were being complied with.

This provided a fast and effective way to identify gaps, actions and accountabilities in the force’s

governance approach, while the involvement of the leads also helped embed ownership of the OI approach among management.

One quick win has been a change in the way teams within the force request support from the IT service.

The OI review encouraged the IT team to rethink its systems and the information it demanded from requesters in order to make it simpler and easier to comply with.

It’s not rocket science, but a good example of how the fresh approach ushered in by OI has prompted people within the organisation to think differently.

Accountability is enhanced with the force’s district commanders and function heads now having to answer questions on their domains at quarterly performance review meetings.

The risks and control issues highlighted by the new risk register has allowed a shift to a more active and dynamic approach to governance.

The move to an almost constant view of the control environment has made production of the force’s annual governance statement far more efficient and meaningful.

South Yorkshire Police says its OI approach is based on the simple concept of “what do we need to have in place to enable us to do all the right things in the right way in the most efficient and effective way?”

Rather than taking an approach that is defensive and focused on what might go wrong, OI is, in the force’s words, “permissive, enabling and positive”.

“South Yorkshire Police’s Organisational Infrastructure approach to governance was a clear winner in this category. It’s a simple model, but a very effective one that has been successfully implemented. The benefits are transferable both within the policing sector and beyond.”

WINNER GOVERNMENT FINANCE ACADEMY

JUDGES’ COMMENTS

• Manchester City Council• NEPO• Tommy Morgan, Lead Auditor, The Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA) at DVLA• Verity Royle, Surrey County Council

FINALISTS

SPONSORED BY:


FINALISTS

INNOVATION IN TREASURY AND ASSET MANAGEMENT

WINNER FINANCIAL SERVICES – TREASURY TEAM, DORSET COUNCIL PARTNERSHIP (ONE INTERNAL STAFFING ORGANISATION SERVING NORTH DORSET DISTRICT COUNCIL, WEST DORSET DISTRICT COUNCIL AND WEYMOUTH & PORTLAND BOROUGH COUNCIL)

EFFECTIVE PARTNERSHIP WORKING AND SOME INNOVATIVE AND DIVERSE INVESTMENT DECISIONS RESULTED IN HEALTHY RETURNS FOR THESE THREE DORSET COUNCILSIncreasing a council’s investment income by 1,100% in two years certainly counts as a treasury and asset-management success.

This is what the Dorset Council Partnership’s financial services-treasury team managed to achieve for North Dorset District Council, increasing income from £50,000 two years ago to £600,000 in 2017–18.

Overseeing the treasury management portfolios for three councils, the partnership delivered a total return of between 5.34% and 7.52% for all of them in 2016–17.

This meant each council could balance its budget in 2017–18 without cutting services – and all three aim to do the same this financial year.

For West Dorset it meant being able to support corporate projects, such as the restoration of the Grade 1 listed court of Judge Jeffreys and the Tolpuddle Martyrs, turning it into a tourist attraction.

The team – managing £100m of

investments and £30m of debt across the three councils – decided to move away from traditional unsecured bank deposits and money-market funds to a diverse investment portfolio.

They have invested in pooled funds across a variety of financial instruments, such as commercial property, bonds and equities.

The department also decided to invest in a property fund as opposed to purchasing its own assets – which many councils have been doing – as this was considered less risky than investing directly.

Working across three councils, the team has to consider the capacity of each different authority individually. They work out what would work well with the rest of each portfolio.

“There are some funds, for example,

that we invest in for two councils but we don’t for the smallest as it cannot cope with the increased level of risk,” the partnership explains.

The involvement of elected members has been highly effective, with councillors kept up to date through a treasury management forum and quarterly reports.

Members are kept up to speed with the latest developments in investment opportunities as well as changes in legislative requirements.

Forums are informal, allowing members to explore new ideas and be fully aware of the risks and rewards.

Success is also due to sound record keeping, now fully digitised. A full audit trail is maintained with the use of the SharePoint platform, where decisions are signed off and investments authorised.

“The Dorset Council Partnership demonstrated effective joint working and governance arrangements as well as genuine innovation in portfolio diversification. Risk awareness was strong.”

• Finance Team, North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust

JUDGES’ COMMENTSJUDGES’ COMMENTS

SPONSORED BY:


WITH LITTLE TO GUIDE THEM, LINCOLNSHIRE’S RISK TEAM SET ABOUT SCOPING AND DEVELOPING THEIR OWN RISK MODEL IN A BID TO OPEN UP RISK AWARENESS AND APPETITE ACROSS THE BUSINESSIn a challenging financial environment for local authorities, a culture of well-understood risk-taking throughout a council’s business would seem a sensible approach to take. So the insurance and risk team at Lincolnshire County Council wanted to change how the organisation thinks about risk.

Historically, the council had treated risk as a compliance issue, to be monitored by internal audit. Its goal was to move towards a more open and aware view of risk.

One of the team’s early challenges was the lack of practical examples to learn from. Extensive research yielded lots of theory but nothing useful on how to bring a new risk approach to life.

With the chief executive’s backing, the team set about developing their own model, scoping out a series of categories, including finance and money, projects and major change, and reputation and public confidence. Twelve risk scenarios were worked out and the team used workshops

to evaluate how much risk senior management and elected members were prepared to accept.

Four risk-appetite categories were defined: cautious; averse; open and aware; and hungry. Workshop participants voted on how much risk they were willing to take on. No one was allowed to sit on the fence.

The team say: “The discussions provided a fascinating insight and showed some fundamentally differing views which are now understood.”

An independent assessment carried out in August 2016 endorsed this work to reboot the council’s risk culture. It commended an “industry-leading approach to the identification and understanding of risk appetite” and praised a “pragmatic approach to decision-making, which encourages

innovation and seeks to balance cost, affordability, quality and risks”.

But the council is not resting on its laurels. It is continuing to fine tune and update its approach to risk management, planning more workshops with the senior leadership team and to increase the categories for approaching risk from four to five.

Judy Jones of Kerberos Risk Services, who carried out the 2016 maturity review, says: “Anyone who doesn’t feel enthusiastic about risk management should spend some time talking to the team at Lincolnshire County Council. Embedded and integrated risk management is exciting!”

“Lincolnshire has tried to shift corporate risk appetite in a pioneering way, securing buy-in from across the organisation. It approaches risk from a business and transformation point of view rather than seeing it as a compliance issue.”

• Operational Risk and Control Team, NHS Shared Business Services• Procurement and Finance Team, Essex County Council• Risk and Audit Section, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service• Risk & Insurance Team, Shropshire Council (HIGHLY COMMENDED)• The Integrated Commissioning Finance and Assurance Review Group (FARG), Plymouth City Council and Northern Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (N.E.W Devon CCG)

INNOVATION IN RISK MANAGEMENT

WINNER INSURANCE AND RISK TEAM, LINCOLNSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

JUDGES’ COMMENTS

FINALISTS


INNOVATION IN INTERNAL AUDIT

WINNER TRACEY WOODWARDS, LEAD AUDITOR, THE GOVERNMENT INTERNAL AUDIT AGENCY (GIAA) AT DVLA

A CROSS-CUTTING INTERNAL AUDIT APPROACH IN A HIGH-PROFILE AND POLITICALLY SENSITIVE AREA HELPED THIS GOVERNMENT AGENCY SPOT WEAKNESSES AND TAKE ACTION TO AVOID FINANCIAL AND REPUTATIONAL RISKSCollecting vehicle excise duty (VED)is one of the key jobs of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. Each year, the tax brings in around £6.6bn in revenue for central government.

As part of the agency’s audit plan, lead auditor Tracey Woodwards was tasked with reviewing two high-profile elements of VED collection: a reduced rate for Personal Independence Payment claimants and a digital payment option via Direct Debit, which was being relied upon to collect £2bn. These were flagship announcements made by the Chancellor in the Budget.

Carrying out these reviews demanded sensitivity and deft handling of cross-agency issues – operations, strategy and finance were all involved. It also required cross-government working, as the Treasury, Department for Transport and Department for Work and Pensions were stakeholders. National Audit Office reviews

of the delays to the roll-out of Personal Independence Payments also needed to be taken into consideration, as this posed potential risks to the DVLA.

Woodwards’ reviews were presented to directors and the audit committee, and both challenged senior management’s understanding while highlighting weaknesses in the VED administration processes.

As a result, high-level action was taken to avoid public censure of more than one government department. The DVLA’s chief executive agreed to challenge the Treasury about the fundamental viability of the Personal Independence Payment concession. Meanwhile, a DWP non-

executive noted the impact of the department’s efficiency savings on the DVLA’s ability to administer this concession effectively.

As well as reducing risk and avoiding unfavourable media coverage, the review improved customer service and streamlined application and payment processes, resulting in efficiency savings.

The Government Internal Audit Agency used the information gathered in the fieldwork to develop a programme of annual testing to provide assurance about the completeness of the tax collected and the value of Direct Debit’s service-management charges.

GIAA also worked with the finance team to generate an assurance-generating forecasting tool to avoid the costs of external assurance in the future.

“This was a strong category demonstrating some excellent variation. Tracey Woodwards’ work showed impressive evidence of significant impact in a challenging cross-government environment.”

• Audit Together• Internal Audit Team, Veritau

JUDGES’ COMMENTS

FINALISTS


FINALISTS

ACHIEVEMENT IN FINANCIAL REPORTING & ACCOUNTABILITY

WINNER KEIRA SHEPPERSON, CHIEF OF STAFF TO THE CFO, REBECCA SIMON, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, SCOTT SHEARER, COMMUNICATIONS SENIOR MANAGER, MARILENA IOANNIDOU, DIRECTOR, BRITISH BUSINESS BANK INVESTMENTS

A THOROUGH RETHINK OF HOW IT TELLS ITS CORPORATE STORY TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD HAS HELPED THIS YOUNG ORGANISATION FORGE A DISTINCT IDENTITY AND HIGHLIGHT GOOD RETURNS FOR THE TAXPAYERGovernment-owned, but independently managed, British Business Bank Investments Ltd is the commercial arm of the British Business Bank and aims to increase the diversity and supply of finance available to small businesses.

While it doesn’t lend to businesses directly, British Business Investments (BBI) works with the market through a range of delivery partners to encourage competition.

It has been vital that it establishes itself as a trusted organisation, one that both provides value for money for the government and is a suitable investment partner for fund managers.

When it came to publishing its financial report for 2016, BBI saw an opportunity to rethink the way it told its story to its stakeholders and the wider world. It looked for fresh ways to put across BBI’s key financial-reporting messages.

Working with stakeholders and users of the information closely and early on, the team ensured information was presented in a clear and accessible way, and one that enhanced BBI’s

reputation with both the public and marketplace.

A project team including legal, communications, risk and finance was assembled to pull the report together and weekly meetings were held to review progress.

The result for 2016 was an annual report with a much more human face. Each team member ‘fronts’ the report in their product area and is both quoted and photographed alongside key statistics for which they are responsible. This has helped boost accountability in the marketplace.

Clear graphs show where taxpayers’ money has been invested and the return over the three years of BBI’s operation. Inclusion of the logos of investment partners enhanced transparency and improved BBI’s credibility with other potential partners.

In addition to publication on the BBI and British Business Bank websites, the team promoted key facts and figures across social media using infographics and charts.

Hard copies of the report were distributed among investment partners and digital copies were sent in pdf form to government, market participants and other policy stakeholders.

The team says that, since the 2016 report was published, BBI has received strong interest from the market, with several new investments approved and others in the pipeline.

“A team focus on clarity of presentation, early stakeholder engagement and careful planning has not only delivered best-in-class financial reports but has also enabled the development of more innovative elements.”

• Cameron Fox, Kristian Hibberd, Laurence Lily, Muhammad Swaleh, James Hall and Julia Beck, UK Export Finance• Corporate Enabler Teams, Wales Audit Office• Customer Communications and Finance Teams, Derby Homes• Finance and Business Partnering Team, Livin Housing• Finance and Communications Teams, Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA)• Finance, Editorial and Design Teams, Transport for London• The Finance Team, North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust

WINNER TRACEY WOODWARDS, LEAD AUDITOR, THE GOVERNMENT INTERNAL AUDIT AGENCY (GIAA) AT DVLA

JUDGES’ COMMENTS


OUTSTANDING PROCUREMENT INITIATIVE

WINNER SAMANTHA RIX, PROCUREMENT SPECIALIST, THE NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE HOSPITALS NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

CLOSE ENGAGEMENT WITH CLINICIANS WAS CRUCIAL FOR THIS NHS TRUST’S SWITCH TO A MORE COST-EFFECTIVE EMERGENCY SURGICAL PRODUCTNewcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust embarked on a highly ambitious yet clinically sensitive project – to look for a lower-cost alternative haemostat supplier.

Haemostats are emergency products used to stop bleeding during surgery, restricting blood flow. Supply of the products is dominated by one large company – Johnson & Johnson – holding approximately 80% of market share. As a consequence, the supplier views its haemostats as premium products, pricing them accordingly.

Shifting supplier was a complex task for Newcastle’s procurement team led by Samantha Rix, one that required gaining the confidence of clinicians who use the products. They are not a one-size-fits-all solution, and different surgical disciplines will have different requirements.

Samantha and her team worked closely with surgical teams to review and trial alternative products and ensure quality and safety standards were met. As haemostats are often used in emergency and highly stressful situations, it is vital that surgical teams had confidence in the alternatives on offer.

Clinical engagement was, therefore,

key and each surgical specialty and sub-specialty was treated as an individual within the project, ensuring surgeons and theatre staff felt valued and listened to. Time was set aside for Samantha and her team to meet with each clinical lead, allowing them to ask questions and identify any procedures they felt would not be appropriate for the switch.

Following consultations, the trust has changed to more cost-effective products across 26 specialties, including very complex departments such as cardiothoracic and neurology. It has achieved a 51% saving – representing just over £80,000 in annual cash savings. There has also been a reduction in the number of products used and a streamlined, more time-efficient ordering process.

The team says the project has shown both clinicians and other trust staff that the change process can be “hugely beneficial”, even when tackling something that has traditionally been shied away from.

“Clinicians should be more willing to embrace change as we have shown that it can be achieved with little pain as long as lots of support and engagement is provided,” it says.

Peer-reviewed data from the Newcastle upon Tyne case study is being shared with the wider NHS community and should give other trusts the confidence to lead a product change or undertake their own trials in a highly complex medical or surgical area.

• Adults and Communities Commissioning Service, Slough Borough Council• Commercial Procurement Unit, Liverpool City Council• Essex Child and Family Wellbeing (PB19) Commissioning & Procurement Team, Essex County Council and West Essex Clinical Commissioning Group• STAR Procurement• The PSAA Team (Officers and Board), Public Sector Audit Appointments (PSAA) (HIGHLY COMMENDED)• Westminster Procurement Services Team, Westminster City Council

FINALISTS

“There was a clear procurement objective from the outset and excellent market and clinical engagement. As well as financial savings, patient safety standards were upheld and there is potential to roll out to other trusts.”

JUDGES’ COMMENTS


FINALISTS

BY HARNESSING CUSTOMER AND EXPERT FEEDBACK THIS DIGITAL PROJECT BOTH STREAMLINED PROCESSES, BOOSTED PRODUCTIVITY AND IMPROVED ROAD SAFETYIt’s vitally important that the millions of drivers on the UK’s roads are medically fit and safe to operate a car or other motor vehicle.

The DVLA’s Fitness To Drive scheme assesses whether an individual is entitled to drive based on their medical status. Under the scheme, drivers notify the agency of their medical conditions and renew short-term driving licences.

The old scheme was paper-based, but research with users revealed that more than half – 55% – would prefer to shift to a digital service. By digitising the system, the team also wanted to improve customer service, turnaround times and reduce operational costs.

Work began in October 2015 and involved some in-depth customer research. In total, 100 sessions with 700 customers were held in more than 60 locations across the UK. This allowed the group to perfect the notification process by streamlining the questions used and removing unnecessary ones.

Questions are now in a binary yes/no format instead of free text responses, a change that

eliminated inaccuracies caused by misspelling and a variance in medical terminology – realising this was an issue with the old system was a “real breakthrough”, the team says. The team also consulted medical advisers and panels to streamline the questions.

Another improvement on the paper-based service is the fact that after completing the questions, and while their application is being processed, customers are advised whether or not they should drive.

The service went live, on time, on 28 March 2017. It has transformed the experience for users, halving the number of answers required for most conditions, and cutting them by two thirds in the case of glaucoma. Response times have been cut from an average of 21 days to 8 days.

There have been some measurable financial gains, with productivity up by £0.8m a year with a 50% digital

take-up. Productivity improvements are forecast to hit £2.7m by 2020.

Wider social benefits, such as improved road safety are difficult to measure. However, the team notes that the cost to the wider UK economy of a serious road accident is over £250,000 and for a fatality around £2.2m. By removing unfit drivers from the road more quickly, the Fitness To Drive Team will no doubt save the government money – but also save lives.

“A successful digitisation of a vital, customer-facing service led by an in-house team. It demonstrated strong evidence of financial benefits and wider social gains are likely through improved road safety and a reduction in accidents, injuries and fatalities.”

• 3 Council Finance System with automated cost sharing, Dorset Council Partnership (one internal staffing organisation serving the 3 councils of North Dorset District Council, West Dorset District Council and Weymouth & Portland Borough Council)• Care Provider Information Hub, Essex County Council• Competition and Markets Authority• Placing Business Intelligence at the heart of decision-making, Health and Safety Executive (HIGHLY COMMENDED)• Revenue & Benefits Digital Efficiency Project, City of York Council

DIGITAL FINANCE PROJECT OF THE YEAR

WINNER ONLINE FITNESS TO DRIVE TEAM, DVLA

JUDGES’ COMMENTS

SPONSORED BY:


FINALISTS

ALTERNATIVE SERVICE DELIVERY MODEL OF THE YEAR

WINNER HOUSING MAINTENANCE PARTNERSHIP COMPRISING WELWYN HATFIELD BOROUGH COUNCIL, MEARS AND STRADIA

THIS COUNCIL AND ITS CONTRACTOR SUCCESSFULLY RE-ENGINEERED A FALTERING PARTNERSHIP, REBUILDING TRUST, MOVING TO OPEN-BOOK ACCOUNTING AND GENERATING SAVINGSWhen the relationship between Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council and its housing maintenance contractor started to fray, service delivery dropped below expectations.

A 15-year contract, valued at £168m, was awarded to Mears and began in April 2007, but three years in it became apparent that costs were significantly over budget, leading to heated disputes. Relationships became extremely strained, teams were unable to work together, and trust broke down altogether.

The council was determined to get the housing maintenance partnership to work, and its success in doing so offers many lessons others could learn from.

To get the contract back on track, the council appointed construction consultants Stradia to look at what has gone wrong, restore the broken trust, and help the council take back commercial control.

In order to foster improved working arrangements early on, teams from the council and contractor participated in workshops where they were encouraged to share concerns

that helped provide clarity on roles and responsibilities.

A Gain Share/Pain Share mechanism was established to encourage Mears to reduce costs. The gain element would only be paid if seven pre-determined key performance indicators covering service quality and recycling were met.

The council also made the decision to implement full open-book contract management, something requiring cultural and procedural change for both itself and the contractor.

The open-book process, adopted in 2012, provides essential transparency as well as the tools to manage the contract effectively, enabling the identification of problem areas and the scope to reduce costs and improve performance.

An operating protocol document was developed to provide clarity and rigour, and to ensure a consistent approach by all team members.

Total savings over the five years from the implementation of the new service-delivery model are forecast to be more than £3m. The council’s

share of these savings has been re-invested in assets, improving housing conditions for tenants.

The partners now work together as a ‘we’, rather than ‘us’ and ‘them’ – ensuring problems are resolved quickly and emphasising joint management.

“This was an excellent example of taking a problem, being honest about the challenges, and committing to finding a way forward. Sharing both the gains and the pains has been effective and open-book arrangements are working actively.”

• Finance Team (CATERed), Plymouth City Council• Orbis (partnership between Brighton and Hove City Council, East Sussex County Council and Surrey County Council)• Partnership between Support Services for Education (SSE) (Part of Somerset County Council, SCC) and North Somerset Council (NSC)• Project Team, Essex County Council (ECC) and West Essex Clinical Commissioning Group (WECCG)• Veritau• Verse Facilities Management

JUDGES’ COMMENTS


FINALISTS

AN INNOVATIVE DATA-LED BLUEPRINT FOR COUNCILS SHOWS HOW THEY CAN IDENTIFY AND HELP VULNERABLE CHILDREN AND FAMILIES WHILE REDUCING FINANCIAL PRESSURES ON SERVICESThe brainchild of the umbrella group London Councils and EY, London Ventures seeks to introduce innovative private and third-sector solutions to the public sector.

Since its inception, London Ventures has had significant success in helping local authorities identify vital savings through schemes like the London Counter Fraud Hub, which has the potential to save £57m, and the FISCAL Technologies AP Forensics product, which has saved £25m across 15 London councils.

The group’s vision to apply private sector innovation to the public sector was at the heart of the decision to invest in Xantura’s Early Help Profiling System (EHPS), which allows councils to target children who could benefit from early intervention, thereby preventing the need for statutory help.

EHPS uses predictive analytics to bring together data from multiple agencies to identify vulnerable

families and those children who are most at risk of abuse or neglect.

Applying this innovative system to the London Borough of Hackney, it is expected that EHPS will contribute to a total saving of £675,000 per year for the council.

On top of this, Hackney can expect to save £118,000 through full automation of family screenings and £143,000 by improving access to multi-agency data annually.

Not only does this scheme help streamline local authorities’ finances but, crucially, it has created a radical improvement in the provision of children’s services. The implementation of EHPS has led to reduced numbers of children needing statutory intervention and a

“London Ventures impressed us through the breadth of partnership working, the size of the estimated cost savings, and efficiency benefits. It’s a good, replicable project working with data to develop the service.”

• Destin Solutions and Preston and Lancaster Shared Service• Oxygen Finance and Cumbria County Council

SOLUTIONS PARTNER OF THE YEAR

WINNER LONDON VENTURES TEAM (ERNST & YOUNG (EY) AND LONDON COUNCILS) AND XANTURA

JUDGES’ COMMENTS

30% time saving for professionals on research-led work.

London Ventures points out that the success of this solution comes at a key moment. By 2020, central government funding for early help will fall by 71% compared to 2010, and the group will be hoping that more councils follow the example they have set with Hackney.

Speaking of their partnership with London Ventures, Hackney Council said: “The Xantura solution has enabled us to make a dramatic improvement in our capability to manage and deliver this complex multi-agency programme and, moving forwards, will provide us with a much more sophisticated view of families, helping us to find and select the correct families as well as providing a more subtle view of ‘sustained improvement’.”


FINALISTS

PUBLIC FINANCE LEADER OF THE YEAR

WINNER ANDREW HARDINGHAM, STRATEGIC DIRECTOR FOR TRANSFORMATION & CHANGE, FINANCE, PLYMOUTH CITY COUNCIL

LEADERSHIP, CREATIVITY, INNOVATION AND COMMITMENT TO STAFF WELLBEING ALL COMBINE IN ONE INDIVIDUAL TO SHOW HOW THE PUBLIC SECTOR FINANCE FUNCTION CAN BE PUSHED FORWARDWith more than 40 years of experience as a qualified accountant, and 15 years as a chief finance officer across a range of public sector organisations, Andrew Hardingham has successfully shaped a new vision for change within the sector.

He joined Plymouth City Council as assistant director for finance and Section 151 officer in 2015, leading a 370-person multi-disciplinary team, and has ensured the delivery of more efficient and viable services.

In his first year, Andrew launched a finance transformation programme to deliver £2m (15%) of savings from a departmental budget of £16m. Within the first two years, he restructured the treasury management function to deliver a further £12m of savings.

In times of austerity, it is essential to have a skilled team to support and lead business change and that’s what Andrew has put together, bringing his expertise to empower and push his staff to think differently, adopting value-added approaches

and delivering powerful collaborative working with key partners.

Through his “Finance FIT” project, he has shaped a vision and strategy for change within the sector. The project has already benefited Plymouth City Council a great deal, bringing creative solutions to problems.

For example, strategic tax planning supported the refurbishment of the City Market as well as helping create a new financing model to support the council’s commercial property investment fund portfolio, a £150m fund to support growth.

Andrew’s work for his council goes on. His strategic and financial leadership as a director for CATER,

• Craig Brewin, Head of Commissioning, Slough Borough Council• Mark Lumsdon-Taylor, CFO & Deputy CEO, Hadlow Group• Patrick Knight, Systems Manager, Medway Council

a local authority cooperative trade company set up to deliver school meals, has enabled children across Plymouth to enjoy freshly prepared, healthy and affordable food.

Andrew has also played a valuable role through the creation of a joint venture company with Livewell Southwest, an independent social enterprise working as part of the NHS. The company aims to enable services to be shared across organisations, saving at least 20% on gross cost and enabling surpluses to be reinvested to benefit the taxpayer.

Another testament to Andrew’s skills is the Teckal company Delt, which was established with the clinical commissioning group to share ICT services. Andrew has stabilised Delt’s financial position, shaped a more agile governance structure, supported its growth and been instrumental in identifying and recruiting a chief financial officer.

“Andrew’s creative and innovative approach has shaped a new vision and strategy for change. His leadership isn’t just confined to strategy and project success, it places a strong focus on staff wellbeing and the development of a collaborative and innovative culture.”

JUDGES’ COMMENTS

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FINALISTS

THROUGH AN EMPHASIS ON COLLABORATION AND FLEXIBILITY, THIS LOCAL FINANCE TEAM HAS SHIFTED SEAMLESSLY TO NEW SYSTEMS, DELIVERED SAVINGS, AND MET FINANCIAL REPORTING DEADLINESThe bright sparks in the finance and procurement team at Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority have risen to the challenge of helping the authority become more efficient and responsive.

The nine-strong team, led by a director and deputy director, oversees all aspects of management accounting, financial reporting and treasury management, and procurement, including purchasing, tendering and supplier management.

Among their achievements are the implementation of a new finance and procurement system and the introduction of an HR/payroll system, which better support the more flexible and innovative approaches to work that the authority wanted to pursue.

There was little additional resource to implement the new system, but the team turned this to their advantage, ensuring everyone took responsibility for their area of expertise and guaranteeing that everything was ready in time for the ‘go-live’ date.

The team also works proactively with budget managers to develop and deliver savings plans. The authority faced a 57% cut in its revenue support grant, and the development of an Efficiency Plan sets out how the authority will face up to the challenge while also allowing it to sign up to the guaranteed four-year settlement offered by the government.

In particular, the authority has shifted to a more flexible rostering system for fire fighters, rather than the more rigid watch-based system where each watch would cover its own absences for sickness, training and holidays.

Under the new system, absences are covered by a ‘bank’ of staff volunteers who work additional shifts at enhanced rates of pay, something that needs to be supported with a much more flexible approach to budgeting.

“Finance teams across the local government sector are continuing to operate effectively – and with passion – in challenging circumstances. Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority achieved a lot with a small team through collaboration and flexibility.”

• Adult Social Care Finance Team, Middlesbrough Council• Finance and Business Partnering Team, Livin Housing• Financial Management Team, Southend-on-Sea Borough Council• Financial Services, Dorset Council Partnership (one internal staffing organisation serving the 3 councils of North Dorset District Council, West Dorset District Council and Weymouth & Portland Borough Council)

FINANCE TEAM OF THE YEAR – LOCAL SERVICES

WINNER FINANCE AND PROCUREMENT TEAM, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE AND MILTON KEYNES FIRE AUTHORITY (BMKFA)

WINNER ANDREW HARDINGHAM, STRATEGIC DIRECTOR FOR TRANSFORMATION & CHANGE, FINANCE, PLYMOUTH CITY COUNCIL

The finance team also successfully ensured accounts for 2015–16 and 2016–17 were completed and audited by the end of July each year. This was achieved through early engagement with auditors to clarify exactly what was required and a whole-team approach, making every team member responsible for an area of the accounts.

The team places a premium on learning, development and professional qualifications to facilitate internal promotion.

Collaboration has been the key to success, and strong relationships have been built both within the authority itself and with other fire authorities in the Thames Valley region.

JUDGES’ COMMENTS

FINALISTS

People in Public Finance

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FINANCE TEAM OF THE YEAR – HEALTH

WINNER FINANCE DEPARTMENT, WRIGHTINGTON, WIGAN AND LEIGH NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

WITH THE NHS UNDER SUSTAINED FINANCIAL PRESSURE, THIS TEAM SHOWS WHAT CAN BE DONE WITH AN AMBITIOUS, CAN-DO ATTITUDE, A MOTIVATED WORKFORCE – AND A LITTLE IMAGINATIONThe finance team at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Foundation Trust has a simple goal: to be the best finance function in the NHS.

This team, comprising 61 whole-time equivalent posts, looks after everything from procurement to costing to financial control, commercial planning and investment. In 2016–17, they oversaw revenue of £297m and, at a time of extreme financial pressure for the NHS, delivered a surplus of £13.6m.

Among their objectives are maintaining a positive cash balance, achieving nationally set financial controls, continuing to push and develop their skills, and providing finance training to the trust’s non-finance staff.

This takes the form of the innovative ‘finance operating game’ and regular one-on-one budget-holder training sessions. It ensures staff throughout the trust understand their financial position and can manage budgets.

In turn, finance team members are

encouraged to collaborate and volunteer on non-finance projects such as one to improve patient flow at the hospital.

Team members are highly visible, always approachable, but not shy to challenge the wider business when appropriate. They like to focus on the four Ps set out in the trust’s ‘way4wards’ strategy: people, patients, performance and partnerships.

They describes their culture as “dynamic, fun and challenging” matched with a focus on keeping staff members motivated and highly professional.

There is also an emphasis on innovation, and the team continually tries to present financial information in new ways in order to support transparency. This has included an animated annual accounts video and the development of a Devolved Financial Management app, which provides budget-holders

• Financial and Management Accounts Team, NHS Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group• The Finance Team, North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust

with all the information they need at the touch of a button. The app contributed to reduced overspends by £2m, lowered agency spend by £1.6m, and increased budget-holder accountability and sign off.

The team has banked many other achievements for the trust, including full receipt of its share of sustainability and transformation funding and a shift from payment by results to block contracting. They have worked with GPs to reduce A&E admissions and led a project to successfully close an unprofitable neuro-rehabilitation service.

Financial housekeeping is excellent and the trust received a clean audit, has been rated the number one procurement department in the NHS, and was in the top 10 trusts in the country for surpluses generated.

The team hosts graduate finance trainees and six staff members have been supported through their accountancy qualifications.

FINALISTS

“This is a dynamic team with an excellent ethos and culture. The team are clear on their contribution to the trust and are well-managed from a financial perspective, although their achievements span much further.”

JUDGES’ COMMENTS


WINNER FINANCE DEPARTMENT, WRIGHTINGTON, WIGAN AND LEIGH NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

FINALISTS

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Avoid the cost of travel and accommodation by training your team at your premises with a CIPFA in-house course.

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Call 020 7543 5600 or email [email protected] today to find out more.

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FINANCE TEAM OF THE YEAR – NATIONAL BODIES

WINNER FINANCE TEAM, INDEPENDENT LIVING FUND SCOTLAND

THIS SMALL TEAM HAS MADE A BIG IMPACT IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. PROFESSIONALISM, TEAMWORK – AND A REAL COMMITMENT TO VULNERABLE PEOPLE – SHOWS HOW FINANCE TEAMS CAN TRANSFORM LIVESJust three years after it was created, the Independent Living Fund Scotland has developed into one of the most financially lean public bodies in the UK.

The ILF is responsible for providing financial support to more than 3,000 severely disabled people with complex needs with the aim of helping them to live independently.

The finance team, led by finance director Jim Maguire and supported by head of finance Nadeem Hanif and senior finance officer Alex Bathgate, pride themselves on their open and honest approach – and hold teamwork as a core value.

The culture of the ILF Scotland finance team is to foster excellent relations through an open and honest approach and by thinking outside the box. They ensure nothing is ‘off the table’ in terms of continuous improvement to the organisation and the disabled people they support.

This team of three is responsible for administering £50m in funding annually and strives to create strong partnerships with departmental bodies such as the Scottish and Northern Irish Government Sponsor Teams and NHS Counter Fraud Team.

Over the last two years, the ILF Scotland finance team has made 74,236 payments to recipients on time, disbursing £91m in funding with 100% accuracy and no errors.

The extent of their efficiency improvements are exemplified by the reduction of payment-processing times, which fell nine-fold from 45 minutes to 5 minutes through the creation of a cloud-based system known as PT-X.

As well as guaranteeing that

vulnerable individuals receive their payments on time, PT-X has saved a working week for a full-time member of staff per annum and reduced the risk of server and data-handling issues.

The team aims to put finance at the heart of decision making and this is reflected by the first two years of reporting, in which ILF Scotland came under budget in each year and completed the annual accounts on time, with no major matters raised by external auditors.

While financial efficiency is a primary goal: they remain focused on the vulnerable people they serve. Each team member has received specific disability equality training to ensure they are fully committed to the values and ethos at the heart of the organisation.

“This finance team is living out the values of the organisation. Having set up a new finance system from scratch, the team has embraced cloud-based technology and innovative solution design. This is a great example of how finance innovation and team commitment can make a positive impact on people’s lives.”

JUDGES’ COMMENTS

FINALISTS• Finance and Commercial Directorate, Public Health England• Finance and Corporate Governance Team, Office of the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales


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