Business Transformation in Birmingham
This page may be referred to as www.birmingham.gov.uk/btsp
What Business Transformation is, and what we aimed to do
The business transformation programme was launched in 2006 as an unprecedented 10 year plan to transform our business processes. The programme was built around three main goals:
• Increasing quality of services for customers
• Improving process efficiencies
• Increasing job satisfaction for employees
The programme is designed to deliver £1 billion of savings over ten years.
The programme is supported by a joint venture with Capita called Service Birmingham, which aims to deliver improvements in IT infrastructure and support the business transformation journey.
The programme is separated into a number of different workstreams, each with its own aims and timeline, focusing on a different area of council activity:
| Workstream | Description |
| Corporate Services |
Achieving significant savings through better procurement, an "Amazon.com" style of ordering, greater compliance with corporate contracts and more consistent financial information |
| Working for the Future |
Workspaces that support agile working and provide a better staff environment to help deliver improved services to our customers |
| Excellence in People Management |
Helping the Council to make best use of its people resources and improve performance through live management information and corporate behaviour standards |
|
Excellence in Information Management |
Improving the way we create, manage and use our wealth of information |
| Customer First | Putting the customer first ; a single record allowing integrated responses to customer needs, easy tracking of service requests and better service standards |
| Brighter Futures |
Improving outcomes and life chances for all children, particularly vulnerable children through early intervention |
|
Adults and Communities Transformation |
Expanding direct choice for adults in need of care to better meet their needs in the 21st century |
| Housing Transformation | An excellent service that delivers homes to be proud of; providing quality housing that meets the needs of everyone in the city |
Achievements so far
At the halfway point of the original plan £244.2million in savings has already been made, with £93.6million of recurring savings secured for each year going forward.
Importantly for tax payers, the net benefit to the council’s general fund is £14.1million for 2010/2011, rising in 2011/12 to £19.5million. This is equivalent to almost seven percent of all Council Tax collected in the city, which would have to be found in other ways if it were not for business transformation.
Other highlights have included
• A revamp of the council website, enabling citizens to create online accounts to make and track queries
• The start of a programme to develop 13 state-of-the-art Customer Service Centres, replacing outdated Neighbourhood Offices and a refurbishment programme for others
• An updated and improved contact centre now deals with more than 2 million calls a year
• Improved facilities in council houses with 99% of homes now meeting the “Decent Homes” standard
On 2 March 2011, we held a conference to share our experiences of transformation with other local authorities and central government called “Transforming Local Government: Lessons for the Future”. At the conference, we shared our key achievements, processes and lessons we’ve learnt for the future and the delegates also shared their experience with others. All the presentations and learning from the day can be accessed from the link above.
If you would like to know more about Birmingham City Council’s business transformation programme please emailtransforming@birmingham.gov.uk
The business transformation programme and its benefits are being delivered using CHAMPS2, a change management methodolgy developed by Birmingham City Council and Service Birmingham.