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Speaking with frontline staff, and taking on board customer’s views, gave the Council the vital insight it needed to develop a more holistic approach to helping those in financial difficulties.

Fairer Falkirk Manager, and Council of the Future ‘Advice Hubs & Spokes’ Project Manager, Sally Buchanan talks about what had to be done to transform the Council’s drop-in services, making them more accessible and user friendly, and the lessons learnt.

She said: “With an increasing number of people facing financial hardship, we knew that the One Stop Shop model wasn’t as effective as it needed to be, and that frontline staff and those who engage with our services would be best placed to tell us what worked and what didn’t.

“Staff told us how proud they felt when they were able to go the extra mile for someone but they weren’t sure if that approach was correct or even allowed. Market research with those in receipt of benefits also made it clear that people didn’t understand how all the different players in debt support worked.

“Both viewpoints fundamentally shaped the role of our Hub advisers, making it their job to provide as much support as they can in one go and empowering them to offer a range of advice with confidence and conviction.

“Collaboration across services was also essential, and a working group to look at how to structure the Hubs was set up. I quickly realised that getting 100% buy-in from everyone involved - staff, customers and elected members – wasn’t realistic but getting nine out of 10 on board was a result.

“With the East and West Hubs now open we are looking to progress the Central Hub. This is going to be the most challenging, as it is likely to be the busiest, but it also provides us with an exciting opportunity to co-locate with Falkirk Community Trust’s library service.

“We took a bold move deciding to replace eight One Stop Shops with three Hubs at a time when other councils were stopping their drop-in services all together. That approach has been recognised by a recent award nomination. However, there’s still more we can do, and capacity has been built into each Hub to allow us to work with more services and partner agencies through time to make the service as effective as possible for our customers.”