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Dashboard – priority projects
- Created following review of change programme by PwC to further develop best practice.
- Previously a single dashboard using the RAG (red, amber, green) system to highlight project progress, which was too simplistic.
- Now we are monitoring different aspects including the gateway the project is in and savings (to date and projected).
- PwC also helped us create standarised workbooks that all projects need to complete and keep up to date.
- These workbooks provide a robustness and consistency to project reporting, and determine movement through four gateways:
- Gateway 1 – business case built around ideal
- Gateway 2 – project initiation document created listing service benefits, projected savings, milestones etc
- Gateway 3 – implementation … delivery of project.
- Gateway 4 – close of project and move to business as usual.
- Projects can only move to the next gateway once progress has been independently verified by Finance, HR, Programme Management Office, Project Sponsor and workstream SRO.
- Moves away from project teams "marking their own homework".
- Dashboard monitors priority projects.
- Priority projects are those identified as providing the largest transformational change – whether savings, service delivery benefits or both.
- Currently, the priority projects are projected to achieve between 89% to 90% of savings linked to transformation in our business plan.
- Projects sitting within the Communities Workstream are by and large providing the greatest savings.
- A roadmap listing key milestones also included.
- This highlights major project achievements on the horizon until end 2021.
Closer to Home
- Falkirk Council has roughly 355 looked after children, 18% of which are living in residential provision (compared to Scottish national average of 10%).
- Significant costs attributed to this and outcomes are not necessarily improved.
- Closer to Home looking to:
- Shift the balance of care safely improve outcomes and opportunities for some of our most vulnerable children and young people
- Create efficiencies.
- Strategy originally to be delivered in 5 years, now expanded to 7 due to the impact of the pandemic.
- Now in phase 2, with 8 projects making up the Closer to Home change programme – 6 active; 2 coming onstream this year.
- Achievements to date:
- Supported accommodation – nine independent flats to support young people as they transition to adulthood.
- Procurement – identified and created efficiencies when buying services from care providers, partners and Third Sector.
- Foster care – attracted additional in-house foster carers and expanded foster care framework to purchase placements.
- Family support – two pilots launched with partners to help reduce the number of young people going to residential care.
- Best Practice in Child Protection – Initial Response Team will launch in June to assess needs of the child at the earliest opportunity.
- Young People at the centre of residential care – remodelling local residential houses.
- Since August last year, reduced the number of young people in residential provision by 8 resulting in £1.5m of savings.
- Next steps:
- Conclude the realignment of in-house family support – currently consultation ongoing with Trades Unions.
- Embed model and culture change – look after our young people rather than look to residential care.
- Focus on improvement and staff learning – how we manage and identify risk earlier, identification of dependencies with universal service partners etc.
- Evaluate family support pilot projects – against outcomes and projected efficiencies.
Change Fund
- Recruitment process underway for key roles being financed through the Change Fund.
- Job market not as buoyant as hoped, but working with recruiters to identify the right candidates.
- Also looking at internal resource to assess skills and expertise that may be able to taken on roles.
COTF Programme Risk Register
- A review of the risk register will be complete 11 June to capture the strategic risk linked with the change programme.
Next meeting: 6 July