Transform Issue 11 - February 19 Edition

ISSUE 11

In print and online www.iese.org.uk

Playing the property game Managing the risks of commercial property investment

Funding a better future An interview with Gloucestershire's PCC Martin Surl

Also inside: • iESE launches new digital care cost tool CareCubed • An in-depth look at two Certificate of Excellence winners • LGA self-help tool testing underway • iESE forms strategic alliance to help enterprise authorities

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Welcome letter from Dr Andrew Larner, Chief Executive at iESE

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iESE news: Digital care cost tool CareCubed launched, iESE helps design LGA self-help tool, Strategic alliance to help create enterprise authorities and iESE builds organisational modelling tool

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In focus: A look at commercial property investment and managing the risks

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iESE awards: A closer look at two Certificate of Excellence winners - Insight Bristol and Surrey County Council

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Our knowledge is your knowledge e have a packed issue of Transform this W time, with plenty of iESE news and sector best-practice to share.

Dr Andrew Larner, Chief Executive

We have been busy since our last edition developing tools for the @LaverdaJota sector and looking for ways to share our knowledge in a wider capacity. Firstly, we are delighted to announce the launch of our care funding pricing tool CareCubed, which has been designed to give transparency to care costs and help local authorities better manage their ever-increasing care spend. This tool supersedes the Care Funding Calculator and has many additional benefits - see the news piece below for more information and to find out how to book a demonstration. We are also pleased to announce that we are part of a consortium chosen by the Local Government Association to develop a sector self-assessment tool, work on which is underway. We have also formed an alliance with two key partners to launch NextGov, an initiative to help councils become enterprise authorities. In this issue we also take an in-depth look at two of our Certificate of Excellence award winners - Insight Bristol and Surrey County Council - as well as finding out how two councils are using commercial property investment to help balance the books. Finally, we have a profile interview with Martin Surl, Police and Crime Commissioner for Gloucestershire, and we look at a scheme in the region aimed at keeping young offenders out of the Youth Justice System. Keep sending your news to Transform for potential future inclusion to info@iese.org.uk as Transform is a place to share bestpractice as well as keeping you informed about iESE initiatives.

Dr Andrew Larner and the iESE team

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Profile piece: An interview with Martin Surl, Police and Crime Commissioner for Gloucestershire, about his work and a closer look at a project keeping young offenders out of the Youth Justice System in the region EDITORIAL CONTACTS TRANSFORM IS PRODUCED BY: iESE www.iese.org.uk Tel: 08434 878 026 Email: enquiries@iese.org.uk @iESELtd CREDITS: Editorial by: Vicki Arnstein Designed by: SMK Design Views expressed within are those of the iESE editorial team. iESE is distributed on a triannual basis to companies and individuals with an interest in reviewing, remodelling and reinventing public services. © Copyright iESE 2019

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CareCubed: New product gives care cost clarity IESE IS EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THE LAUNCH OF CARECUBED, A SECURE ONLINE TOOL WHICH GIVES CLARITY ON THE COST OF SPECIALIST CARE AND HELPS MANAGE CARE SPEND - A PRESSING ISSUE FOR MORE THAN 200 LOCAL AUTHORITIES WITH A SOCIAL SERVICES RESPONSIBILITY. CareCubed builds on iESE’s decade of experience with the Care Funding Calculator, with the new product even better equipped to help manage the ongoing challenge presented by the cost of specialist care placements.

CareCubed brings significant enhancements to the modelling of care costs in line with changing patterns of care provision, as well as ease of use on mobile devices, a fresher user interface and enhanced support for 'What If' options and analysis and collaboration within and across organisations.

"There is continued pressure on local authority budgets in terms of rising numbers of people needing social care and the rising cost of it. There is greater need than ever for assistance with managing the cost of delivering care," said Vanda Leary, Senior Business Consultant at iESE. "The launch of CareCubed represents our commitment to further development and investment in this critical area."

Further significant enhancements are already firmly in the 2019 development plan, including an app for offline use and greater reporting and analysis functions.

CareCubed is already being used by more than 50 organisations in England and Wales, and will also launch in Scotland this March.

The benefits include savings on current placement prices and cost avoidance through greater visibility and control over price increases, which is extremely important in the context of the enormous budgets for specialist care. Added to that, it brings consistency of approach for local authority staff and providers, as well as evidence that the organisation has fairly considered the costs of delivering care and to inform them in shaping their local care market.

Contact iESE to find out how CareCubed can help your organisation better manage the cost of specialist care. “iESE can support local authorities with their implementation, whether that’s simply some initial help to plan the approach, or with greater hand-holding and negotiation support,” Leary added.

Email CareCubed@iese.org.uk or visit http://www.iese.org.uk/carecubed to find out more or book a demo

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Testing of council self-help tool underway TESTING IS CURRENTLY UNDERWAY FOR A NEW SELFASSESSMENT AND IMPROVEMENT TOOL FOR LOCAL COUNCILS DESIGNED BY IESE AND ITS CONSORTIUM PARTNERS. Commissioned by the Local Government Association (LGA), iESE along with partners Knowledge Hub, PFI Knowledge Solutions (PFIKS) and Porism, have been codesigning the Efficient and Intelligent Councils tool. The product, which will be free to use and is expected to be unveiled this summer, will allow chief executives and leaders to get a better idea of how they are performing and the next steps they could take to become more efficient and intelligent.

The tool will be backed up by a full suite of resources, such as case studies, methods, additional tools and contacts, to signpost help in areas local authorities would like to improve.

To get the design right the consortium has been working with representatives from 30 different councils including district, borough, county, unitary authorities and city councils.

By answering the questions, a local authority will get an idea of how they are performing in different areas. There will be four levels or stages of the improvement model. At level 1, a council is at the service-led level of change, at levels 2 and 3 at the demand-led level and at level 4 they are going right back to the actual needs being presented and responding to these in a holistic and intelligent way, solving the root causes of need. Local authorities do not need to pass through each stage before progressing to the next level, they may decide that for a particular service a stage is not necessary or aligned to its goals, as for some services, leaner or faster processes may be adequate.

Graham Simmons, Senior Business Consultant at iESE, gives the example of a council working at level 1 as one streamlining its processes to get stairlifts to customers quicker, while a council working at level 4 would be asking why the customer needs a stairlift in the first place. "It might be because the customer keeps falling and they might keep falling because of mobility issues. The mobility issues might be due to health and diet or lack of local support. With level 4, you are going right back to the beginning," Simmons explains.

He added that once the tool is available later this year, local authorities should take part because they will have the opportunity to assess where they are as a council and see where they are on the scale of improvement. "They can identify what the gap is, what they can do better and gain access to the resources to move to the next level," he added.

Alliance helps develop enterprise authorities IESE HAS FORMED A STRATEGIC ALLIANCE KNOWN AS NEXTGOV TO ADDRESS SOME OF THE URGENT PRIORITIES AND CHALLENGES FACED BY LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND HELP COUNCILS BECOME SELFSUFFICIENT ENTERPRISE AUTHORITIES. In alliance with Archemys, an organisation which advises private companies and local authorities on restructuring for growth and regeneration, and Aylesbury Vale District Council (AVDC) NextGov will join iESE's expertise and sector knowledge alongside the business re-engineering capabilities of Archemys and the experience of AVDC in implementing leading-edge digital solutions.

This combination brings a hybrid of models, specialist skills and application tools for re-engineering and turnaround to offer a low-risk, cost-effective programme of enterprise transformation.

NextGov provides a modular programme from iESE, Archemys and AVDC - together with break-through councils and leading technologies. Each council is able to

map out their own modular implementation plan - some may just start with the basics, while others may scope out a more comprehensive road map. "Rather than a multimillion pound top-down transformation programme, which we believe is the wrong way, we come from a ground-up approach. What we say is that transformation can occur one venture at a time," said David Robson, Director at Archemys. "iESE has incredible in-depth experience of the processes and protocols of the sector. We are very much a nuts-and-bolts company and when we get involved it is with a practical outcome. What we do first is re-wire management, particularly in the case of a turnaround, and then we give them the right tools and programmes to set about re-launching and scaling their business. We do the same with local authorities and our modular programme, together with tools and the applications, has been adapted and repurposed for local government," he added.

Dr Andrew Larner, Chief Executive at iESE, said he was

looking forward to working with Archemys and AVDC. "We know the thread has run out with tightening the efficiency nut. We need to get to a model of local public services that is sustainable. Local government leaders know they need to transform, but with no financial head room and no room for failure, the question is how.

"NextGov looks at fundamentally need in the community and how this drives demand for public service. The difference is that it hits that sweet spot that meets need by generating value for the community, creates viable business generating commercial value and also reduces demand by generating value for traditional public services.

It is not about reducing activity, you could actually be increasing it, but it is about viable solutions. That is why NextGov has the insight of an equity investment commercial approach but with a public-good ethos behind it."

To find out more about NextGov contact: andrew.larner@iese.org.uk

Seeing the bigger picture CHIEF EXECUTIVES AND HR DIRECTORS WILL SOON BE ABLE TO ACCESS A REAL-TIME PICTURE OF THEIR AUTHORITY'S ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE AND REMODEL THIS AT THE TOUCH OF THE BUTTON TO SEE HOW CHANGES AFFECT ITS OPERATING MODEL. iESE is in the process of testing its new platform which takes organisational data from payroll and HR records. The modelling application will show the structure visually and with accompanying summary information, allowing scenarios to be visualised and different versions saved for comparison.

The platform can also integrate with Active Directory software, which automatically updates the organisation's structure when anything changes, such as if someone leaves. Once a leaving date is present in the host system,

Active Directory automatically deletes the person, removing the risk of not having an up-to-date structure chart or 'ghost employees' who could otherwise potentially remain as headcount.

Several organisations are already lined up to both test and use it when fully operational. It will also, in time, become a central platform which iESE will add Apps onto - data from which will feed into the same central employee records. The first planned App which will link up to the platform is the Cultural Compass tool. This will take behavioural framework data and, by allocating this information to each employee record, will allow an organisation to roll the data up to see measures for each team, section, directorate, service line and for the overall authority to give both the current position and

the direction of change for the culture of the organisation.

"Being able to have a live view of the current organisation structure and costs to be modelled and understand proposed changes in real time to see what will happen to the bottom line is the holy grail for many organisations particularly for HR and Transformation teams" said Chris Bond, Senior Business Consultant at iESE. "Even more exciting is our ability to quickly add cost-effective Apps and link this data into employee records. This will give a much fuller and real-time picture in one central place, replacing the need for multiple unrelated pieces of software trying, and often failing, to link up to a legacy system with out-ofdate and inconsistent data."

To find out more contact: chris.bond@iese.org.uk

First Certificates of Excellence awarded IESE HAS LAUNCHED A NEW CERTIFICATES OF EXCELLENCE (COFE) SCHEME TO ALLOW LOCAL AUTHORITIES TO APPLY FOR AN AWARD TO RECOGNISE ANY PROJECT THEY FEEL DESERVES RECOGNITION AT ANYTIME THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. An application can be submitted on behalf of a whole organisation, a department or for an individual project. Unlike our annual Transformation Awards there are no set categories.

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We have awarded five certificates since the inception of the scheme, with the first five presented to the winning organisations at our Local Government Transformation conference last November. We will be featuring the winning projects of two organisations in each issue of Transform, starting in this issue with Insight Bristol and Surrey County Council (see page 5 for more information).

The other three winners, which will be profiled in a later

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edition of Transform, are: The Metropolitan Police Service for its One Met Model, South Staffordshire Council for its Efficiency and Income plan and Kent Public Service Network Govroam - a secure private Wi-Fi network for public sector staff.

To apply for a Certificate of Excellence or find out more, visit our website: https://www.iese.org.uk/ certificate-of-excellence

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The property puzzle Local authorities borrowing to invest in commercial property has increased in recent years as another way to plug the funding gap. As concerns about the practice mount, we speak to two councils about managing the risks T

he practice of investing in property is not new. But as more funding from Central Government has fallen away, many councils are increasingly investing in commercial property and using their ability to borrow money cheaply to compete with the private sector.

In many cases, loans are secured from the Treasury agency the Public Works Loan Board (PWLB), which lends at a much lower rate than private sector borrowers can secure. There have been some well-publicised cases of councils borrowing vast sums in relation to their income and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) is currently working on further guidance to support local authorities.

“Recently there has been a move towards investments in commercial properties, funded by borrowing, and in some cases the sole driver of this activity appears to be the generation of revenue," said Don Peebles, Head of CIPFA Policy & Technical. "A look at both the statutory investment guidance issued this year from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), and CIPFA’s Prudential Code quickly casts doubt on whether authorities should undertake such practices.

"We understand the financial challenges faced by local government and it’s essential that in these difficult times that the commendable drive for commercial opportunities does not result in inadvertent contravention of the prudential code."

Councillor Peter Heydon, Executive Member for Transformation and Finance at Bracknell Forest Council, said he understands the concerns but believes the risk-management process at Bracknell Forest is robust and measured.

Bracknell Forest started to look seriously at investment in commercial property four years ago in tandem with a transformation programme aimed at making a target saving of £20m over four years by the end of 2019/20. The authority had an initial budget of £50m, but increased this to £90m as property prices increased and yields fell. It hit its target without investing the full

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amount and it is no longer looking for opportunities. Its total asset value has increased by around 20 per cent in the last three years.

"As you would expect, we did a lot of due diligence, seeking specialist legal advice, and compared our approach with other authorities. We have looked very carefully at that and the way that it is accounted for," he added.

As well as careful consideration of the rules, Heydon says the council applies rigorous criteria to any potential property through scoring aspects such as: location, tenants, length of lease and age and quality of the building. "We have a template whereby every property is assessed and we are absolutely ruled by it - if it doesn't score enough we will walk away," Heydon said.

While some have criticised councils for playing a dangerous game, Heydon points out that Bracknell Forest's Assistant Director of Property has a strong commercial property background and leads a very strong and experienced team.

"We have also used professional advice quite extensively. When people are accusing us of taking unnecessary risks they quite forget that our senior officers are professionally qualified and we take advice from experts in the field."

However, he doesn't believe all local authorities are so strongly policed. "I have a feeling someone is going to come a cropper," he warned. "The private commercial property sector are very unhappy with it all and there have been a few prominent figures bashing away at the government. There is a political move to look at it more closely and that is welcome but I am confident that our strategy and risk management is robust enough."

Rushcliffe Borough Council is another local authority which has turned to property investment.

The council faced a funding gap of £1.4m over three years, with an increasingly uncertain financial outlook, and needed to look for ways to plug the deficit. Peter Linfield, Executive Manager for Finance and Corporate Services, says the authority has been investing in property for many years (both for economic development and

commercial reasons) and follows the maxim: Be brave but not reckless.

"In 2013 we invested an office block called The Point. It has been a big success for us and that was the start of further property investment. It was a semi-vacant office space that we bought for £1.9m and the asset, which is now largely occupied, generates around £300,000 of income per annum. It is worth around £3m in value at the moment, so has risen in value fairly substantially," he explained.

The council originally set aside £10m for property investment, but later increased that to £20m, of which £13m has been invested so far. It tries to keep its investments geographically close, but has invested in some properties around 20-30 miles outside of its boundaries. Still close enough that they can be attended easily if necessary.

"You want to get the biggest bang for your buck but also manage the risks for the taxpayer and we have not borrowed to invest in property but used our own resources. We have a risk strategy and look to have a balanced portfolio. Balancing risk in terms of the sector, the type of property, the credit worthiness of tenants and location helps manage property risk," Linfield added.

Keeping a close eye on the market and portfolio is also key."We need to be on our toes all the time.

Being ever vigilant and looking out for the warning signs is key, working with our professional colleagues, particularly in the property and legal sectors. The environment is fluid - and there will be a point in time when we might have to make a decision to dispose of an asset - we are not solely focused on property acquisition," he explained.

Like Heydon, Linfield also finds criticism levelled at local authorities regarding property investment somewhat frustrating. "A lot of people forget that councils have been investing in property for a long time and we need to continue to do it, complying with professional standards and good practice and effectively managing the risks. We can't just sit back and do nothing, we aim to be both proactive and proportionate with all types of investments." ■

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Trailblazers get stamp of approval At iESE we believe it's important to continually recognise and champion examples of innovation and best practice. That's why now you can apply for an iESE Certificate of Excellence award at any time.

An application can be submitted on behalf of a whole organisation, a department or individual project.

Unlike our annual Transformation Awards, there are no categories, allowing you to highlight any project you feel deserves recognition

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e have awarded five Certificates of Excellence since the inception of the scheme, with the first five given at our Local Government Transformation conference last November. We will recap two winners in each issue of Transform, starting this issue with Insight Bristol and Surrey County Council.

Insight Bristol Insight Bristol has been recognised for its groundbreaking work in developing state-of-the-art analytical tools for use by public sector staff working with vulnerable families.

The data analytics team at Insight Bristol, which comprises of Avon and Somerset Constabulary and Bristol City Council staff, has created tools for use by public sector workers with its main work centred around the Think Family Database (TFD). This pulls together data from around 30 different public sector sources to create a diverse dataset covering 54,000 families across the City of Bristol. The database is updated regularly to ensure new and existing information is matched and merged. It is used to assist staff - from those case triaging to frontline workers - to identify ‘at risk’ families and better coordinate support.

In addition, Insight Bristol has developed five predictive risk models. These include: a model to help identify Children at risk of sexual exploitation (CSE), potential domestic violence offenders, potential domestic violence victims, people at risk of going missing and a predictive model measuring conduct disorder. The CSE model is actively used by police and has contributed towards the team being nominated for a number of national awards. When first deployed, the CSE model identified 320 young people with a heightened risk of being sexually exploited, many who were not previously flagged as at risk.

The Insight team also utilises a piece software called Qlik Sense - primarily a data exploration tool to allow staff to interpret and understand data retained within the TFD. One app, for example, gives managers and commissioners access to aggregated data, allowing them to see geographical trends in

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demand and allowing for a better understanding of how different indicators correlate with each other.

This has allowed for identification of trends that could not have previously been identified, more effective allocation of resources and significant efficiency savings.

The impact of the Early Help offer from the council, of which the TFD has played a significant role, has had life-changing benefits for families across the city and institutional change in how services approach joint working and supporting vulnerable families. A 2016 analysis of 200 families who accessed Early Help support found a 50 per cent reduction in unauthorised absence from school, a 71 per cent decrease in number of family members being identified as Prolific and Priority Offenders, a 41 per cent reduction in police call-outs to households of supported families, a 73 per cent reduction in the number of adults subject to an anti-social behaviour intervention and a 70 per cent increase in the number of adults in work.

Tom Fowler, Data Scientist and Manager of the Insight Bristol Analytics Hub, said: “Receiving the iESE Certificate of Excellence brought a lot of positive attention from our external partners and senior leaders from both Bristol City Council and Avon and Somerset Constabulary. This gave a great validation of the work we have been doing and a positive recognition for the team of their dedication and efforts.”

Surrey County Council (SCC) Surrey County Council (SCC) has partnered with the University of Surrey through a doctoral project to develop a tool capable of supporting commissioning decisions around the organisation's provision for Looked After Children (LAC) and Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) children.

The tool, namely a simulated version of SCC’s LAC and SEND placement system based on quantitative and qualitative data from agencies and users, will be developed to enable commissioners to test various “what-if” scenarios and observe the likely effect of a proposed change, or set of changes, on the system

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Left: Harry Angus and Tom Fowler with Dr Andrew Larner Below: Sara Dicerto with Dr Andrew Larner

as a whole. The overall aim is to identify potential areas for system improvement, both in terms of outcomes for children and value for money.

System mapping and modelling is a methodological approach which is not usually adopted by local authorities, both because of issues of capacity and of data maturity, especially in large authorities like Surrey. SCC is at the forefront of innovation in this sense, having developed its data maturity through the adoption and the efficient use of systems like the software Tableau, and therefore being in a position to support the quantitative side of system modelling with data from various services.

Also, simulations are more frequently adopted in the context of the development of national policy, especially with regard to environmental rather than social policy. SCC believes new standards of work might well be developed out of its approach.

A further part of the attractiveness of the project lies in its ability to increase SCC's capacity to apply modelling and simulation to other areas in the future, as it will provide state-of-the-art knowledge of modelling approaches that can be used as a new platform for further transformation. At the end of the project, SCC expects to have made significant progress in terms of its outcomes for children and its financial sustainability.

The project officially started at the beginning of October 2018 and is currently in its earliest stage of development. The exact scope and focus of the work over the three-year period will be guided by the SCC leadership. Nevertheless, the project is designed to produce actionable insights long before its deadline.

Sara Dicerto, Senior Commissioning Officer Analysis, Surrey County Council, said: “The Analytics Hub is delighted to have been awarded the Certificate of Excellence. We believe this is a great recognition both for a very new team at Surrey County Council and for the role analytics and research can play in the improvement and transformation of local authority services.” ■ To apply for a Certificate of Excellence, visit our website: https://www.iese.org.uk/ certificate-of-excellence

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PREVENTION is better than cure Martin Surl became the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Gloucestershire in 2012. One of 40 PCCs across England and Wales, Surl uniquely commits one per cent of Gloucestershire's policing budget annually to a Commissioners' Fund - a kitty which makes grants to voluntary and community sector organisations whose goals align with police and crime plan priorities. He believes treating these organisations as respected partners could help all public services achieve their goals N

ow in his second term of office, which will see him serve until at least 2020, Gloucestershire's PCC Martin Surl regards setting up the Commissioners' Fund as his biggest achievement and one he hopes will remain long after his tenure ends.

Like all councils, PCCs have faced stringent austerity measures in recent years. Surl has already warned Gloucestershire residents that their council taxes will have to rise for the 2019/20 financial year - a power within his remit - to help meet the two per cent pay rise promised to police officers by the Home Office, despite no corresponding increase in the county's grant.

However, he is adamant that the one per cent of Gloucestershire's budget - around ÂŁ1 million which goes into the Commissioners' Fund is money well spent and that local police forces would agree.

Like councils, police forces are realising they cannot meet all of the community's needs on their own.

"When I became commissioner, I faced massive cuts to youth services, to everything. The voluntary

and community sector was under real pressure and at risk in some places of collapsing - which I thought was very dangerous - so we took some money from the police reserves to give a small percentage to the local voluntary sector to say 'you take on some of this demand to try to make things better'. It began with a commitment I put into my manifesto that I would elevate the voluntary and the community sector to the top table and treat them as seriously as I would local councils and other stakeholders," explains Surl.

The Commissioners' Fund has the power to make grants for projects aligned to its six police and crime plan priorities: Accessibility and accountability, Older But Not Overlooked (OBNO), Young People Becoming Adults (YPBA), Safer days and nights for all, Safe and social driving and Safer cyber. So far it has supported 440 projects. "The results have been overwhelming and stacks up as a business case as being the right way to deliver good outcomes," adds Surl.

With the youth provision falling away dramatically,

Surl was keen to invest in projects in the YPBA category and has supported "dozens and dozens" of ventures in this area. "For me it is crystal clear, if you don't invest in your youth, you will pay a price further down the line."

In one case, the fund supported plans brought forward by the council and a voluntary organisation to open a boxing centre for youths in a town in the Forest of Dean suffering from the effects of antisocial behaviour. "We gave them ÂŁ30,000, they provided the hall and the training and as a result numerous youngsters go through that club and the anti-social behaviour has almost completely fallen away. It is still going 4/5 years later."

The fund also put some money into an underground youth club called The Cavern. "We gave them enough money to get the building ready and to open for one night a week. As a result they grew and are now open 365 days a year and have expanded beyond all recognition. It was that pumppriming money which has made a huge difference to a huge number of young people."

ABOUT MARTIN SURL Martin Surl is the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Gloucestershire. First elected in November 2012 for an initial four-year term, Surl is the first person to hold the post following the nationwide introduction of the role.

Now in his second term, he will hold the post until 2020 when the next PCC elections take place.

He is one of 40 PCCs across England and Wales and, as an independent, is not affiliated to any political party. The role of the PCC is to be the voice of the people and hold the police to account. They control the police budget and set the police and crime objectives for their area through a police and crime plan.

Born and brought up in Gloucestershire, Surl

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joined Gloucestershire Constabulary in May 1980. By 2000 he had risen to the rank of Superintendent. In 2001 he was seconded to the Ministry of Justice in Estonia to help modernise its police service and develop crime reduction partnerships. In 2005, he was awarded the honour of the Order of Merit in recognition of his work to introduce child protection measures into the country. In 2007, he was seconded to the Association of Chief Police Officers, Terrorism and Allied Matters branch as the Chief of Staff to help set up the UK’s policing anti-terrorism network.

His aim as PCC for Gloucestershire is to cut crime and make it a safer and even more pleasant place to live, work and enjoy.

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N E W S Surl says the fund invests heavily in young people because they are most likely to be victims and offenders. "All the evidence suggests that once they are in the system it is hard to stop the rot. We want them to be happy, to pay taxes and not go down the other path, which is demand on the police, the criminal justice system, the prison service, councils, social housing everything."

The approach is working. Crime levels for Gloucestershire have not risen as fast as in other similar areas. In Stroud, where the fund was supporting two youth organisations, it asked the local force whether it would prefer to keep funding the youth clubs or to have the budget for another half a staff member - their answer was to keep funding the clubs.

Despite facing constant cuts, Surl is still determined to strive for excellence. One focus has been improving its Force Control Room response times. This has resulted in more than 90 per cent of 999 calls being answered within ten seconds, with most answered in just two or three. Since September 2015, Gloucestershire’s Control Room has moved from 20th to 4th position in the category of ‘User Satisfaction for Ease of Contact’, with an increase in customer satisfaction of three

per cent from 94.8 per cent to 97.8 per cent.

Focusing on customer service is important for two reasons, Surl notes. Firstly, public confidence in policing is essential and under threat. "Some people only make contact with the police two or three times in their entire lives. It is important that they are given accurate information and are dealt with courteously and professionally. Secondly, if you don't get the initial contact right you are into service recovery, which is hard work and not particularly cost-effective."

Surl says knowledge-sharing among PCCs and other organisations is beneficial and believes councils could benefit from working more widely with the voluntary and community sector, rather than seeing it as the first place to make cuts.

"I have had to convince the police that the voluntary and community sector is an important part of keeping the county safe. Now they don't resent me taking one per cent of the overall policing budget because they see the value. Ideally you want to develop a long-term relationship with the voluntary and community sector which really respects their expertise, their enthusiasm and skill, while providing a realistic level of funding. It is such good value and does deliver, so I would suggest looking again at these partnerships," he stresses.

Doing the fund justice One initiative championed by PCC Martin Surl is Gloucestershire's Children's First scheme.

Launched on 1st January 2018, Children First aims to divert children from the criminal justice system by replacing criminalising sanctions with restorative approaches where appropriate.

The scheme recognises that involvement in the justice system makes reoffending more likely and brings a range of limiting consequences, such as a criminal record, labelling and interruption of education.

While the scheme does not receive ongoing funding from the Commissioners' Fund, it was given a one-off justice grant which paid for a project manager in the initiative's planning stages.

Prior to Children First, youth cautions and criminal charges in Gloucestershire were given by the police and dealt with by the court. This has been replaced by a Joint Decision-Making Panel which can apply a non-criminalising disposal known as the Youth Restorative Intervention (YRI) which does not attract a criminal record. It is a multi-agency initiative which brings together the Police, Youth Support Team, Restorative Gloucestershire, Health, Education and Social Care to get the young person the support they need to help prevent them reoffending.

In the first year, the scheme offered 243 YRIs. Of the 221 youths who had only had one YRI, 13.5 per cent have reoffended. In comparison, the reoffending rate in England and Wales for youths dealt with by the Youth Justice System was 42 per cent in the year ending March 2017.

Each youth in the Children First programme has to take part in a restorative justice element

i e s e Tr a n s f o r m i s s u e 1 1

to gain an understanding of how the victim was affected. Victims are at the heart of the scheme and are contacted within two days to see if they will agree to restorative intervention.

This could be a face-to-face meeting, a letter of apology or a statement about how it has affected them - whatever the victim chooses.

Kate Langley, Strategic Led for Children First, Youth Support Team Gloucestershire, said the scheme had shown lower rates of reoffending and a higher rate of victims agreeing to restorative justice than the Youth Justice System. She said the key to success had been getting buy-in from the multi-agency partners. "We are seeing a reduction in demand on our courts and it frees up frontline police officers who do not have to get involved in a lengthy process because it is handed straight to Children First. It is about being brave and we are in the fortunate position to have Martin Surl and his support. We are seeing less reoffending, better victim engagement and a real growing body of evidence."

She added: "While throwing in the weight of the law might seem right in the moment, this is about hearts and minds and cultural change. It is not an easy journey and will take a while to embed but we are lucky to have strong leaders behind it."

Langley regularly speaks to other organisations about the scheme and its implementation, which was originally adapted from a long-standing initiative in Surrey, and is happy to knowledge share. Her email address is: kate.langley@prospects.co.uk

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Conference gives 'valuable insight' OUR RECENT LOCAL GOVERNMENT TRANSFORMATION CONFERENCE GAVE DELEGATES THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK TOGETHER TO SOLVE PROBLEMS COMMONLY FACING LOCAL AUTHORITIES. The five sessions, which were decided by asking delegates to pre-register areas of concern ahead of the event, gave attendees a chance to network and knowledge share.

The conference, which took place on 8th November in London, will now hopefully be an annual event. It was attended by around 35 delegates from around 25 separate councils.

Four of the five sessions were led by iESE experts, with one session led by Tim Adams, Programme Manager at the Local Government Association. The sessions were: Prevention, early intervention and the use of community capacity, Digital transformation and agile working, Intelligent councils, Collaborative practice and stronger partnership working and Working to create an efficient council.

Annabelle Spencer, Digital Marketing Apprentice at iESE, said asking delegates to pre-register areas of interest worked well. "It was really successful. We wanted the sessions to be on topics attendees could really get involved in."

After hearing a presentation on each theme, delegates joined together in groups to share knowledge and ideas on ways to solve the problem presented.

Gary Pyke, Assistant Director of Transformation at Ealing Council, said the day provided valuable insight. "It illustrated the tensions within local government between saving money and the need to innovate and explored the idea of taking risks to implement something different. If all the ideas presented at the conference were allowed the space to grow and develop, we might just get the local government of the future we need." iESE also presented its first five Certificates of Excellence at the conference - a new initiative to reward and celebrate innovations in public service.

You can read all about two of the first five winners - Insight Bristol and Surrey County Council - in our feature on page 5.

• If you missed the conference but would like notes from the day, fill out our online form: https://www.iese.org.uk/localgovernment-transformation-conference ■

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