David Hill
Chief Executive
Milton Keynes Council
Civic Offices
1 Saxon Gate East
Milton Keynes
MK9 3EJ
22nd December 2011
Dear David
Milton Keynes Council – Corporate Peer Challenge
On behalf of the team, I would just like to say what a pleasure and privilege it was to be
invited in to Milton Keynes to deliver the recent peer challenge. The team very much
appreciated the welcome we received, the openness and honesty with which people
engaged in the process and the support provided in the lead up to, and during the course of,
the challenge.
This was amongst the first corporate peer challenges delivered by the Local Government
Association as part of the new approach to sector led improvement. It is testimony to the
drive and ambition of Milton Keynes that the council commissioned the peer challenge so
early on. You requested a peer challenge that would:
•
•
•
•
•
Provide a health check on the organisation and its capacity
Provide critical-friend feedback on the progress the council has made in the past two
years
Help to inform future direction as set out in the Organisational Transformation
Programme – is this the right direction of travel for the next two or three years?
Review the progress made in relation to financial management and the planning of
major projects
Consider the challenges that still lie ahead to further strengthen political governance
arrangements and mechanisms for community engagement
As you will recall, we undertook to write to you to confirm the team’s findings, building on the
feedback provided to you on the final day we were in Milton Keynes and, in particular,
expanding upon those areas that we highlighted as likely to benefit from some further
attention. This letter sets out those findings. It is important to stress that this was not an
inspection. The peers used their experience and knowledge to reflect on the evidence
presented to them by people they met, things they saw and material that they read.
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It is clear to us that Milton Keynes as a place already has much to offer but is also delivering
on its ambitions to progress further on a range of fronts – including economic growth, inward
investment, housing, infrastructure, amenities, tourism and a national and international profile
– which combine to represent a very exciting future. The council itself has clearly made
considerable progress in a number of key areas that, as recently as two to three years ago,
were deemed to be deeply problematic – primarily children’s services, financial management
and project and programme management. However, a number of key challenges still
remain, including improving customer service and public access, delivering sound
stewardship and strategic direction for both the council and Milton Keynes within a complex
political environment, addressing issues of deprivation and social disadvantage, delivering
organisational change successfully and addressing any outstanding issues in relation to
elected member conduct and relationships between officers and councillors.
The table below seeks to reflect, in greater detail, the successes and challenges outlined by
the team in the feedback they delivered on the final day of the peer challenge.
Leadership and
place
Milton Keynes –
impressive offer,
vision and
aspirations
As people largely new to Milton Keynes, we were impressed
with what it has to offer and the vision and aspirations that it
has for the future. The range of amenities and activities
appeal to local, national and international audiences. The
vision of ‘Where we think differently, create opportunity and
believe in people’ and the objectives underpinning it have
broad appeal. The objectives relate to the following:

World Class MK

Living in MK

Working in MK

Visiting MK

Cleaner, greener, safer, healthier MK
The council’s corporate plan, which contains this vision and
objectives, appears to be set for formal adoption at Full
Council early in 2012. Some of the aspirations associated
with these objectives, such as attaining ‘city’ status, becoming
recognised as a low carbon city, seeing a university
established, the expansion of the football stadium, attracting
increasing amounts of inward investment, plus the efforts that
went into the bid to see Milton Keynes selected as one of
England’s football World Cup venues should it have been
chosen to host the tournament in 2018, reflect the ambition of
both the council and the place.
There is a clear
political direction and
real energy
At the heart of the council’s vision and objectives sits a clear
political direction being provided by the Administration and the
real energy demonstrated by the Cabinet members that we
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met is reflected in the ambition being shown by the council.
We weren’t certain, however, that the political priorities were
clearly understood by staff, with some of those we met, even
at middle manager level, being unaware of the
Administration’s greater emphasis on social and physical
regeneration.
Fantastic opportunity
– influencing the
future direction of
Milton Keynes, with a
key role for elected
members
Perhaps for the first time in its history, the council has a real
opportunity to be the primary influencer of the future direction
of Milton Keynes through assuming functions and powers,
including inward investment, development control and
responsibility for property assets, previously vested in others
over the decades, such as the New Towns Corporation,
English Partnerships and the Homes and Communities
Agency. However, in order to realise the benefits of this
fantastic opportunity for the council and the place, the
council’s elected membership needs to fulfil a key role,
involving providing clear strategic direction, effective strategic
planning and sound stewardship for Milton Keynes. This
cannot afford to be undermined or de-railed by local political
tensions or changes in political control. In addition, it will be
Challenge for elected important for councillors to find ways of managing the tension
members in
that may well arise between the strategic planning and future
managing the tension development of Milton Keynes and considerations within
between strategic
individual wards. A simple example exists in the form of
and ward
managing the benefits and tensions that will arise around the
considerations
establishment of more than 11,000 new homes, 17,000 new
jobs and the related infrastructure in the period through to
2016. That said, a very positive step has been taken with the
adoption of a Full Council motion in support of co-ordinated
growth with adequate advance infrastructure delivery.
Impressive progress
around economic
development
Milton Keynes –
clearly now relating
to South East
Midlands
There has been impressive progress in relation to the
economic development of Milton Keynes. Key examples
include the development of the Growth Strategy MK2031 and
the Local Investment Plan, securing a blend of private and
public investment, the creation of more than 22,000 private
sector jobs over the last ten years or so, arrangements for the
establishment of the next generation of broadband and digital
infrastructure and the continued securing of inward
investment, such as the relocation of Network Rail’s
Operations Centre. The work done in establishing the South
East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership and ensuring
Milton Keynes is seen as a key player in it is very positive.
Having for a long time ‘played to different audiences’
regionally and nationally, including the South East of England,
Milton Keynes is clearly now majoring on relating to the South
East Midlands – providing it with a clear geographical focus
and seeing it benefit from engaging with places and councils
with very similar considerations, challenges and agendas.
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Also, the leader of the council is playing a key role in ensuring
Milton Keynes’ interests, and what it has to offer, are
promoted at the national level.
Commitment to
regeneration –
looking to move
away from a ‘two
speed city’
The council is
building on the
goodwill and
engagement of
partners
Some strong
arrangements in
place with health –
legislative changes
pose a recognised
risk
It would be easy to develop a sense of Milton Keynes as
simply a place of growth and prosperity. In reality, it is more
complex than that. At one level it is recognised as one of the
top five city economies nationally for its growth potential and
is ranked 211th out of 326 on the national index of deprivation
of local authority areas, where one is the most deprived. At
another level, 18 of the 139 ‘lower super output areas’ that
make up Milton Keynes feature in the 20% most deprived in
England – with around ten thousand people living in these
areas. Many of the most deprived communities are within the
estates built as part of the original development of Milton
Keynes as a new town in the 1960s, with a range of both
physical and social challenges. These contrasts have seen
Milton Keynes defined by some as a ‘two speed city’. We
noted the commitment of the new Administration to
regeneration and the extensive activities being delivered by
the council, in partnership with others, to achieve both the
physical and social regeneration of the more deprived
communities. One of the stated objectives of the
Administration is to ensure residents ‘occupy fit for purpose
housing that meets individual needs’. Work is currently being
undertaken to determine how to establish a ‘delivery vehicle’
for regeneration activity.
Whilst our peer challenge activities involved only limited
engagement with the council’s partners, we developed a
picture of the council engaging and working well with partners.
It was clear to us that there are good relationships with, and
significant goodwill from, partners - including the likes of the
Community Foundation, the wider voluntary sector, the Parks
Trust, business organisations and major employers (including
retailers such as John Lewis), the Sports and Education Trust
at MK Dons, the Environment Agency and the Highways
Agency. The re-development of Station Square provides a
good example of extensive engagement between the council,
business and key stakeholders. The council’s chief executive
meets regularly with the leaders of key organisations and
several good thematic multi-agency partnerships exist, for
example the one relating to community safety. We were
impressed by the strong arrangements that are in place
between adults’ services and health, including extensive joint
commissioning and service integration – although we gleaned
that there is still a way to go before this is mirrored between
health and children’s services. Navigating the legislative
changes in relation to the health sector present a key
challenge, not least because what has been achieved over
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recent years in Milton Keynes means the area has more to
lose than most if the transition isn’t a smooth or effective one.
Within this, we noted that the development of arrangements
for General Practitioner (GP) Commissioning is progressing
well but the changes involving Public Health are moving more
slowly than would be desirable.
Community
engagement – what
do we actually
mean?
A key strand of the peer challenge agreed with the council in
advance was for us ‘to consider the challenges that still lie
ahead to further strengthen mechanisms for community
engagement’. In exploring community engagement, which we
did with a great many of those people from the council that we
met during the course of the challenge, we came to the
conclusion that it is a concept with a very broad definition in
Milton Keynes Council and, as a consequence, it ‘means all
things to all people’ – with the vast majority of those people
we spoke to being satisfied with community engagement as
they see it. As a result, it is difficult for us to identify the future
challenges – indeed we aren’t really sure why we were asked
to probe the issue – other than to say the council would
perhaps benefit from determining what it means by community
engagement and being clear about where it is going with all
such activity that it undertakes.
Importance of
understanding
communities and the
ways they are
changing
If part of community engagement involves understanding local
communities and, crucially given the Milton Keynes context,
the way in which they are changing, then we saw enough to
suggest that there is a good understanding of the ‘high level’.
The ‘position statement’ provided to us by the council to
inform our work begins with a clear outlining of the history,
current picture and future projections around the local
population and its make-up at the borough-wide level.
Officers that we met from the likes of regeneration and
planning gave us a good sense that they understand
communities at the more local level.
There is pride in
being an open and
listening council –
democracy in action
Another interpretation put on ‘community engagement’ is the
way in which local people are able to interact with the council
through the formal constitutional arrangements that are in
place, such as Full Council, Cabinet, Development Control
Committee and overview and scrutiny forums. There is
clearly pride in being an open and listening council – being
seen to deliver ‘democracy in action’.
Positive engagement
with Parish Councils
The council has a long history of positive engagement with
Parish Councils – both partly attributable to and reflected in
the likes of the Parish Assembly and Parishes Charter, which
provide formal mechanisms and guidelines for interaction
between the council and the Parishes. Parish Councils also
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Actively looking to
devolve to
communities and
getting them involved
represent one of the avenues being investigated by the
council as it seeks to devolve more to local communities. This
devolutionary shift, which seems to be more of an implicit than
explicit objective of the Administration, forms a key strand of
the council’s Organisational Transformation Programme which
is detailed later in this document and entails concepts such
as:

Transforming the way we inform, interact with and
provide services to the community

Taking a more strategic and enabling role with
partners in relation to children and families

Transforming the way in which the council works with
local organisations to deliver services at
neighbourhood level – including pursuing outsourcing
opportunities and fundamental service re-design
The council is also keen to get communities and local people
more involved, as reflected in the Community Mobiliser
scheme and the contract being fulfilled by MK Community
Action to undertake ‘community engagement’ in the more
deprived areas.
Issues around the
responsiveness of
services to residents
and elected
members and
keeping them
informed
A common interpretation put on ‘community engagement’ by
people we spoke to was that of how responsive council
services are to residents and elected members who approach
them with issues and how effective they are at keeping them
informed on what is being done in relation to those issues. It
was clear that this was felt to be very patchy across the
organisation and a source of tension with councillors – with a
particular issue being a tendency for some services to overpromise and then fail to live up to it.
Wide range of
standard
engagement tools
and approaches
Looking more ‘traditionally’, the council can be seen to have a
wide range of standard engagement tools and approaches,
including the likes of a regular citizens’ survey, service and
theme-based consultation initiatives (reflected in a
‘consultation finder’ on the council’s website) and the council
newspaper. These are very much in line with the
arrangements established by the majority of local authorities.
Where is the council
going with all of this?
Having been asked to probe the issue of ‘community
engagement’, the issue for us is where the council is going
with all of this activity in terms of what it informs and leads to
and how that process operates, whether the range of activity
is joined-up and strategic or if it runs the risk of duplication of
effort and resources and whether, given the range of
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pressures and demands facing the council, addressing the
whole issue of reviewing community engagement
arrangements and activity is a priority at this point in time.
Governance and
decision-making
Positive examples of
cross-party working
Elections by thirds as
a constant dynamic
Is the way you
conduct formal
council business and
deliver decisionmaking the most
effective? – for
example:
Generosity of
chairing
Call-in
Given the fine political balance of the council in Milton Keynes
and the existence of elections by thirds as a constant
dynamic, we were pleased to see a range of positive
examples of cross-party working on key strategic issues for
the council and the area. The Conservative leadership has
continued the tradition of the Administration sharing draft
budget proposals with the other political groups, including
through the cross-party Budget Review Group which is seen
to be working well; the Local Transport Plan 3 was developed
on a cross-party basis; and there are shared aspirations
around securing the transfer of local assets from the Homes
and Communities Agency to the council. This stands the
council in good stead for what we outlined earlier as the need
for politicians to ensure they work constructively together for
the advancement of Milton Keynes - involving providing clear
strategic direction, effective strategic planning and sound
stewardship.
Having learnt of a small number of examples of the
conducting of formal council business having gone a little
awry, in terms of very lengthy meetings and time pressures
leading to not all of the items on an agenda being considered,
it prompted us to look into this area in more detail. As
outlined earlier, the authority clearly prides itself in being an
open and listening council. Elements of the council’s
Constitution are very much enablers of this, for example
members of the public being able to submit questions to Full
Council at extremely short notice and as little as one
councillor or twenty local people being able to call-in a
decision of the Cabinet. Whilst elements of the Constitution
such as these may be slightly unusual, we recognise their
importance to Milton Keynes and would not seek to challenge
them. We do, however, wonder if the council may wish to
look at whether the way it conducts its formal business and
delivers decision-making is the most effective.
As one example, it would appear that the generosity of
chairing of some forums, in particular the extended timescales
over which public input has sometimes been allowed at the
likes of Full Council and Development Control Committee,
perhaps combined with poor agenda planning, has served to
negatively impact upon the conduct of council business. As
another example, the way in which decisions of the Cabinet
that have been called in are referred to an officer-chaired
Arbitration Panel and then potentially on to an Executive
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Scrutiny Panel, seems to us to dilute transparency,
accountability and timely decision-making.
How widespread are
issues of elected
member conduct? –
potential to
undermine the
ambitions of Milton
Keynes and the
standing of the
council
Opportunities to build
the capacity within
political groups to
help them fulfil their
roles and aspirations
The scrutiny process
has achieved some
successes but it is
felt that it could be
much more effective
Having learnt of a small number of incidents in public and
partnership forums where elected members have conducted
themselves in a less than positive manner, it prompted us to
wonder how widespread such instances are. We have not
sought to answer this – instead we urge the council to
consider the issue with the utmost seriousness. Despite the
positive examples of cross-party working and the importance
of politicians ensuring they work constructively together for the
advancement of Milton Keynes, which we have touched on
already, repeated occurrences of the examples we have
heard of poor elected member conduct have the potential to
undermine very seriously both the ambitions of Milton Keynes
and the standing of the council.
In saying what we have above regarding elected member
conduct and the importance of politicians ensuring they work
constructively together for the advancement of Milton Keynes,
we are not for one second seeking to take the politics out of
Milton Keynes. We do, however, draw a clear distinction
between the ‘cut and thrust’ of robust political debate and
inappropriate standards of conduct. The politics are very real
in Milton Keynes and we both recognise the political situation
that exists and respect the ambitions of all the political groups
on the council. Through the elected member peers on the
team we also have a good understanding of the challenges
that exist in political groups making the transition from
Administration to Opposition and vice versa and managing
changes in the numbers and the make-up of their groups.
Linked to these issues, we see opportunities to build the
capacity within each of the political groups to help them
manage changed or changing situations and, through this,
fulfil their roles to maximum effect and work towards achieving
their aspirations.
The scrutiny process has achieved some notable successes,
particularly where activity has been undertaken on a ‘task and
finish’ type basis involving looking in depth at a specific issue
of local importance. Examples include the consideration
given to maternity services at the local hospital, the potential
for the transfer of assets from the Homes and Communities
Agency and the issue of school places. However, it is felt that
overview and scrutiny could be much more effective than it
generally is at present, although Milton Keynes isn’t unique in
that respect. Our delivery of our findings to the council on the
final day of the peer challenge led to a very wide-ranging and
constructive discussion between those senior officers and
elected members who were present about where they felt
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improvement could be delivered in relation to overview and
scrutiny. This suggests a desire to take things forward, with
the discussion that took place providing a useful basis on
which to build. There is perhaps an element here of needing
to go back to basics and secure a clear, including cross-party,
view and understanding regarding the role of overview and
scrutiny and how it can best add value and capacity to the
work of the council and improve outcomes for local people.
Important for council
performance to be
considered and
debated in public by
elected members
Whilst the council has fairly extensive arrangements in place
to monitor and manage council performance, we noted that
this is seen essentially as a function of officers of the council.
Whilst performance information is presented to Cabinet on a
quarterly basis, there was very little, if anything, we were able
to identify in the way of elected members actively considering
and debating council performance in public, either in Cabinet
or overview and scrutiny. We understand that Cabinet tends
to simply ‘note’ the related reports and there has been
resistance within overview and scrutiny to find a ‘home’ for the
consideration of performance information. By contrast, we
see Cabinet taking ownership of the council’s performance as
crucial given it is they who are ultimately responsible for it. In
turn, effective performance management by Cabinet provides
overview and scrutiny with the opportunity to hold the
Administration to account. Ultimately this is about the council,
and its democratically elected representatives, being seen to
be accountable for local people receiving the type and quality
of services that they can reasonably expect.
Managing the
organisation
Many people that we spoke to indicated they felt the council
now had the most cohesive corporate leadership team that it
had had in a long time and that it was proving to be an
effective one.
Cohesive and
effective corporate
leadership team
The performance of the council and the way it operates can
be seen to have progressed significantly in several key areas
in recent times, including children’s services, financial
management and project and programme management.
The introduction of the Corporate Performance Challenge
process earlier this year has been a useful step. However,
looking at council performance reports from recent months, it
is difficult to form a clear view of how well or otherwise the
council deems itself to be performing.
We noted that in 2010/11, 45% of the council’s indicators
showed performance as not having met its target. At the
heart of this is an issue around the setting of performance
targets. As an example, in the second quarter of 2011/12
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performance in two out of three planning indicators was
reported as underperforming but the supporting narrative
states: “this is again partly a function of having set high
targets. Performance … is in line with national targets.
Efforts to achieve Milton Keynes’ Council’s own more
stretching targets will continue”.
As another example, three of the council’s indicators that are
more than 10% below target relate to street and
environmental cleanliness with the supporting narrative
stating: “In part this is due to a reduction of service provision
(graffiti and litter) after the targets were set. In both cases the
target should have been adjusted accordingly”.
There is a danger that being in this position generates
tensions between officers and elected members and
demoralises teams of staff who in effect become labelled as
‘under-performing’. Ambitious targets are commendable but
unrealistic or unattainable ones are meaningless and
ultimately de-motivating and/or ignored. From the public
perspective, the difficulty is that they just see the council
failing to deliver on published targets without knowing or
caring how ambitious they are.
Setting of council
performance targets
needs to be much
more effective
Structural changes
need to be
underpinned if they
are to be successful
– responsibilities,
authority and support
All of this leads us to conclude that for the council to truly
know how it is performing, focus effort in the right areas and
keep people motivated, the setting of performance targets
needs to be much more effective – and possibly more
realistic. We also developed a sense that generally staff know
how their own service or function is performing but are less
clear about the overall picture of how the council is doing and
believe this could usefully be addressed.
In July of this year, the council implemented a new
organisational structure. Within this, the authority has moved
away from a directorate based approach to one comprising
nine service groups supported by a corporate core. Corporate
directors’ roles have been made more generic and are
reducing by one in number. Underneath this, assistant
directors and heads of service are seeing their responsibilities
being extended. If the structural changes are to be successful
they need to be underpinned appropriately, with real clarity
about where responsibilities sit – particularly between
corporate directors and assistant directors – and assistant
directors and heads of service being given the authority and
permissions, particularly around financial approvals,
appropriate to their revised responsibilities. Given that people
will be operating in new ways, to a greater or lesser extent,
they will need to be enabled to make the transition.
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At a time of great
change the council
needs to work harder
to ensure staff feel
valued, informed and
engaged – including
visible leadership
The revised organisational structure at management level
forms part of a picture of great change at the council. Further
structural change is being delivered within some of the service
groups, whilst the fundamental role and direction of the
council is under consideration through the Organisational
Transformation Programme as outlined earlier. At this time,
and based on what emerged from our discussions with a
range of officers across the organisation, it is clear that the
council needs to work harder to ensure staff feel valued,
informed and engaged. Visible leadership forms an integral
element of this.
Several people
raised with us the
issue of ‘pace’ in the
council – we think
there is an issue of
prioritisation in the
organisation
Several people raised with us the issue of ‘pace’ in the
council. In doing so, we received mixed messages with some
people, particularly at elected member and senior officer level,
believing there is a need to go faster whilst others thought that
perhaps some elements needed to slow in order to speed up
delivery in other areas by being able to focus on them more.
With these different perspectives existing, there is a danger of
tensions emerging where expectations differ or aren’t clear.
We think there is an issue of prioritisation here, with the
organisation needing to determine where it really needs to
focus over the coming months and what might be able to wait
a little bit.
Elected member
development activity
is valued – but there
are issues around
keeping them
informed
Elected members spoke of their valuing the development
activity available to them, particularly around training for sitting
on quasi-judicial committees such as licensing, and what they
feel to be good induction arrangements for newly elected
councillors. However, there was a sense that communication
with them on key issues, such as the Organisational
Transformation Programme and legislative and policy
changes at the national level impacting on local government,
could be improved. The view was that briefings are
traditionally provided on any such issues should people
choose to ask for them but perhaps things could be more
proactively offered rather than largely demand-led. There did,
however, appear to be good arrangements in place for
keeping councillors informed of developments in their wards,
such as sensitive planning and licensing applications, events
and work being undertaken by utility companies.
Traditionally the
council has had
issues regarding
roles, responsibilities
and relationships
between officers and
members – we
believe that this is
Traditionally the council has had difficulties in relationships
between a proportion of officers and elected members, much
of which could be attributed to issues around understanding
and operating in line with respective roles and responsibilities.
During our discussions, we developed a sense that this is still
an issue. However, we are not clear as to the extent of this,
not least because we only spoke to a relatively small
proportion of people within the organisation. It is important
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still an issue
that the council determines for itself the extent of the issues
here and the underlying causes. Given some of the issues we
have already touched on, such as the responsiveness of
some services to residents and elected members, the differing
views on ‘pace’ and the challenges to elected members in
managing the transition from Administration to Opposition and
vice versa etc. it is quite possible that there is some frustration
on the part of councillors. Equally, council staff need to be
confident that, if they are subjected to any inappropriate
behaviour by councillors for whatever reason, it is worth
highlighting it and they will be supported by the organisation.
Fundamentally, officers and elected members need to be
clear about their respective roles and responsibilities. On this
matter, we noted a low level of awareness regarding the
officer/member protocol within the council’s Constitution.
Capacity and
resources
Milton Keynes Council has a gross general fund revenue
budget for 2011/12 of £560m and the capital programme for
the year is £64m. The revenue budget for this year is
reported as being on track for successful delivery, which is no
mean feat given the savings of more than £22m that were
built into it. Good budget monitoring arrangements have been
crucial in enabling this. The council has recently moved to
establish a detailed three year budget, which shows a savings
requirement over that period of more than £40m. Through
this, medium term financial planning can be seen to be on a
sound footing. We noted that good progress has been made
on plans for the 2012/13 budget, with the Administration’s
proposals for a balanced budget already having been worked
up and made available to the other political groups. A report
on the proposals was to be considered by the Cabinet shortly
after the peer challenge on-site activity concluded, with this
launching the formal consultation process on the budget.
Medium term
financial planning is
on a sound footing
Successful delivery
of a challenging
budget for 2011/12
and good progress
on 2012/13 budget
Financial
management has
progressed
significantly –
including good
budget monitoring
All of the above leads us to conclude that financial
management has progressed significantly. This reflects very
well on the organisation, given the situation that existed only
three years ago. At that time the council’s Improvement
Board, established in response to the authority being deemed
to be ‘one star and not improving adequately’, identified
finance as one of the council’s key challenges, with a need to
achieve strong financial management arrangements that
supported a stable medium term financial position. This has
been achieved in what can only be described as a very
challenging set of circumstances for local government finance.
Importance of clarity
regarding who is
monitoring the
There is, however, one element in relation to finance that we
would wish to highlight and that is what appears to us to be a
lack of clarity regarding who is monitoring the realisation of
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realisation of the
financial benefits of
the OTP
the financial benefits of the Organisational Transformation
Programme. Given the dependency delivering a balanced
budget over the next three years has on this programme, it is
important to ensure that the progress in securing the
anticipated financial benefits is scrutinised robustly.
Mouchel – re-based
contract to deliver
savings but council
staff need to better
understand how to
make the partnership
work for them
As part of meeting its savings challenge, the council has
engaged in successful negotiations with its strategic partner,
Mouchel, which has resulted in a re-basing of the related
contract that will save the council £2m per annum in each of
its remaining nine years. The council recognises that, going
forward, it needs to work with Mouchel to develop innovative
and new ways of working to deliver better outcomes at less
cost and believes that, where this is already happening,
positive results are being seen.
The council also recognises that it should always be working
with Mouchel to change the nature of what is being delivered
in response to changing circumstances. There needs to be a
degree of flex to accommodate this and both parties need to
recognise both benefit and dis-benefit will arise from this. The
council recognises that it cannot expect Mouchel to
add significantly to the council's requirements without
incurring additional cost whilst, equally, it is hoped that
Mouchel understand that should the council seek to reduce
their requirements then there would need to be an appropriate
cost reduction. All of this would need to form part of a
managed process.
Within this, it is important that council staff better understand
how to make the Mouchel partnership work for them, in terms
of ensuring they receive the services and support governed by
the contract and work in line with the arrangements that have
been established. As an example of what we mean, we
understand that the council has recently completed the
transfer of around ninety staff to Mouchel, some of whose
roles had been established within the authority since the
inception of the contract as a result of people wanting to ‘have
their own resource’ at an administrative level rather than
relying on the strategic partner to provide it. Such a position
is untenable and the council has acted accordingly. Such
‘work around’ of the contract, even on a much less significant
basis, cannot be allowed in the future if the authority wants to
maximise savings, efficiency and value for money. Officers
need to be clear that anything they ask for outside the terms
of the contract costs real money rather than simply
recharges. The council needs to ensure it obtains the support
and services that it has paid for under the contract. Integral to
this is making sure that officers are clear about what exactly is
in the contract specification.
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Good progress on
project and
programme
management – the
MK Approach
Improving project and programme management was a core
strand of activity under the council’s Improvement Board,
following serious concerns that emerged in 2008 in relation to
the management of a schools building programme. The
authority has since then introduced what it calls the ‘MK
Approach’ to project and programme management, on which
training programmes and supporting guidance have been
provided for relevant staff and managers. As things currently
stand it is estimated that around 80% of relevant projects and
programmes are subject to the ‘MK Approach’. Clearly this
means there is more work to do in order to ensure 100%
coverage but we would not wish to denigrate the good
progress that has been made to date.
Organisational
Transformation
Programme
The Organisational Transformation Programme represents an
overarching programme focused on ‘building the council’s
capacity to provide good quality, efficient and effective
services and enabling the delivery of outcomes and
organisational transformation’. The programme comprises six
strands as follows:
Overarching
programme that
addresses key areas
Importance of
improving the ‘lived
experience’ for
residents and visitors
is a recognised
priority – customer
service and public
access

Public access

Children and families

Health and well-being

Alternative models of service delivery

Organisational structure and processes

Business opportunities
Whilst we haven’t probed every aspect of the programme in
detail, it seems to us that it addresses the key areas. Within
this, based on what we have gleaned during the peer
challenge process, it is vital that the council is able to deliver
on what is a recognised priority – improving the ‘lived
experience’ for residents and visitors. The council
acknowledges that for people living in and visiting Milton
Keynes, what they experience in the way of customer service
when seeking to contact the council leaves quite a lot to be
desired. As examples of what we mean, the ability to
undertake transactions via the council’s website is extremely
limited – certainly well off the pace of many other councils –
whilst the myriad of telephone numbers for calling the
authority can be neither simple to comprehend, efficient or
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represent join-up across the organisation and there is some
doubt as to whether somebody’s call will actually be answered
at all. People visiting the council offices may well have to visit
different buildings to have their issue dealt with. All in all,
there remains a lot of work to be done in this area. We would
stress, however, that the council, with Mouchel, already have
plans in place in relation to telephone and face to face
contact.
‘Route map’ but with
significant scoping
underway
Elected member
ambivalence at this
stage
Scepticism amongst
staff – vision and
communication
At this stage, the Organisational Transformation Programme
feels to us to be more of a ‘route map’ than a detailed set of
plans focused on delivering specific outcomes. However,
given it only commenced formally in the summer and the
complexity of many of the issues that the programme is
focused on, this is not surprising. There is significant scoping
underway which starts to translate into formal proposals and
recommendations early in the new year, with the Forward
Plan for the Cabinet showing a number of major items to be
put before it in January and the months that follow as a result
of the scoping activity.
Whilst many elements of the programme are fundamental to
the future of the organisation, both in terms of its role, size
and shape and its financial position, we noted a large degree
of elected member ambivalence about the programme at this
stage and scepticism amongst staff. Part of the challenge
here may well relate to what we have touched on above – key
elements of the programme still being at the scoping stage
and thus feeling rather intangible. It is important, particularly
for staff, to be able to get a sense of what the future looks like
– essentially a vision, in so much as one can be provided at
this stage – before too much longer and for there to be
effective communication about the progress being made on
the programme, the implications it has for people, how they
can be involved in shaping the future and what is being
achieved.
A key part of the ambivalence and scepticism may also relate
Financial benefits are to the financial benefits of the programme not yet having been
not explicit
made explicit. It is our view that the Organisational
Transformation Programme would be far better received by
both elected members and staff if they were clear about the
financial significance of it. A good proportion of people we
spoke to see it as the latest structural fad rather than the
vehicle for delivering the financial transformation that is
required over the next 3 years.
Successful delivery
will achieve
fundamental change
Things need to start to crystalise for people in the council
soon in order for them to understand and believe that
successful delivery of the Programme will fulfil what is being
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for the organisation
aimed at – fundamental change for the organisation.
We were impressed by much of what we heard and saw during the peer challenge and are
clear that there is both firm evidence of significant improvement in the last couple of years
and a very exciting future in Milton Keynes. We hope that we have reflected this in what we
have outlined above. We have also sought to highlight areas that the council needs to pay
more attention to – and indeed it started doing so in some of these areas before we had even
left site.
The council’s senior managerial and political leadership will now undoubtedly wish to reflect
on the findings outlined in this letter before determining how they wish to take things forward.
There is also the need to consider communication of the findings of the peer challenge, with
many people the team met with expressing a strong interest in learning of the outcomes of
the process.
If you feel it would be helpful, we would be very happy to be involved in an improvement
planning meeting to assist you in taking the findings from the peer challenge forward. As well
as myself and other members of the peer challenge team, we would suggest the involvement
in such a session of Marianne Abley as the Local Government Association's Principal
Adviser for your region. It can be delivered on a timescale of your choosing and would come
at no cost to the authority.
Beyond the peer challenge and any improvement planning session, Marianne will continue to
act as the main contact between Milton Keynes and the Local Government Association,
particularly in relation to improvement. Hopefully this provides you with a convenient route of
access to the organisation, its resources and packages of support going forward.
The progress that has been achieved in key areas for Milton Keynes Council in the last two
years or so is impressive and should give confidence that the key challenges now being
faced can also be successfully addressed. All of us connected with the peer challenge would
like to wish you every success going forward. Once again, thank you to you and your
colleagues for inviting the peer challenge and to everyone involved for their participation.
Yours sincerely
Chris Bowron
Programme Manager – Peer Support
Local Government Association
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