Co-producing Lambeth
what’s possible?
Lucie Stephens and Julia Slay
nef, October 2011
nef (the new economics foundation)
About nef
• Independent ‘think and do’ tank based in Lambeth
• Work alongside practitioners to promote innovative
solutions
• Developed a range of practical tools and publications
• Facilitate the co-production practitioners’ network
• Leading the UK debate on co-production and well-being
nef (the new economics foundation)
About the Co-production
Practitioners’ Network
• Over 350 co-production practitioners
• Online forum and face to face events
• Publications and media to increase
understanding of co-production
• Developing and testing tools requested by
membership
• Policy shaping and lobbying
www.coproductionnetwork.com
nef (the new economics foundation)
Co-production principles
• Public service clients are assets who have skills
that are vital to the delivery of services
• “Work” includes more than the things we get
paid for
• Building opportunities for reciprocity into activity
increases impact and sustainability
• Weaving community networks around
individuals and organisations increases
resilience
nef (the new economics foundation)
Co-producing services
• Goes beyond consultation, user involvement and citizen
engagement to equal partnership
• From ‘doing to’ to ‘working with’: no more ‘users’ and
‘clients’
• Shifts emphasis from providing to enabling and
supporting – public service workers become brokers
and facilitators, not just experts who can fix things
• Professional and experiential knowledge and resources
are valued and combined
nef (the new economics foundation)
Co-producing strategies
• The same principles and values of co-production apply;
– working with people in an equal way
– thinking about community resources and assets differently
– valuing everyone’s contribution
• The strategy has to be flexible enough to allow the
practice of co-production to flourish on the ground
nef (the new economics foundation)
The self reflection audit tool
Bespoke tool developed for wide range of
applications including strategic planning;
- Assessing opportunities for co-production within
strategies or new services
- Auditing current practice and planning for
improvement
- Engages stakeholders in reviewing existing
provision
nef (the new economics foundation)
Imagine (Appreciative Inquiry)
What you do
• Ask people to tell stories of what works
• Use that to build a shared vision
• Use that to stimulate action
Who you involve
• Who makes things happen?
• Who is affected by what happens?
• Who has good information?
nef (the new economics foundation)
Asset mapping
What you do
• Document what local resources in a given area
• Resources can be anything: people, local networks, buildings,
local businesses, people with great local knowledge and contacts,
anything with spare capacity
• Develop a picture of who and what exists locally that services
could tap into
Who you involve
• People who use local services
• Local members of the community including seldom heard groups
• Public and third sector staff
• Local councilors and community leaders
nef (the new economics foundation)
Peer research
What you do
• Work with a group of local people who represent a
wide variety of groups
• Train them in social and peer research skills
• Work alongside them to explore local issues and
opportunities using their knowledge and networks to
get a better insight
Who you involve
• Local members of the community
• Local institutions such as community centres, third
sector providers, user led organisations
nef (the new economics foundation)
Incentives and rewards
• Time credits for participation
• Paying people with Brixton £s
• Rewarding them with spare capacity
within the system
nef (the new economics foundation)
Spot the difference
• Professionals write the strategy based on their
own research and information
• Professional expertise alone is used
• A consultation is launched
• Engagement exercises are launched
• Users are invited to comment on the strategy
once it is launched
The guiding question is: ‘what do you think of our
strategy?’
nef (the new economics foundation)
Spot the difference
It starts with:
• What is the problem the strategy is trying to address?
• What are the outcomes people want?
How it happens:
• People who receive support, members of the local community,
service providers and commissioners/staff share their
experiences and insight into services to build up a picture of
provision
• There are regular, interesting and worthwhile events which use
creative methods to develop ideas and priorities within the
strategy
• Needs and assets are considered when writing the strategy
• People feel their contribution is valued, and that what they value
is incorporated into the strategy
The guiding question is: ‘what should our strategy be?’
nef (the new economics foundation)
Beyond the strategy
• Embedding co-production in service
design and delivery
• Adapting commissioning frameworks and
procurement processes
• Properly assessing and evaluating coproduction
• Changing workforce culture
nef (the new economics foundation)
Commissioning
• Worked with London Borough of Camden to recommission Mental Health day services
• Developed and implemented an approach that;
- Specifies co-production and embeds in contracting
process and performance framework
- Levels the playing field for local providers
- Captures the triple bottom line impacts of public spend
- Encourages innovation through greater ‘service user’
involvement
- Model rolling out across Camden and being
implemented in Young Peoples services in Surrey
nef (the new economics foundation)
Changing working practice
• Training and information about coproduction
• Learning visits to relevant best practice coproduction examples
• Ongoing 1-2-1 telephone or face to face
support
• Regular progress and learning reviews
• Documenting progress and capturing
learning using multi-media
nef (the new economics foundation)
Evaluating co-production
• Running evaluations of co-production in a wide
range of settings across health, social care and
housing
• Online and face to face wellbeing tools
developed for wide range of audiences
• Workshops, training and publications to support
understanding of value of well-being
• Track record of applying SROI to co-production
initiatives
nef (the new economics foundation)
Co-production support
• Co-designing services
Asset mapping, Appreciative enquiry, Open space meetings, Peer
research, Incentives and rewards,
• Commissioning co-production
Theory of change, outcomes frameworks, contract guidance and
procurement documentation reviews, provider capacity building,
assessment and evaluation
• Co-production training and mentoring
1 day training, 1-2-1 mentoring support, Co-production practitioners
network
• Auditing co-production
Co-production self-reflection audit tool, Incentives and rewards, Peer
research, Wellbeing surveys, Social Return on Investment
nef (the new economics foundation)