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performance networks prospectus Benchmarking for success
performance networks prospectus
Benchmarking for success
Benchmarking for success
performance networks prospectus
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Features
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Local government is facing difficult and turbulent times with the prospects of ongoing financial constraints. The need for services to demonstrate their competitiveness, efficiency and cost effectiveness has never been greater.
Performance networks allows local authorities to compare performance of front line services on cost, quality, productivity and outcomes with the performance of other local authorities throughout the UK. This valuable information can not only be used for internal reporting, target setting, informing priorities and budgeting but also to demonstrate the added value of local services and highlight areas of improvement over time. It also allows the sharing of best practice across different local authorities.
The need for high quality performance information on value for money has never been greater
Benchmarking allows the comparison of performance against other local authorities and the sharing of best practice
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APSE performance networks is the largest voluntary public sector benchmarking service across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Used by over 200 local authorities it leads the way in local government benchmarking. The size of our membership gives added benefits to members by being able to offer a wide variety of comparator groups. As well as the standard family group comparator system, members have access to performance information by region, type of authority as well as other customised groups.
Join the largest voluntary local government benchmarking service in the UK
Comparator groups are the groups of local authorities against which a comparison of performance is made
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APSE performance networks provides a benchmarking service across a range of key front line services. Local authorities can either join for individual services or for all 14 services.
Building cleaning1. Building maintenance2. Civic, cultural and community venues3. Culture, leisure and sport4. Education catering5. Highways and winter maintenance6. Other (civic and commercial) catering 7. Parks, open spaces and horticultural services8. Refuse collection9. Sports and leisure facility management10. Street cleansing11. Street lighting12. Transport operations and vehicle maintenance13. Welfare catering14.
In addition, thematic reports are produced from existing data sets on the following areas:
Asset management•Soft facilities management•Neighbourhood management•
Membership subscriptions offer real value for money, APSE member authorities also benefit from substantial discounts on the subscription rates.
Benchmarking across 14 front line service areas UK wide
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As standard for all the benchmarking services the following data is provided:
Cost of service•Productivity•Staff absence•Customer satisfaction•Human resources and people management•Quality assurance and community consultation•
Some of the service-specific indicators are illustrated below:
1. Building cleaningThis service provides comparators for the cleaning of education and non-education buildings.
Square metres cleaned (offices/libraries/schools/public •conveniences) Cost indicators (labour/management /equipment/•materials)Staff turnover•
2. Building maintenanceThis service provides detailed performance information on maintenance of housing and civic buildings.
• Housing (void turnaround/time to re-let, gas servicing, target response times, number of jobs completed, value of jobs) Civic (cost of property management /incidents of •vandalism/arson) Stores management•Workforce data•
3. Civic, cultural and community venuesA facility based model where up to 15 civic, cultural or community venues per authority can participate. The model looks at:
Usage per target group•Cost per user•Visits per household•Primary and secondary income•Catchment area and demographics•
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4. Culture, leisure and sportAn authority-wide benchmarking service for cultural, leisure and sport services provided by the authority including:
Sports facilities•Sports development•Children’s play facilities•Cultural services•
5. Education cateringThis service provides a benchmark for primary, secondary, special and dedicated all age schools. The focus is on:
Free and paid meal uptake•Nutrient based standards•Subsidy/cost based indicators•Meals served per staff hour•
6. Highways and winter maintenanceThis service covers the main responsibilities of the highways department.
Road condition•Damage to roads/pavements made safe•Third party claims•Winter gritting/salting regime•
7. Other (civic and commercial) cateringThis is a facility based model where up to 20 commercial or civic catering facilities per authority can participate. The model focuses on:
Customer spend•Operational recovery ratio•Trading profit/loss •Vending income•
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8. Parks, open spaces and horticultural services
This covers all aspects of the grounds maintenance service.
Maintenance cost•Hectares maintained •Charge per hectare•Playgrounds/play value scores •Environmental practices•
9. Refuse collectionThis focuses on the waste collection services, with an increasing focus on the recycling services provided.
Cost per household•Recycling•Transport and vehicle costs•Number of missed bins•Domestic and trade waste contracts •
10. Sports and leisure facility managementUp to 15 sports and leisure facilities per authority can participate in this service. Facilities are grouped by the type of facility; wet and dry and whether the facility is dual use.
In addition reports are produced for the following types of facilities: flumes only, indoor bowls centres, golf courses, gymnastics centres, ice rink facilities, major events facilities, ski centres, stadia, tennis centres, and water sports parks.
The model focuses on:
Subsidy per visit/opening hour•Total usage•Customer spend•Catchment area analysis•Usage by target group•
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11. Street cleansingThis service includes a focus on:
Cleanliness standards achieved•Cost: service/transport/staff•Enforcement•Education/publicity•Fly-tipping and abandoned vehicles•
12. Street lightingThis service looks at the performance of the local authority and electricity supplier. The focus is on:
Lamps not working as planned•Time taken to repair lamps•Cost of maintaining street lights•Energy costs•Repairs undertaken by regional electricity supplier•
13. Transport operations and vehicle maintenance
This service is also available in a template compatible with fleet management software. The focus is on:
Contract maintenance•Direct maintenance cost•Vehicle availability and servicing•Prosecutions/penalties/notices issued•Passenger transport•
14. Welfare cateringThis service provides a benchmarking service for all welfare services provided such as the ‘meals on wheels’ service and includes:
Subsidy•Meals despatched/delivered•Transport costs•Food cost•
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Developed by practitioners
The APSE performance networks model is unique in that it was developed and is continually reviewed by a working group of practitioners. This, combined with working partnerships with most leading bodies including the Waste Improvement Network, County Surveyors Society, SCOTS and CABE Space, ensures that the model continues to be the most relevant, user friendly and responsive of its kind.
The series of performance indicators are a combination of compulsory/recommended measures suggested by the four main national audit bodies and local performance measures agreed by practitioners. These include cost, productivity, customer satisfaction, quality and human resource management giving a comprehensive view of performance.
Performance indicators (PIs) are pieces of information selected to measure performance
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APSE performance networks use a ‘like-for-like’ system to group authorities, ensuring a fair indication of performance can be made.
The ‘like-for-like’ system draws on factors such as local policy, demography and size and type of operation to form a series of driver scores. The family groups are formed when participating authorities generate an overall key driver score within the same range.
An example of the drivers used to calculate the overall key driver score for the sports and leisure facility management model are shown below:
Facility type/size•Location characteristics•Competition•Transport•Car parking•Social pricing•Market pricing•Peak programming•Off peak programming•Investment•
Compare yourself with ‘like’ authorities
Drivers are factors that affect the circumstances that each front line service operates in
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A recognised and robust source of performance data
APSE performance networks is recognised as a trusted and robust source of performance data within local government. The model met all criteria in an assessment of consistency, reliability and comparability of data required by the Audit Commission. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport reported “APSE methodology meets all the Audit Commission criteria”. The model has also been described as “well established and trusted to deliver information” by an independent validation by the Institute of local government studies (Inlogov) at the University of Birmingham.
Performance networks’ data undergoes a rigorous error checking and three stage validation procedure to ensure that its data is robust.
“APSE methodology meets all the Audit Commission criteria”
Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
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Demonstrating competitiveness In more challenging economic times, performance data is a means of ensuring the best use of limited resources. The HM Treasury Operational Efficiency Programme stressed the need for performance data:
“organisations need consistent, comparable data to be able to benchmark their performance against others to know whether the services they deliver constitute good value for money” HM Treasury website, 2010
In demonstrating competitiveness, APSE performance networks can be used to:
Set targets both over time and in comparison to others• Access performance across a range of input, process and •output measuresIdentify trends and inefficiencies from system failures•Review and challenge• Highlight areas for improvement and re-evaluate needs •and priorities
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Links to national performance frameworks
APSE performance networks is a local performance management tool. However, performance networks data can increasingly be used as evidence within national frameworks:
England – used as evidence in both area assessments and organisational assessments as part of the Comprehensive Area Assessment Framework
Scotland – our direction of travel reports can be used to assess the direction and pace of change, as well as how effectively the council has improved its services. APSE performance networks data has also been used by Audit Scotland for national reports on unit costs.
Wales – evidence for the general duty to improve under the Local Government (Wales) measure. APSE has also worked with the Welsh Assembly Government on using performance networks data within Ffynnon and with the Wales Audit Office on the cost of school meals as part of Appetite for Life.
Northern Ireland – during the transition to the new authorities as part of the Review of Public Administration, benchmarking will be a very effective tool in helping identify efficiencies and shape future services.
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The benchmarking process can appear daunting, particularly for local authorities who have never undertaken benchmarking before. APSE performance networks offers second to none support throughout to ensure local authorities have a smooth transition into the process of benchmarking and are able to utilise its benefits fully.
As part of the service, free data completion training sessions are provided, facilitated by APSE’s lifelong learning and development service. The range of guidance and support available demonstrates our commitment to supporting our members in the benchmarking process:
Comprehensive guidance notes•Free data completion and validator training sessions • Peer support visits or assistance from experienced •members from other local authorities One to one training and on-site visits from APSE principal •advisors Dedicated support line during the data completion •process Principal advisor-facilitated benchmarking meetings• Workshops at the APSE performance networks annual •seminar
The peer support programme uses experienced members from other local authorities to support newer members in the process
Comprehensive support to guide you through the process
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The APSE principal advisors have experience and expertise in facilitating the sharing of best practice throughout the APSE membership.
Real opportunities to share best practice
The real benefit of benchmarking is the ability to learn from those authorities that have performed particularly well in order to improve service delivery. APSE provides the opportunity for members to network with one another and encourages sharing best practice through:
Peer contact details provided in the performance report•Advisory groups across 14 different service areas •Benchmarking meetings• APSE performance networks seminar attended by over •450 delegates from different service areas. Mass email query service with over 15,000 contacts at the •touch of a button.
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Recognise your achievements
Each year the best and most improved performers are recognised and publicised in the reports for each service area.
The annual awards ceremony is held at the APSE performance networks seminar. This is a high profile event to recognise and celebrate improvements in services. Winners of the annual performance awards are publicised in the press, the APSE website and in various publications.
The case studies on how the winners achieved their successes are also written up into a publication and emailed out to all members.
The performance awards include best and most improved performers for each service area.
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Identify areas for improvement
APSE performance networks is a valuable tool in the improvement process. An example of an improvement case study from APSE performance networks is described below.
Bespoke value for money analysis can be produced in conjunction with our consultancy arm, APSE’s best value consultancy.
APSE performance networks is a popular tool used in performance measurement and identifying areas of improvement.
Transport Most improved performer: Southampton City Council
OverviewThe Fleet Transport Operation is a business unit within the Environment Directorate in Southampton City Council. The council has fleet of over 500 vehicles. Southampton Council performed particularly well in the following areas:
Percentage of vehicles passing DOE test first timeIt is important to try and ensure that all vehicles pass their DOE Test at the first presentation of the vehicle at the test station. All vehicles undergo a major service during their test preparation, which helps to identify any defects which could lead to a failure at the test station and vehicles headlight and brakes are checked on our own equipment. In addition each month we post onto the notice boards in the workshops the rolling year and year to date DOE test statistics, this motivates the staff to ensure vehicles pass first time. Any failure at the test station is investigated to determine why it failed and to see if we need to address any part of our DOE test preparation.
Percentage of vehicles serviced within 7 days of scheduleThe business unit ensures that a schedule of service, safety inspection and MOT dates are sent out to all customers a month before the service is due to allow time for the customers to contact drivers. Fleet transport has internal targets of getting all vehicles in the workshop within seven days of their scheduled
service or safety inspection. If a driver is unable to bring the vehicle to the workshops on the scheduled date, a new date can be re-arranged. However if the driver fails to bring the vehicle to the workshop on the rearranged date then fleet transport has the authority to remove the vehicle from service until it is brought into the workshop.
Number of PG9 notices issued by VOSA per 100 Council vehiclesSouthampton Council’s fleet transport operations have an excellent goods vehicle test pass rate and the Business Unit carries out stringent vehicle checks to try to maintain and improve the standards. Business Unit procedures state that all vehicles must be serviced on time. Fleet transport operations has a ‘nil defect’ reporting policy, where all drivers are expected to check vehicles daily and to report defects straight away to ensure that the condition of the vehicle is safe and road legal.
Future areas of focusA depot and workshop re-location is scheduled for autumn next year, there is also a project looking at joint working with another Authority which is due to produce recommendations in January 2010. Both of these issues will have a significant effect on determining our future, structure and the way we work. The next 18 months will be very exciting and challenging as we also look to modernise our service.
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Tools to test stakeholder satisfaction
Customer satisfaction surveys are provided and processed as part of the APSE performance networks service. This allows local authorities to measure outcomes alongside cost and efficiency performance indicators giving a comprehensive view of overall performance of each front line service area.
Standard customer satisfaction surveys are provided and processed by APSE performance networks free of charge.
Example: section of the sports and leisure customer satisfaction survey
In addition APSE provide bespoke user/satisfaction surveys and consultation exercises through APSE’s survey solutions.
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Analysis
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Performance measurement at a higher level
The growing emphasis on themes such as neighbourhood management, asset management and soft facilities management brings new dimensions to performance measurement. APSE performance networks has developed additional reports for these themes which involve no additional data collection. The reports incorporate multi-dimensional analysis as well.
An example of the multi-dimensional analysis is shown below.
The neighbourhood management report collates performance information across street cleansing, refuse collection, highways & winter maintenance, parks, open spaces and horticultural services and street lighting.
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Parks: Cost per number of green flags
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Performance reportsPerformance Indicator (PI) scores are presented in a clear graphical format, along with the highest, lowest, average and range of scores across the family group. Family group profile information is also provided in the report.
An extract from a building cleaning performance report is shown below.
Cost per metre
Total net cost of service (excl CEC)
Total Sq M cleaned
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PI 01 Cost per square metre for all areas cleaned (excl CEC)
Family group
£13.02£8.68£17.94
£2,211,539£6,344,883
153,206569,928
Average Lowest Highest
Lowest in range
Highest in range
Source data
Cost per metre
£0.00
£2.00
£4.00
£6.00
£8.00
£10.00
£12.00
£14.00
£16.00
£18.00
£20.00
[TNCEXMCP] - [INHVD] / [TNSMC]
Costs are net of income received for cleaning housing voids and outdoor areas (eg car parks, markets, etc)
Data outputs are also available in Microsoft Excel spreadsheets detailing the actual scores and outputs contained in the performance reports.
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Personalised Performance Indicator standings reports
A personalised tabular report presents positioning information and scores relative to data drawn from both the family group and the service wide data set.
An extract from a sports and leisure facility management PI standings report is shown below. The report can highlight areas where performance can be improved.
Street lighting services performance indicator standings 2006/07
Name of authority East Riding of Yorkshire CouncilPIN 8095Family group L2
Number Highest Average Lowest Number Highest Average Lowest Authority Standing Standing Top quartile mark Quartile achieved Ten percentile markin group in group for group in group in service in service for service in service output / score in group in service group service group service group service
PI 01a - Average cost of maintaining steet lights 28 £125 £56 £17 42 £125 £53 £16 £119 28 41 £41 £35 1 1 £26 £27
PI 01b - Average cost of maintaining steet lights (excluding capItal / bulk replacement)
27 £116 £43 £17 40 £116 £42 £17 £31 11 14 £26 £29 2 2 £22 £23
PI 02 - percentage of street lamps not working as planned 27 12.00% 1.72% 0.01% 40 12.00% 1.74% 0.01% 0.68% 6 7 0.70% 0.78% 1 1 0.29% 0.43%
PI 03 - % of lamps restored to working condition (7 days) 29 100.00% 91.99% 69.55% 42 100.00% 91.36% 69.55% 98.18% 6 9 98.00% 98.00% 1 1 99.31% 99.18%
PI 04 - Average time to repair lamps (authority only) 31 9.50 3.89 0.91 47 9.50 4.19 0.91 3.98 19 26 2.74 2.86 3 3 2.00 2.18
PI 06a - Total energy cost per lamp or illuminated sign 27 £38 £26 £17 41 £38 £26 £17 £22 6 9 £22 £22 1 1 £20 £20
PI 06b - Total energy cost per street lamp only 25 £38 £27 £20 39 £40 £27 £20 £24 10 15 £24 £24 2 2 £21 £21
PI 11 - Staff absence (front line Staff) 22 13.20% 4.79% 0.73% 29 13.20% 4.84% 0.73% 4.37% 11 14 2.16% 2.55% 2 2 1.41% 1.37%
PI 12 - Staff absence (all Staff) 22 8.00% 4.38% 1.20% 29 8.00% 4.24% 0.57% 3.70% 10 14 2.76% 2.76% 2 2 1.84% 1.76%
PI 13 - QA and community consultation 29 167 74.28 12 45 167 82.02 12 142 2 3 103 104 1 1 122 134.4
PI 14 - Human resources and people mngt 24 83 44.79 8 34 83 47.03 8 57 7 13 60 69 2 2 75.5 73.4
Notes: a. The authority will only be ranked in family group / service if it has shown an output / score within the set parameters for the performance indicator.
b. Quartile / percentile marks are only shown for those performance indicators for which there is a desirable achievement.
c. Quartile marks are only shown for those performance indicators for which there are a minimum of 8 outputs / scores within the set parameters.
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Performance indicator
Performance Indicator (PI) standings reports allow an overall picture of performance to be seen.
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Summary reportsAn overview of the years’ performance information is provided for each service area, detailing trend analysis, the data ranges and top quartile marks for each performance indicator.
An extract from a street cleansing summary report is shown below.
Highest, lowest and average scores across the service area and family group allow a good indication of how well an authority has performed in context
The average cost of cleansing per household has increased year-on-year since 1999-00 from £23.87 to £35.94 in 2008-09, an increase of just over 50% in the last ten years. This is an expected trend due to the focus on improving the quality of the public realm and investment in street cleansing services. However, there has been a levelling off in cost in the past 3 years, most likely due to general financial expedience and efficiency savings. This could also be due to the fact that many authorities have now established neighbourhood enforcement teams and invested in the necessary equipment and technology to improve the service.
The level of investment in the service has paid dividends in terms of improvements to environmental quality. The charts below show cost against the relevant indicators on the quality of the environment for England, Scotland and Wales.
The line on the chart below shows the percentage of sites falling below grade b for cleanliness for England only. Year 11 data needs to be used with caution due to changes in the calculation from the old BVPI 199 to the new NI 195. However, year-on-year improvements can be evidenced prior to year 11. The average score for NI 195 for year 11 was 8%.
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Direction of travelA direction of travel report is provided for each service which is a 5-year trend analysis. It shows a local authority’s performance as a bar chart for each year that the authority has submitted data to APSE, compared against the average for the service, depicted as a line on the graph.
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Members only portalAPSE performance networks hosts a secure on-line web portal which allows you to access reports, direction of travel information, case studies from best and most improved performers and other documents used for process benchmarking. An extract is provided below:
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Prospex GIS AnalysisGeo-demographic profiling is used as standard in the benchmarking of the parks, open spaces and horticultural services, refuse collection, sport and leisure facility management and civic, cultural and community venues services. It can also be used in any additional analysis that is required. Examples of what the geo-demographic profiling can be used for include:
Drive-time catchments•Deprivation• Climatic Data (average rainfall/sunshine hours per •annum)Population density•Average household incomes•
An example of a drive-time catchments mapping is shown below.
Geo-demographic Information System (GIS) is the mapping of demographic and geographic information.
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Bespoke analysis
In addition to the comprehensive standard analysis produced, APSE can provide bespoke analysis on request to meet the individual needs of local authorities. This may include analysis against a different comparator group (e.g. all London Boroughs, County Councils, Scotland only etc), trend analysis or analysis across a number of services.
An example of bespoke analysis is shown below.
Bespoke analysis is available to meet individual needs of local authorities
Trend = Continuation of the current top quartile figure for similar unitary councils up to 2010-11
Target = Stay within the shaded area which is witin the top quartile figure for similar unitary councils
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Baseline = Average performance for anonymous councils for 2007 - 08
Target = Continuation of anonymous councils average to meet the current top quartile figure for similar unitary councils
This performance indicator measures the customer spend per head. This spend includes the total income figure (which excludes subsidy or fees paid to external contractors). This is then divided by the total facility usage excluding free school usage. A year-on-year increase in costs is expected with this performance indicator due to inflation.
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Value
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By joining APSE performance networks, you will be joining a network with data from over 200 local authorities in the UK. Authorities are able to join for individual benchmarking services or all 14 service areas, allowing the cost to be distributed across several service areas, providing real value for money.
For authorities that are APSE members, membership of performance networks is offered at a considerable discounted rate.
For detailed pricing information, please contact APSE directly.
APSE performance networks is a membership service. Authorities are able to join either for single services or to all 14 services providing the authority with real value for money.
Value for money
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APSE membership
APSE also offers a range of services in delivering its aims of excellence in public services. At the forefront of promoting excellence in front line service delivery, the range of services provided by APSE is unique.
As a member of APSE you will receive a range of high quality services included as part of your local authority or organisation annual subscription. These include:
Briefings service on current local government issues • Network queries to allow you to source information using •our extensive email contacts Advisory groups over a range of 14 different service areas•Presentations from leading speakers throughout the UK •Principal advisor support and advice •Access to regional groups covering all UK•Regular copies of APSE’s newsletter Direct News • Press and media releases and briefings provided to your •organisation and local press on request
And preferential rates for the following services:
Performance networks•Best value consultancy•Interim management•Surveys•Lifelong learning and development•Seminars and events•
Promoting excellence in public services, APSE is the foremost specialist in local authority front line services, hosting a network for front line service providers
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Find out more
For more information, please contact a member of APSE.
Association for Public Service Excellence2nd floor Washbrook HouseLancastrian Office CentreTalbot Road,Old TraffordManchesterM32 0FP
t: 0161 772 1810
f: 0161 772 1811
email: [email protected]
Visit our website at www.apse.org.uk
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LOCAL SERVICESLOCAL SOLUTIONS
Association for Public Service Excellence 2nd floor Washbrook House
Talbot Road, Manchester M32 0FP
telephone: 0161 772 1810 fax: 0161 772 1811
27001
GB 14074
9001
GB 11132
14001
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