IT “critical” to local authority performance improvements

60 per cent of council managers at the 2010 Civica conference said IT is “critical” to local authority performance improvements and that the pressure to achieve ‘more for less’ drives council choices.

IT-based programmes will be “critical” to local authority performance improvements in 2010, according to our survey at the Civica annual conference held in Manchester last week. Nearly 60 per cent of those surveyed indicated IT remains “a key investment area” for 2010 in order to deliver critical service improvements.

Unsurprisingly, financial pressures continue to dominate the local authority landscape, and in response the re-engineering of workflow processes (33 per cent) and greater use of mobile and flexible working (31 per cent) were identified as key strategies for driving further efficiencies.

Shared Services & Organisational Change key to success?
Shared services were also seen as a key lever within the current environment (25 per cent). Recognition is also growing that while effective technology has an important role to play in helping to sustain services and drive down costs at the local level, organisational change is critical to the transformation process.

The conflicting pressures on local organisations to do ‘more with less’ were highlighted in the key priorities reported by respondents, which include sustaining service levels and delivering improvements in service performance and efficiency.

New Service Innovations influenced by data.gov.uk
Respondents are closely watching new service innovations. Nearly two thirds of respondents think that the newly-launched local information site data.gov.uk reported on this blog here will influence community services in some way: one third (33 per cent) believe that it will help councils identify demand for specific services and 29 per cent believe it will drive local authorities to improve service levels.

Nearly half of those interviewed (47 per cent) are expecting spending cuts as the government has not provided the complete picture on public finances.

David Roots, Managing Director, Local Government, Civica, said: "The uncertain economic and political climate presents plenty of challenges for local authorities; however, it is clear that technology continues to be seen as a powerful lever for achieving efficient service delivery while meeting local needs.

“As the survey indicates, rationalising, re-engineering and automating processes is critical to delivering greater service effectiveness whilst reducing costs in all areas. There is still plenty of scope for local authorities and their partners to exploit technology in addressing the ‘more for less’ demands made upon them."

For the full report on our survey results please click here