Clients
Clients with case studies:
Other clients include:
- City of Birmingham Council
- Devon County Council
- Essex County Council
- Gedling Borough Council
- Highland Council
- LB Newham and Metropolitan Police
- North Devon Council
- North Shropshire District Council
- Oxfordshire County Council
- West Sussex County Council
As well as:
- Founded, Facilitate and Manage the Exchanging Information with the Public Local authority user group. The only national group which concentrates on where Customer Excellence and Service Improvement meet (or should do).
- Chief Executive's group: Facilitate working parties, research, write and publish the EiP Group's Customer Focus Framework. (published 2007)
- ISB funded project PEG - Promoting Electronic Government. Sponsored by DTLR and I&DeA with the Federation for Electronics Industries. The project delivered an extensive set of deliverables on time and in budget. The project predated the IEG
- BICIS: Work with LGMB and about thirty authorities on sponsored project BICIS - Benchmarking in Community Information Services
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Initial brief
To study access issues in the City Council and the Westminster community.
CDW services
- Community study across the whole of the council (including meetings with key officers and elected members, workshop sessions with community leaders and on-site surveys in one stop shops and in other access points).
- Benchmarking study of One Stop Shops, comparing them against other early trendsetters
- Evaluation of community centres to access their suitability for service delivery in partnership with the council.
- Develop Access to Services Strategy
Key findings
At the time the Council was too centred, physically, on City Hall and had not given sufficient responsibility to its one stop shops. It was possible to demonstrate weaknesses in the approach to customers. Detailed examination showed how the 'One Stop' concept in the Council could be greatly strengthened.
Outcomes
The initial report and results of follow-up work were accepted and many of the recommended actions were adopted, including CDW's advice that a new appointment be made against our specified criteria.
Follow-up
CDW was subsequently appointed to continue this work by considering how various different community initiatives might best combine to enable best practice access to service in the city.
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Initial brief
Study development of One Stop Shops and face to face services in four of the early pioneering authorities which each had at least a seven year track record.
Develop a matrix enabling easy cross reference to this for client.
CDW services
- Identify and contact authorities to be engaged
- Establish survey matrix and populate
- Deliver report based on WCC's known priorities
- Contribute comments towards development of 'The Westminster Hub' concept
Key findings
- Very detailed matrix delivered
- When asked: What would you have done differently? All four study councils replied: Close all other front doors on Day One.
Outcomes
Report used (as anticipated) in ongoing development work and in management report
CDW was subsequently appointed to continue this work by considering how various different community initiatives might best combine to enable best practice access to service in the city.
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Initial brief
Develop cross-council improvement work using PEG project metrics
CDW services
- Run cross-council 'challenge' workshops
- Establish and develop in-council improvement group
- Draft, trial and test improvement process
- Support improvement manager and team
- Develop Access to Services Strategy
Key findings
- The process developed was a relatively easy and easily managed process that could be applied with all services.
- Managers liked it because they felt it was not over complicated.
- It was successfully used with a wide range of managers and Heads of Service.
Outcomes
The process was established and used for more than five years.
Follow-up
Malvern Hills continued to be involved in national development work
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Initial brief
Assist the emerging new unitary authority to develop a Customer Focus and Access to Services strategy prior to vesting day for new unitary status.
CDW Services
- Interview widely across members, Executive officers, Heads of Service and frontline staff. Review existing access points in both district and county services. Review main infrastructure issues.
- Engage with community at many different levels and understand needs in terms of expressed objective to 'take services to the edges of the county.'
- Support development of Customer Focus Board up till moment when they could progress themselves.
- Support and mentor key officers as work developed.
- Develop Access to Services Strategy
Key findings
- Neither district nor county delivered services 'to the edge' preferring customers to travel to them however inconvenient that was. (for the customer)
- Very different standards of service delivery among districts and county.
- Some districts more advanced than others in access strategies. Some county services the same.
- Objective could be met with much hard development work. Service improvement would be likely to follow.
Outcomes
CDW's report, with detailed recommendations for development work, was completely accepted. The new county is now in the process of integrating most of the company's recommendations with its already planned development work.
Follow-up
CDW continues to mentor and engage with key members of the customer focus team.
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Initial brief
Study need for a multi-agency face to face centre. Stage One: Develop a feasibility study and options appraisal. Stage Two (on acceptance of stage one) progress to develop a business case for the partnership.
CDW Services
- Interview all partners at Director level. Interview all Chief Officers and Heads of Service. Review all access arrangements and meet with frontline staff.
- Engage with community through Communities First, focus groups, mystery shopping and individual interviews with community leaders.
- Understand nature of Newport's diverse communities by active engagement on site in as many communities as possible.
- Produce report with feasibility study and options appraisal
- Engage with services to produce and sign-off business plan
- Deliver partnership seminars for LSP members.
- Develop Access to Services Strategy
Key findings
- The communities of Newport did want support but looked for a rather different on the ground delivery to the one originally envisaged.
- 'Readiness' for getting off dependency etc was a key issue.
- Improvement was needed in all partners.
- Integrating development between partners would bring benefits to the community and to the partners fairly equally.
Outcome
Both stages of the work were fully accepted and endorsed at Member level. Development work is now in hand and continues to draw on CDW's work.
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The Brief
Study aspects of Customer Focus widely and develop Communications Strategy to integrate with Access to Services Strategy. Help to integrate work of SoTCC among stakeholders and then with wider partnership by bringing customer needs and improvement strategies to the fore.
CDW Services
- Understand the needs of a community that has suffered serial decline in all its main industries.
- Interview widely across council services and review access facilities.
- Work with regeneration teams.
- Consider position of all the stakeholder's potential partners including voluntary sector.
- Develop Access to Services Strategy
Outcome
This is ongoing work (March 2010) which is, currently, providing much learning for all involved most definitely including CDW.
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The Brief
Work with the new unitary county's Customer First team to develop Project Initiation Documents (PiDs) within a full Prince 2 framework for all aspects of Customer First and support implementation across the county.
CDW Services
- Review all draft PiDs and comment
- Lead presentations at Board level
- Lead development work with Customer First team, working closely with manager and director.
- Develop Action Plan through consensus.
- Support further implementation.
- Develop Access to Services Strategy
Outcome
This is ongoing work (March 2010) which is currently providing much learning for all involved definitely including CDW.
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