2012 winning communities inc cr chris meddows-taylor central goldfields shire council, mav future of...

2012 Winning Communities Inc

Cr Chris Meddows-TaylorCentral Goldfields Shire Council,MAV Future of Local Government Leadership Group,Melbourne, October 2012

The Future of Local Government in Regional Service Delivery CollaborationPresentation to the MAV National Local Government Corporate Services Conference


“The streams of politics, policy and a problem intersect (Kingdon 1984)

“Governments generally cannot do everything on their own; they need to work collaboratively with other stakeholders. This is especially so for local governments” (Metropolitan Local Government Review Panel Issues Paper –Western Australia 2011)


Change is upon us A new public policy environment globally –economic, social, cultural and

environmental challenges. The likely expectation that government –and local government will be

expected to do more with less. A recognition connected government is the key to effective delivery and that

collaboration is now essential for good governance and fast open government. Over the next decade Victorian Councils are looking at:

$2.75 billion unfunded community infrastructure gap 60% of Councils have an underlying operating deficit

Local Government is likely to change more in the next 5-10 years than in the past 50 years.


The challenge is to respond ahead of the curve

If local government don’t respond other levels of government will –and hasn’t that always been the case?


Change requires a fundamental rethink

Local Government

Do much more with much less

State and Federal

Governments

Fundamental rethink and value creation

Adding new Capabilities

Traditional Shared Services

Time

Out

com

es

Future SolutionsChallenge to Local

Government*

Building change readiness accelerates gap closure

• Become modern facilitators of sustainable regional economic development

• Develop new partnerships and strategic alliances

• Build learning and knowledge based communities.

• Move well beyond their traditional roles

Results

*Source: ALGA- State of the Regions Report 2003


What the ACELG said “Greatly expanded regional cooperation and resource sharing may

offer an alternative to amalgamations as a means of enabling councils to improve their efficiency and effectiveness.

the principal items of ‘unfinished business (include) expanded and strengthened regional collaboration and resource sharing (shared services), based on the establishment of robust and well resourced regional entities, amounting in some instances to fully-fledged ‘regional councils.’

Despite commissioning several of the inquiries, local government itself has mostly failed to assemble and prosecute packages of reforms that are acceptable to councils generally, and that also appeal to other key stakeholders – especially state governments.”

“Unfinished Business?” –A decade of inquiries into Australian Local Government (Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government) (2011)


The case to support better collaboration Given the significant change occurring in the global context,

we need drive reform and lead change. There is a need for stronger collaboration to capture the

economies of regional scale operations and to create the added value and opportunity regions provide.

Collaboration enables the capture of this new value and opportunity.

All councils need to be involved in the development and implementation of a strategic plan for the sector, starting now.

* Extracted from MAV Future of Local Government Strategic Change Group 2012 Communiqué


89%

2%

9%

1. Agree

2. Disagree

3. Unsure

working together?The sector can best drive change by

Support from the FOLG Summit 2012 for collaboration was clear


79%

5%

16%

1. Yes

2. No

3. Unsure

improve local government performance?Would increased regional collaboration

And regions were seen as key to this collaboration


How the MAV is planning to help Future of Local Government to be an ongoing development program. Initial focus on:

Supporting Council Plan development and review to create a platform for strategic leverage and opportunity.

Building strategic capability and change readiness in councils, work teams and regions through focussed activities.

Capturing recent investment in regional strategic development by accelerating change and opportunity realisation in regions.

Developing a sector wide leadership group supported by communication tools and expert resources with the added benefit of structured input from external stakeholders.


Future of Local Government

Councils of the Future

(focus Councils)

Sharing for Success(focus Regions)

Future of Local GovernmentDevelopment

(focus State/National)

Existing MAV programsCouncil Plan

development and review (new offering)

Helping Councils Lead Change (new offerings around creativity and strategic development [Future Solutions] and Transformational Leadership).

Shared Services (economies of scale and scope)

Shared Capability (focus on building new strategic capabilities)

Optimisation (using regional strategic planning for added value creation)

FOLG Summit and workshops

FOLG Leadership Group FOLG Stakeholder

Reference GroupFOLG Website

developmentFOLG Expert Resources

How is the change framework evolving?


Regional Development Australia Committees Regional Strategic Plans Regional Growth Plans Metropolitan Planning Strategy Regional Planning Committees Regional Growth Plan Steering Committees Regional Mayors and CEOs Forums Regional Management Forums Regional Tourism Boards Etc etc.

New regional collaborative frameworks abound


Regional Collaboration -Objectives Enhance local government capability by building strategic change

capability and change readiness. Identify and realise the benefits and opportunities for regional

collaboration including Shared Services (economies of scale and scope) Shared Capability (focus on building new strategic capabilities) Optimisation (using regional strategic planning for added value

creation) Build new value added cross boundary partnerships. Build cross boundary leadership capability. Create real learning experiences through joint activity.


The delivery of common services across regions offers significant potential opportunity for change.

The drive to achieve new economies of scale is significant Learnings generally are one size doesn’t fit all. Consideration often turns to structure and delivery model but

relationships and culture are as critical. Delivery models range from less formal arrangements to

multi-council owned companies. It’s important to identify low hanging fruit. Always invest in managing the change.

This collaboration provides new opportunities for shared services


The process needs to be managed to avoid conflict

Systems and Processes

Activities & Actions

Council “B’s” Way to Fix Problems

Council “B’s” Way to Improve Processes

Council “A’s” Way to Fix Problems

Council “A’s” Way to Improve Processes

Council “B”Council “B”

Council “A”Council “A”The Results

of the shared

services is reduced by conflict and

does not capture the

potential synergies

The Results of the shared

services is reduced by conflict and

does not capture the

potential synergies


Shared Services should build new capabilities

Combined, Innovative Systems and Processes

Aligned, Effective and Efficient

Actions

Improve quality of thinking and interaction (Learning & Knowledge )

High Functioning

SharedServices

Council “A’s” History and

Lessons Learned

Council “B’s” History and

Lessons Learned

The results of the shared services creates new synergies and builds new capabilities

Desired OutcomeDesired OutcomeInputsInputs

Means to accelerated change

1. Discuss/ Test BeliefsAssumptions and Mental Models

2. Develop Shared Vision and Strategies


Merger SynergiesMerger Synergies

Synergies realised

30%

Ill-conceived, failed, or

abandoned15%

Potential value ignored /forgotten

55%

Source Arthur D Little Consulting

Source Arthur D Little Consulting

Capturing the value of merged activities is important


* On a 7 point scale

Rank Factor Impact Score

People based issue

Forbes describes the top 10 reasons for the failures – “people” issues dominate the list


Capability -a new emphasis

The emphasis in the Queensland restructuring has been a shift from cost saving economies of scale to capability “Stronger, more robust local governments will enable councils to attract and retain staff.”*

In NSW Destination 2036 recognised one size doesn’t fit all proposing to “develop a variety of local government structural models to suit different environmental contexts.”*

Some key capabilities important to developing change readiness and maximising opportunity such as strategic development capability remain hard to attract.

• (*Peter McKinlay- McKinlay Douglas Ltd 2012)


What new demands are requiring new capabilities or capabilities hard to source?

Where are our key capability gaps? What new solutions are needed to close these gaps? What changes need to be made to implement these new

solutions? What are the low hanging fruit in terms of opportunities?

Capability - collaborative considerations


Generic high value capabilities include--

Strategic development, alignment and focus. Understanding of organisational and strategic

interdependencies. Collaboration across communities, regions and levels of

government. Understanding of roles and responsibilities of diverse

stakeholders and partners. Creativity to propose new solutions to community issues

and challenges. Capacity to develop and implement win-win solutions. Capacity to manage change effectively.


Councils need to use collaboration to not only identify sources of improved cost-effective services and sourcing added levels of capability but critically new value creation through regional opportunity.

The substantial investment in Regional Strategic Plans, Regional Growth Plans, Metropolitan Planning Strategy, and RDA Committees operations provides a firm basis to identify new value creation or optimising opportunities.

This optimisation is also an opportunity to address share population growth and decline imbalances.

Unlike higher levels of government, there are regional opportunities and roles but no assigned resources.

Optimisation –”the pointy end of the rocket”Optimisation –”the pointy end of the rocket”


Optimisation -considerations

What do we understand about value creation? Where are the key opportunities for value creation in a

regional setting? How do we prioritise these opportunities? How do we engage councils and councillors on these

priorities? How do we organise to structure and resource the

delivery of these opportunities?


Manage the Change

Common Understanding of Current Reality

Shared Vision & Aspirations

Working across boundaries will require cultural change

• Helping shape community vision and setting a course to achieve it and close the gaps and barriers

• Working together to plan for anticipated change

• Collaboration across communities, regions and levels of government

• Understanding of roles and responsibilities of diverse stakeholders and partners

• Leveraging from strategic interdependencies

• Helping shape community vision and setting a course to achieve it and close the gaps and barriers

• Working together to plan for anticipated change

• Collaboration across communities, regions and levels of government

• Understanding of roles and responsibilities of diverse stakeholders and partners

• Leveraging from strategic interdependencies

Value added solutions

Identify “win-win” Solutions


We need to prioritise collaborative opportunities

Deficient

Behind Competitors

Competitive Optimal

Ahead of CompetitorsIn line with Competitors

Critical

Significant

Low

Status of Activity

Rel

ativ

e Va

lue

to C

ounc

ils


In a nutshell --- Local Government needs to find new ways to work smarter and do more with less. Regional collaboration offers key opportunities to do this. Recent development of regional structures and initiatives has created the ideal momentum for

this. In a cash constrained environment the call for a new approach to achieving economies of scale

through shared services is overwhelming. Shared services should also develop added capabilities. The focus on shared services should not mask the opportunity to source added capabilities

and optimise through collaboration. Optimisation and value creation through collaboration can create needed added wealth and

investment –critical to council sustainability. Council plans should reflect the importance of the regional collaboration.

2012 winning communities inc cr chris meddows-taylor central goldfields shire council, mav future of...

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