What it means and why It matters
Devon’s residents want services to be reliable, responsive, and fair. Roads should be well maintained and when people need our services they should receive a prompt response. We recognise that we can improve citizen engagement and do more to help, and explain better when we cannot, including signposting to partners. We will use continuous improvement to transform the quality and responsiveness of our services, aiming for outstanding standards residents can depend on. While recognising that our financial position means we cannot do everything, our ambition is to focus effort where it matters most, the environment, transport, and our highway network and to find better ways of working that deliver value for money and visible improvements in people’s daily lives.
We will work with partners across the public sector and alongside our communities to achieve our goals. We recognise the expertise and knowledge of service users and how collaboration can lead to innovation, transformation and maximising resources for public good. Openness and transparency, sharing ideas and listening to feedback through genuine partnerships and better engagement will help focus on improving the services that matter most.
Our six commitments are set out below with our four-year goals and activities.
Commitment: Join up the commissioning of services maximising the financial, social and environmental benefits from our contracts.
Goal: Deliver best value from our contracts and improved services for residents.
We will:
- Work across the Council and with partners to reduce fragmented contracted delivery of services and maximise the benefits for residents.
- Secure the maximum value from our spend with suppliers’ contribution towards our strategic priorities, and for our young people, including employment, training and work experience.
- Embed strong contract management and performance approaches to focus on deriving value for residents.
Commitment: Building community capacity, empowerment and participation.
Goal: Work with communities to support continuous service improvement through applying local knowledge and expertise.
We will:
- Work with the VCSE sector and community organisations to explore ways of bolstering community capacity to support local service improvements.
- Consider ways of empowering communities to act on their local priorities and improve community engagement and reporting performance, to bring local knowledge and expertise into the work of the council.
- Involve the public and young people in decision making through participation processes with clear definition of roles, upholding legal compliance and democratic governance.
Commitment: Strive to provide excellent front-line services, that are responsive to residents’ needs.
Goal: improve communication and engagement with residents.
We will:
- Ensure legal compliance of data usage and actively use data to ensure the best results for the residents of Devon.
- Provide a modern, supportive, sympathetic, compassionate and dedicated registration and coronial service providing professional advice and guidance and timely, accessible services.
- Continue the excellent support of the customer relations team and use technology to further enhance a fast, efficient, accurate and professional service.
Commitment: Improve communications and engagement on Devon Highways issues.
Goal: Improved engagement and public knowledge of highways work programmes.
We will:
- Provide better information on highway works programmes, to communities and the public.
- Work with parish and town councils on community self-delivery, where there is a local want for improvements which are not the county council’s priority.
- Improve the availability and accessibility of information and be more proactive in communication and engagement with residents.
Commitment: Lobby for increased national funding for services that matter most to residents and be forward thinking to make the best use of our available resources.
Goal: Increase funding to support the continuous improvement of our services.
We will:
- Lobby government to get better funding for the highway network, to reduce the backlog of £382 million, get better and fairer funding for Devon schools and work with partners and through devolution arrangements to lobby for improved investment in rural transport services.
- Be innovative and forward thinking to make the best use of our available resources and expertise, explore trials and test new products and materials to enhance our infrastructure and assets life, and reduce carbon without a negative impact on biodiversity.
- Work through devolution arrangements to explore alternative delivery models for transport in all areas, with a focus on rural communities.
Commitment: Drive consistency, change and transformation across all our services to maximise value and achieve outstanding standards of services.
Goal: Develop change and transformation expertise and knowledge, by adopting best practice and applying learning to deliver continuous service improvement at pace.
We will:
- Focus on change and transformation approaches that are codesigned with partners and residents, applying learning to support the continuous improvement of services that matter most.
- Test and implement delivery models that are informed by evidence and can deliver best value and improved performance, working with partners and residents.
- Embed the rights skills, expertise and capabilities to enable sustainable transformation.