Corporate Improvement Plan 2025 - 2028 v1.0 (draft)
Argyll and Bute Council · 26 June 2025
Back to Argyll and Bute Council — 26 June 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Bute • Helensburgh • Islay • Tarbet • Oban • Mull • Campbeltown • Iona • Dunoon • T iree • L ochgilphead • Seil … Bute • Helensburgh • Islay • Oban • Mull • Campbeltown • Iona • Dunoon • Tiree • Lochgilphead • Seil … Revision History Version Number Revision date Summary of Changes Reviser 0.1 20/01/25 Final draft and reformatting for presentation HROD
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Bute • Helensburgh • Islay • Tarbet • Oban • Mull • Campbeltown • Iona • Dunoon • T iree • L ochgilphead • Seil … 1.0 Introduction The Council’s Best Value 3 improvement plan came to the end of its lifecycle in 2023. At that time the Accounts Commission made the decision to cease full Best Value audits of Councils and instead monitor Councils’ continuous improvement activities as embedded in day to day practice. This Corporate Improvement Plan (CIP) addresses the current status of improvement within the Council and includes an Action Plan with areas to address, that are anticipated to effect improvement across the Council. The lifespan of the CIP takes account of both the Council’s Corporate Plan and Connect for Success programme. Further, the Performance Excellence Project (Phase 2) includes development of a new Performance and Improvement Framework which will complement this CIP. Phase 1 of the Performance Excellence Project delivered improvements on performance reporting arrangements and an interactive dashboard for officers and Elected Members. 2.0 What will drive this? The Council Administration has identified 7 key priorities for service delivery and improvement actions are aligned with these priorities: - o Communities o Children and Young People o Housing, Economic Growth and Population o Transport, Infrastructure and Digital Connectivity o Environment o Sustainable Service Delivery o Speaking Up for Argyll and Bute, its People and its Communities All of these priorities contribute towards the overarching aim of growing Argyll and Bute’s economy and population, and contribute towards creating an area that thrives across all priority themes, and correspondingly an organisation that thrives as we deliver our services and achieve our outcomes. Through the Corporate Improvement Plan Action Plan (CIPAP) we have identified council-wide improvements that will assist us in delivering services to our citizens and communities in pursuit of our aim. The Council has an operating model called Connect for Success which is designed around 7 principles to effect change. Connect for Success will enable us as an organisation to meet the needs of our citizens in using innovative, forward- thinking solutions to service delivery requirements and challenges, and in partnerships with communities and the wider public sector. The principles of Connect for Success are as follows: - 1. One Council One Place Approach This principle is about partnership – working with other public sector agencies and our communities to get the most from Argyll and Bute’s resources. 2. Purpose and Mission Focus The Council can’t do everything we would like to do because of limited resources. This principle is about matching decisions about what we do to the council’s overall vision. 3. Employee empowerment Our employees have great skills and experience. We want to make it easier for you to put them into effective action. 4. Data and evidence driven decision- making We will use customer insight to do more of what works, and change what doesn’t. 5. Learning Council
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Bute • Helensburgh • Islay • Tarbet • Oban • Mull • Campbeltown • Iona • Dunoon • T iree • L ochgilphead • Seil … We use lessons from previous experience to develop and improve how we work. 6. Agile We have decision-making and related processes that make it easy to put effective change into action. 7. Maximise opportunities that technology offers We use technology to enable, support and progress our work. By integrating these principles into our CIP we can ensure that it remains mission-driven, data- informed, employee-centric, and agile— ultimately leading to more effective and responsive service delivery to the community. There are 11 thematic areas in the National Performance Framework which encompass our priorities. The purpose of the framework is to focus on creating a more successful country with opportunities for all to flourish through increased wellbeing, and sustainable and inclusive economic growth, all of which is reflected in our priorities. We strive to achieve our aim through partnership working with our communities locally and, through the Verity House Partnership Agreement, with the Scottish Government. We understand the need for transformation and acknowledge that the pace of this is required to increase. Our Connect for Success principles outline how we will approach transformation to enable us to become more agile and responsive and develop our services to meet future needs. We will address this locally and, where appropriate, in partnership with other councils and public and private sector partners. We are committed to tackling digital exclusion, particularly as we increase the scope of automation and Artificial Intelligence in helping us to deliver services, reduce inefficiencies and duplication and maximise the role that technology can play in giving people greater flexibility in accessing services as well as saving money in a climate where we face significant fiscal challenges. Therefore, this CIP for Argyll and Bute Council aims to enhance organisational effectiveness and service delivery in line with the principles of Best Value and integrates the strategic framework of Connect for Success to ensure comprehensive development, improvement and progress. It is designed to support us in ensuring that excellent services are delivered to our citizens – residents, businesses and visitors in Argyll and Bute. 3.0 How will we achieve this? We continually strive to improve service quality, accessibility and responsiveness to meet the evolving needs of our residents and stakeholders. We do this in both financially and environmentally sustainable ways, adopting innovative solutions to create resilience. We invest in our workforce and prioritise its development, and we empower our employees to lead on their own learning and development utilising the tools available to them. Collaboration with our communities is key to design and delivery of our services and we work with residents, businesses and community groups to this end. This CIP will establish clear success measures to monitor improvements that support service effectiveness, efficiency and customer satisfaction utilising and maximising digital technologies to streamline processes, enhance accessibility, and improve service delivery,
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Bute • Helensburgh • Islay • Tarbet • Oban • Mull • Campbeltown • Iona • Dunoon • T iree • L ochgilphead • Seil … ensuring all residents and businesses have equitable access to digital services. We will strengthen our partnerships with other public sector bodies, third sector organisations and private enterprises to leverage resources, share best practices, and deliver integrated services. Our service design and redesign framework is available to support reviews of service structures and delivery in conjunction with service users to identify areas for optimisation, efficiency gains and better outcomes for service users. We will provide our workforce with relevant training, learning and development opportunities to equip them with the skills, behaviours and knowledge required to drive improvement and innovation. We will utilise communication and reporting mechanisms to ensure that stakeholders are informed about progress against the Action Plan, seek feedback and encourage participation in improvement efforts and we will use this information to inform continuous improvement. Through our Learning Council approach we will identify pilots to test new approaches, technologies, and service delivery models, assessing their success and relevance before scaling up successful initiatives across the Council. 4.0 What impact will this have? Implementing improvements identified in the CIP Action Plan will effect change in a number of areas. Our citizens and communities will enjoy a higher degree of engagement and will be more involved in shaping Council services and service delivery. This will be supported by improved use and sharing of data and digital resources. We will work more collaboratively across service areas towards achieving our overarching aim, sharing information and outcomes of communication and engagement, resulting in an improved and co- ordinated experience for our citizens and communities. 5.0 Conclusion This Corporate Improvement Plan for Argyll and Bute Council outlines a strategic framework to enhance organisational effectiveness and support delivery of excellent services. It embeds the principles of Best Value in our approach to improvement and aligns our activities with Connect for Success and our Council Priorities. This will enable us to be an effective and responsible service provider to our communities and citizens. 6.0 Other relevant policies and documents • Corporate Improvement Plan Action Plan • Corporate Plan 2025 – 2028 • Connect for Success • Data Strategy • Customer Engagement Framework • People Strategy and Strategic Workforce Plan