Item 13 - Appendix 6

Page 1

WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE COUNCIL  APPENDIX 6
TRANSFORMATIONAL PROJECTS TO BE FUNDED/ PART FUNDED FROM CAPITAL RECEIPTS - 2021/22 
Original per
Council
March 2021 
Reported to
Council 9
March 2022 
Revised
following
year end
Name and detail of project Details of expected costs Estimated cost
to implement in
2021/22 in
2021/22 budget 
TOTAL
projected cost
in 2021/22 as at
p10 BCR 
TOTAL cost in
2021/22
Details of expected savings   Value of expected savings 
£  £  £  £
Digital Transformation within the Council -
implementation of the Council’s Digital Strategy that
maximises the potential of digital technologies to
improve outcomes and services for all our citizens
and employees, whilst seeking to reduce our costs.
The end benefits expected include: Digital by
default approach for all council services; Alignment
of Council services with leading mobile
technologies and the benefit therein giving due
consideration to end users; Maximise digital
transactions via self-service and reduced need for
Face-to-Face and Phone interventions where
possible; Digital services designed with end users
in mind through regular engagements during
design and delivery phases; Improved ICT
foundations to inform Investment Programmes;
Costs for the project include staffing costs for a team of four digital
transformation officers, some external payments for training of
various staff throughout the council and allocation of service staffing
directly involved in the digital transformation of the Council.
199,444               259,357               201,977 The project is an enabler for continued identification of
efficiencies through a number of strands, including Lean Six
Sigma (LSS) projects. With the embedding of the LSS within the
organisation and a number of employee LSS champions, further
projects continue to be identified and progressed, which will
identify further savings. Examples of such projects which have
been completed to date include: review of invoice processing;
review of file sharing between the some Council teams and
external parties; review of start up grant claim processes; review
of ICT delivery model in educational establishments; review of
Senior Phase Partnership Provider Course Selection (Schools).
Other strands being taken forward as part of the overall
digitalisation project include: Zoom Council/ Committee
meetings; Digital Skills training for staff; MS teams and M365;
automation.
The project commenced during 2019/20 and in 2020/21
continued to review and implement change to service
provision and commenced the Fit for Future approach to
significant service reviews aimed at implementing change
in processes and procedures with the aim of maximising
the digital approach to information gathering and
processing. Savings targets not set, but as Fit for Future
reviews are finalised efficiencies will be identified and
contribute to future cost reductions within the Council. The
fact that the project is an enabler indirect savings require
to be identified, as well as those saving which are directly
attributable to each sub-project. Efficiencies generated will
be report at future financial year-end and through
budgetary control reporting
Further strands of Digital Transformation - ie
automation within the Council
Costs for the project include staffing costs for the automation
projects and some external payments for IT and software. 
100,000               197,088               181,330 The project is an enabler for continued identification of
efficiencies through automating a range of existing processes. A
first phase is currently underway and a pipeline of future
processes has been developed and will also link with the
outcomes from the Fit for Future reviews
The list of projects commenced during 2020/21 and
continued into 2021/22 . As the projects are at an early
stage, the saving targets for the overall spend haven't yet
been fully explored and identified, but will develop as each
project strand develops. The fact that the project is an
enabler, indirect savings will be achieved, as well as those
savings which are directly attributable to each sub-project.
The savings will be reported as part of the year end
process and future budgetary control reporting.
Restructures within the Council -  to allow
services to complete non-teacher non-frontline
staffing restructures with a view to reducing costs
without reducing services to the public.
Costs include voluntary early retirements/ voluntary redundancies. It
is noted that discretionary costs for early retirement added years
cannot be funded by capital receipts and are excluded. Although
these costs are one off, there are continuous costs for different
restructures.              
227,000                 70,000                        -   Future ongoing staffing savings following removal of non
teaching posts within the organisation. The restructures which
have been costed within 2021/22 include restructures within
various services and annual savings are assumed within future
budgets.
Ongoing savings annually through reduced staffing will be
identified through staffing restructures and reported at the
year end. Those staff identified for voluntary early
retirement and voluntary redundancies will be through
Cost Benefit Analysis 
Total to be set against capital receipts in 2021/22 526,444             526,445             383,308