Becoming a more responsive, customer focused council delivery plan

We will achieve this outcome by:

1. By 2023, publish our customer strategy, and a transformation plan to achieve a modern, customer first operating model by 2028.  This will mean that the number of people who speak positively about the council will increase
2. We will reduce the number of ‘front doors’ and bring more high-volume customer management and assessment into our professional customer services, Dorset Direct
3. Embed our accessibility principles and assessment guidance within our strategy plans
4. Adopt consistent organisational design principles to redesign services making the most of modern technology and understanding customer needs to provide the foundations for a one council approach
5. Embed customer feedback across all high demand service areas to drive continuous service improvement, improving customer experience

Lead role / service:

• Head of Customer Services, Libraries and Archives
• Portfolio Holder for Culture, Communities and Customer Services

6. We will develop our customer platform and customer account to provide easy to use, accessible, services, increasing the number of customers using online services independently or with assistance 

Lead role / service:

• Head of Digital Strategy and Design
• Portfolio Holder for Corporate Development and Transformation

7. We will invest and explore advances in technology, automation, artificial intelligence and digital ways of delivering services to increase productivity and help manage demand
8. We will deliver an updated applications portfolio and roadmap, focus on implementing integrated systems and processes and provide good employee experiences 

Lead role / service:

• Head of ICT Operations
• Portfolio Holder for Corporate Development and Transformation

9. The council’s engagement and consultation processes will be reviewed and improved to ensure that residents’ views are sought, listened to and acted on 

Lead role / service:

• Head of Strategic Communications and Engagement
• Portfolio Holder for Culture, Communities and Customer Services

We will achieve this outcome by:

1. We will have set realistic budgets for the council and our spending will have not exceeded them
2. Our medium-term financial strategy will continue to act as a key financial tool that drives good financial decision making and supports strategy, transformation and commercial thinking
3. We will implement the agreement reached with the Department for Education on the High Needs Block historic deficit
4. We will consistently commission services, developing the market to meet need in the most-cost effective way
5. We will focus on increasing the number of residents who think the council delivers value for money

Lead role / service:

• Executive Director for Corporate Development (S151 Officer) 
• Portfolio Holder for Finance, Commercial and Capital Strategy

We will achieve this outcome by:

1. A new citizens panel will be set up jointly with ICS partners to engage a representative panel of residents
2. The Equality Diversity and Inclusion strategy and action plan will be implemented to ensure Dorset Council meets its duties under the Equality Act 2010

Lead role / service:

• Head of Strategic Communications and Engagement
• Portfolio Holder for Corporate Development and Transformation

We will achieve this outcome by:

1. We will deliver a new asset management strategy, rationalising our property, co-locating services and developing our commercial approach to property
2. Development and investment in our customer, community, family, and library hub model will provide plans for co-location together and with other agencies to maximise community impact and support agile working and hybrid service delivery
3. By 2026, a review of how local depots are used and managed will be complete
4. An efficient, hybrid way of working for all council employees will have been implemented, reducing office space and increasing value for money

Lead role / service:

• Corporate Director Assets and Property
• Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth, Assets and Property

We will achieve this outcome by:

1. We will have launched an organisational development strategy, supporting and developing skills within leadership and workforce, recognising talent, improving retention and embedding diversity and inclusion
2. We will develop and embed our employer brand, helping to showcase what we have to offer and become identified as an employer of choice, ensuring that we can recruit and retain the best people

Lead role / service:

• Head of Organisation Development, and Head of Human Resources
• Portfolio Holder for Corporate Development and Transformation

We will achieve this outcome by:

1. We will publish a Business Intelligence and Data strategy
2. We will undertake regular self-assessment of our data culture and maturity shows improvement
3. The number of users of the Dorset Care Record will have increased
4. We will work closely with our partners to overcome barriers to join up and improve the quality of our data
5. We will encourage a culture where the importance of data is understood by everyone within the council

Lead role / service:

• Corporate Director Transformation, Innovation and Digital
• Portfolio Holder for Corporate Development and Transformation

6. By 2027 we will have modernised the way that information and case records are stored and accessed, supporting an agile workforce
7. We will provide learning and development for staff to understand the power of sharing data as well as the legal, moral and financial implications
8. We will bring together operational data to support a better service to customers and strategic level data to help ensure better outcomes and decisions by the council and with our partners
9. We will review internal services to more efficiently transact, receive information and engage with the workforce including the completion of a corporate system review 

Lead role / service:

• Head of Customer Services, Libraries and Archives
• Portfolio Holder for Culture, Communities and Customer Services