1. Portfolio/Number/Name:ERD/C3 - Efficiency savings in Scottish Natural Heritage ( SNH) |
2. Programme/Activity: SNH will implement an efficiency programme that comprises a number of initiatives that will lead to the delivery of efficiency savings and a shift of the balance of staff effort from support services to front line delivery. The programme of efficiency projects includes the implementation of an eRDM system, improvements in information communication technology, procurement savings, the replacement of Area Boards, finance improvements, reducing the IS budget, a staffing review, improved management of the vehicle fleet, additional work, such as the Strategic Environmental Assessment and the Coastal Marine National Park, and a rationalisation of offices. |
3. Efficiency | 3.1 Current target; £m | | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 |
Cash | 0.667 | 0.6 | 1.5 |
Time | 0 | 0.4 | 0.5 |
3.2 Efficiencies delivered; £m | | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 |
Cash | 0.284 | - | - |
Time | 0.324 | - | - |
4. Accountable Officer for delivery | Richard Wakeford |
5. Project Manager | Kenneth Maclean |
6. EGDD Portfolio Manager | Angus Gardner |
7. Description of efficiency and actions to be taken | 7.1 What is the efficiency improvement? How will the efficiencies be made? The efficiency improvements will be made through: - ERDM - managing the same number of records and documents in less time, as well as a reduced need for filing storage
- Telecommunication savings - reducing expenditure on telecommunications without reducing the level of communication.
- Procurement savings - reducing expenditure on vehicles and payroll, and improving procurement processes through e-Procurement without impact on services.
- Replacement of Area Boards - reducing expenditure on Area Boards without reducing regional activity.
- Finance improvements - spending less time administering grant schemes without reducing the number of grant payments.
- Staffing Review - reduction of 30 posts over three years without reduction in output.
- Rationalisation of offices - reduction in servicing costs of buildings without reducing the quality of services provided.
- Carrying out work that is additional to the work laid out in SNH's Corporate Plan, such as the Water Framework Directive ( WFD), the Strategic Environmental Assessment ( SEA) and the Coastal Marine National Park ( CMNP).
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7.2 What are the main actions that are needed to secure the delivery of this efficiency improvement? Many of the actions needed to secure the delivery of these efficiency improvements have taken place. However, some of the main actions needed to secure the efficiency improvement include: implementing an eRDM system; installing more video-conferencing equipment; procuring an e-Procurement system; implementing an interface between the Grants Database and Finance system; implementing a new regional governance structure and undertaking the staff review. |
8. Associated costs | 8.1 Are there any development or redundancy costs associated with the delivery of this efficiency? The reduction of 30 posts has been achieved through natural turnover of staff, but SNH is considering a VER/ VES scheme purely as a contingency. There are some development costs associated with the initiatives outlined above, although these have not been netted off from the efficiency savings since the principal driver of these initiatives is to improve service delivery rather than to specifically deliver efficiency savings. The following projects have associated costs: ERDM - the cost of procuring, implementing and developing the system. Video-conferencing - cost of additional video-conferencing equipment E-Procurement project - cost of procuring and implementing the E-Procurement system |
9. Measurement | 9.1 What are the inputs that will be measured? - ERDM - the time spent managing records and documents and the amount of filing storage required
- Telecommunication savings - the expenditure on phones, phone calls, travel and subsistence.
- Procurement savings - expenditure on vehicles and payroll as well as time spent procuring goods and services.
- Replacement of Area Boards - reducing expenditure on Area Boards without reducing regional activity.
- Finance improvements - is the time spent reconciling grant payments with the finance system.
- Staffing Review - the number of FTEs employed by SNH.
- Rationalisation of offices - the cost associated with servicing the buildings housing SNH employees.
- Best Practice Administrative Support - the time spent on carrying out various administrative tasks.
- Vehicle Fleet Management - the expenditure on the vehicle fleet programme.
- Reduction of IS Infrastructure Budget - the expenditures on the various IS infrastructure projects
- Grants / Orion Interface - the time spent on the information transfer and manual reconciliation processes.
- Additional Work - the time spent on the various additional initiatives, e.g. WFD, SEA and CMNP
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9.2 What are the outputs that will be measured? - ERDM - the number of records and documents being managed.
- Telecommunication savings - the volume of phone purchases and phone calls.
- Procurement savings - the volume of goods and services being procured.
- Replacement of Area Boards - it is difficult to measure the output of regional involvement in SNH policy and operations.
- Finance improvements - the volume of grant payments.
- Staffing Review - high level SNH output indicators are being used such as the 10 key performance indicators from MIS Dashboard
- Rationalisation of offices - the number of employees in the buildings being serviced.
- Best Practice Administrative Support - the amount of time saved by staff to redirect to other work
- Vehicle Fleet Management - the number of vehicles being managed.
- Reduction of IS Infrastructure Budget - the number of new PCs purchased, and the amount of IT upgrades to offices and existing IT hardware.
- Grants / Orion Interface - the volume of grants issued and SNH's customer care targets.
- Additional Work - performance of the various additional initiatives, i.e. WFD, SEA and CMNP
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9.3 What is the baseline for inputs and outputs? The baseline for measuring inputs and outputs is 2004-05. |
10. Quality cross-check | 10.1 What quality indicators are being used to ensure that quality of service is maintained or improved? Customer care indicators used, such as time taken for responding to grant allocations and ensuring payments are issued within target time periods. |
11. Monitoring | 11.1 What are the arrangements for monitoring the delivery of efficiencies? Each initiative has a project manager or an owner who is responsible for monitoring the delivery of the efficiency savings. Where relevant, budget data, staff post numbers, activity targets, time recorded, and quality audits will be used to monitor progress. The delivery of efficiency savings is monitored on a monthly basis. |
12. Reporting | 12.1 What are the arrangements for reporting the delivery of efficiencies? Progress in the implementation of initiatives and the delivery of efficiency savings is reported to the SNH Efficient Government Programme Team that monitors the delivery of the overall performance and makes quarterly reports to the SNH Efficient Government Programme Board. |
13. Dependencies | 13.1 Explain if your efficiencies are dependent on legislation or other structural changes being achieved. The main dependency for identified savings is on the satisfactory completion of the ongoing programme of improvements to ICT systems and equipment and the adherence of staff to agreed corporate processes. The Area Boards Project involves the reorganisation of the structure and format of SNH's Area Boards. The Shared Accommodation savings are dependent on the On The Ground initiative. |
14. Use of efficiencies | 14.1 How are the efficiencies released from improvement activity being used to improve front-line services? Savings in SNH running costs would enable additional resources to be spent on natural heritage initiatives that would otherwise not have been possible. An EGI Contingency Fund has been set up and a Funding Panel established to receive and consider bids for new natural heritage projects. The Project Board has also instituted, as an added incentive, a scheme whereby units or areas that come up with efficiency savings may retain 50% of the savings for natural heritage projects of their choice (subject to them following EGI rules). |