Organisational business plan

Public Service Reform and Transformation

Public services are evolving, including regional devolution, national policy developments and social change. Public Service Reform (PSR) is driving the way the Authority is adapting to this, ensuring the long-term sustainability of services and better outcomes for residents and communities. 

The Authority is already exploring and delivering radically different ways of meeting need, balancing growth with demand, challenging traditional methods of service delivery to transform how it delivers.

Public Service Reform in North Tyneside is based on four PSR design principles:

• prevention – intervening earlier and tackling root causes
• personalisation – organising resources around the individual
• productivity- sustainable spending and better outcomes, and
• proportionate universalism – focusing resources on the greatest need, whilst  ensuing an offer for all.

Customer Service and Experience

Two of the Authority’s values – ‘we listen’ and ‘we care’ - aim to deliver great customer service and experience for service users. Following a successful change programme from 2019 to 2024, the Authority maintains this focus through its Public Service Reform and Customer Experience function. The Authority understands clearly the cost of not getting customer service and experience right, both in terms of poorer outcomes for customers, and the cost to the organisation in time and resources spent ‘fixing things’ later. 

Our Customer Promise sets  11 standards to support delivery of great customer service. Through the promise the organisation aims to continually improve customer service across all of council services. The promise is promoted widely internally and externally, as well as being included in all colleagues’ annual Individual Performance Reviews.

The Customer Promise Test is a simple tool that teams and colleagues can use to help them understand how to deliver the Customer Promise. It enables them to think about how they can deliver each of the 11 standards in the promise and how they can improve the service they offer to our customers.

Digital Strategy

North Tyneside is a digital first Borough, drawing heavily on data and technology. Since the 1970s, public services have become increasingly automated and over the last decade the pace of change has been rapid. Technology plays an important role in sustaining and transforming the way council services are delivered; it is a key enabler for change and improvement both within the organisation and across the Borough. However the Authority is mindful that technological improvements can leave some feeling left behind, so it seeks to support them through the organisation’s Digital Strategy, Equally Well Plan and Embedding Equality Programme.

The Digital Strategy sets out principles for how the Authority’s technology services will be identified, designed, sourced and delivered over the next five years. It describes how these principles are linked to the Our North Tyneside Plan and the organisation’s corporate values.

The Strategy is both inward and outward looking. It does not simply focus on technology or IT, but as described by Tom Loosemore in the UK’s first Government Digital Strategy in 2012 seeks to more broadly “apply the culture, processes, business models and technologies of the internet era to respond to people’s raised expectations.”. It looks at how the Authority can use technology to benefit residents, businesses and communities and how it can be a driver for positive change for the Authority and our partners.

To make the principles as simple as possible the Digital Strategy is broken down into five themes: Data; Customers; Team; Infrastructure and Borough.

The Authority’s partnership approach to digital inclusion, as set out here in the Digital Inclusion Strategy, seeks to ensure that inclusion is built into the design of all new digital solutions. This is to ensure that as many people as possible are able to use technology confidently and safely to improve their lives. 

Digital Inclusion Strategy

Digitally Well 2023-28, is North Tyneside’s partnership apporach to increasing digital inclusion in the Borough.  Owned by the Health and Wellbeing Board, Digitally Well forms part of the Board’s Equally Well Strategy and was developed with key council partners to address inequalities and the strategic aims of:

• North Tyneside Council’s Digital Strategy
• The North East & North Cumbria Integrated Care System: Digital Inclusion Strategy 2023
• The Connecting Communities: A Strategy for Community Hubs and Libraries 2023 – 2028
• The Raising Aspiration, Realising Ambition Strategy 2021-2024, and
• The NHS Long Term plan

Digitally Well has five key areas of action:

• Ensure that digitally excluded groups are involved in decision and policy making,
• and the design of services.
• Work together to target those who need the most help.
• Review policies and services aimed at tackling digital inclusion.
• Develop the skills and confidence of the workforce to support people to get online.
• Tackle the quality and affordability of digital access within the home and community.
• Develop digital support services that tackle the biggest barriers to being online.

Engagement Strategy

The organisation is committed to upholding our corporate values of "We Listen" and "We Care," as outlined in the Our North Tyneside Plan and Customer Promise.

The Authority takes great pride in listening to residents and responding to their needs. A refreshed approach to engagement will be introduced in 2025. The approach will outline how residents can be involved in decision making and service delivery. It is designed enable a more diverse range of people to become aware of The Authority’s engagement opportunities and to participate at the level they choose; whether that is receiving information, taking part in consultations, being more involved in groups or collaborating with colleagues and elected members.

The refreshed approach to engagement will see delivery of: 

• a wider variety of accessible and inclusive opportunities for residents to share their views
• increased awareness among residents, partners and stakeholders of  opportunities to engage, and
• a monitoring and evaluation framework that demonstrates the impact of our work and insight on how we can improve.

The Authority will ensure that residents and stakeholders can have their say throughout the year, with a combination of online and face to face options, aiming for maximum reach by working closely with residents, partners, the voluntary and community sector, and businesses.

A key element of this approach will aim to align three core aspects of the Authority’s engagement approach, to that of members of the North Tyneside Strategic Partnership. The core aspects are, the: 

• Resident Survey
• Big Community Conversation, and
• State of the Area Event.

Together with its partners the Authority will use data from the Residents Survey to inform the focus of Big Community Conversation. Findings from this conversation will help to inform the theme for the annual State of the Area event, which is involves key stakeholders and is led by the Elected Mayor. The outcomes of this event will guide an action plan, monitored by our partners and NTSP. Connecting these three engagement activities will create a cohesive strategy that helps to demonstrate a shared commitment to listening and caring.

In addition to the Authority’s core engagement activities, the refreshed approach will also highlight the many online and face-to-face engagement opportunities available to residents and stakeholders. These enable people to share their views throughout the year and influence service delivery. All of these opportunities will be promoted through the Our North Tyneside Voice digital engagement hub. The hub is being developed through targeted initiatives to grow its membership and  to ensure it reflects the diversity of local communities.

This approach is consistent with the Gunning Principles, which seek to create the right environment for successful engagement and consultation, by ensuring engagement is embedded and designed when:

• proposals are still at a formative stage
• there is sufficient information to give ‘intelligent consideration
• there is adequate time for consideration and response, and
• ‘conscientious consideration’ is given to the engagement responses before a decision is made.

To help ensure that all participants feel valued, the Authority will close the feedback loop, whenever possible, by publishing information about how input from residents and other stakeholders has been used to inform decision-making or shape outcomes, thus increasing transparency and fostering trust. 

Environmental Sustainability

In September 2023, Cabinet approved the refreshed Carbon Net-Zero 2030 Action Plan, which contained over 150 actions to decarbonise the Authority’s operations and the Borough as a whole. 

In July 2019, the Council declared a climate emergency and subsequently in September 2021, as part of the approval of the Our North Tyneside Plan, Full Council agreed that: 

“We will publish an action plan of the steps we will take and the national investment we will seek to make North Tyneside carbon net-zero by 2030.”

Following Cabinet approval an updated Carbon Net Zero Action Plan is published each year. The most recent plan includes key actions under the following headings:

• public buildings, council vehicles and street lighting
• organisational culture
• food and catering
• waste, re-use and recycling
• behaviour change campaign
• supply chain
• economy and skills
• nature based solutions
• adaptation
• travel
• industry and commerce
• housing
• miscellaneous. 

The detailed projects and plans delivered through the Action Plan form the basis for a set of investment proposals. The Authority recognises that there is a significant gap in financing all of the projects to meet the net zero ambition, therefore projects will need to be prioritised based on costs and carbon savings, plus maximising external funding opportunities. 

To evaluate the impact of action taken, the Authority has assessed carbon savings and considered the co-benefits the actions will deliver. The main co-benefits used in this assessment are:

• improved air quality
• health and well being
• biodiversity
• local or regional economic benefits
• skills development and training opportunities
• climate adaptation and resilience, and
• a just transition. 

The actions and their carbon impacts have been categorised into areas where carbon savings are most likely to contribute to either the Authority carbon footprint or Borough carbon footprint. At the end of 2022/23 the Authority’s carbon footprint had reduced by 58% compared to the baseline year of 2010/11. While by December 2021 (the most recent available data), the Borough’s carbon footprint had reduced by 45% compared to 2005.

Embedding Equality and Diversity

Embedding Equality and Diversity 

The Authority’s current Equality and Diversity Policy was agreed by Cabinet in March 2023. It sets out our commitment to achieving the aims of the Equality Act 2010 and to demonstrating due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) in the way the Authority carries out its functions. The aims of the Equality Act are to: 

• eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Act
• advance equality of opportunity between those who have a protected characteristic under the Act and those who do not have such a characteristic; and
• foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it. 

Under the Act, protected characteristics are: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. North Tyneside Council also recognises the non-legally protected characteristics of carer and those experiencing socio-economic deprivation.

Compliance with the PSED is evidenced through an equality impact assessment process and the publication of updated equality objectives every two years. The review of the objectives is undertaken alongside that of the Equality and Diversity Policy – both are next due to occur in spring 2025. 

The policy and objectives are delivered through the Authority’s Embedding Equality Programme and is reflected in Directorate Plans. The Corporate Equality Group (which is made up of senior Directorate and service representatives, chairs of our five Staff Networks and trades union representatives) acts as the programme board. Reports are made regularly to the Cabinet member, SLT Champion and SLT. 

The policy and programme align with the Authority’s  corporate values and customer promised. Progress against the policy, objectives and programme is published in an Annual Equality Review every June.

The Authority’s Corporate Equality Objectives for 2023-25 are: 

• improve North Tyneside Council’s Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA)    process
• be a good employer and promote an inclusive workforce that feels valued
• ensure staff and elected members are kept informed about the requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duty
• improve the collection and use of both internal and external equality data
• ensure our buildings, services and communications are accessible, and
• improve engagement with North Tyneside’s diverse community.

Services Delivered Within Available Resources

The Authority continues to experience unprecedented pressure on the demand and cost of its services, resulting in significant and sustained financial challenges.

This means we will have to make very difficult choices in the years ahead about which services to prioritise and may mean revisiting the expectations of residents to protect services for the most vulnerable, or by considering different delivery methods in the medium-term. The opportunity to work with partners and neighbouring authorities remains to maintain and improve outcomes against a backdrop of reducing public spending.

The Authority continues to be expected to deliver more, with less. This increases the need to prioritise resources effectively and to secure external funding, where possible, to supplement resources and maximise the impact for the residents. It is essential that the organisation continues to deliver value for money in all that it does.