LGDC local government delivery council Improvement Customer led transformation programme Case study – Association of Greater Manchester Authorities 6/58 Families with young children Contents About Greater Manchester 1 Background 2 Objective 3 Approach 4 Developing a family segmentation 4 Mapping services 8 Understanding customers 9 Mapping customer take-up of local services 13 Customer journey mapping 15 Summary of findings 16 Outcomes 16 Customer relationship management 18 Benefits 18 Governance 19 Resourcing 19 Challenges and lessons learnt 20 Partnership working 20 Data sharing 20 Using social media 20 Safeguarding children and staff privacy 21 Next steps 21 The Customer Led About Greater Manchester Transformation programme Greater Manchester has a diverse The work of the Association of Greater population of 2.5 million and is one of Manchester Authorities (AGMA) has the largest metropolitan areas in Britain. been funded under the Customer Led Ethnic minorities comprise nine per cent 1 Transformation programme. The fund aims of residents. The population recently 2 to embed, at a strategic level, the use of increased for the first time in 30 years. The customer insight and social media tools local economy boasts a major international and techniques across the public sector to airport; high-performing universities; regional support place-based working. television headquarters; and a strong private sector, especially in financial services, The programme is overseen by the Local manufacturing and communications.3 It is Government Delivery Council (supported by the largest sub-regional economy outside LG Improvement and Development). London.4 Greater Manchester has a higher rate of unemployment than the average – 4.4 The fund was established specifically to per cent of resident working age population support collaborative working between is on Job Seekers Allowance, versus 3.5 per councils and their partners, focussing on cent for the United Kingdom as a whole5. using customer insight and social media to improve service outcomes. These Five local authorities in the Greater approaches should improve customer Manchester Region are in the worst third engagement by gathering insight into in indices of deprivation; Manchester (3rd preferences and needs, the evidence and most deprived), Salford (15th), Bolton (51st), intelligence needed to redesign services to Rochdale (25th) and Oldham (42nd) have be more targeted, effective and efficient. the highest rates of deprivation.6 Social housing uptake in Salford and Manchester is increasing, though uptake is declining in other areas of the region.7 Poor educational attainment, unemployment and economic inactivity remain challenges for the city-region.8 1 Fire and Rescue Corporate Performance Assessment – Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority. Audit Commission. July 2005 2 Greater Manchester Strategic Housing Market Assessment. Association of Greater Manchester Authorities. December 2008 3 Accelerating the Economic Development of the North – City Region Development Programme Manchester City Region. Moving Forward – The Northern Way 2006 4 Greater Manchester Economic Development Plan 2004/05– 2006/07. Manchester Enterprises 5 Office of National Statistics via NOMIS, September 2010 figures. 6 Indices of Deprivation 2007 – Results for Greater Manchester. Department for Communities and Local Government. December 2007 7 Greater Manchester Strategic Housing Market Assessment. Association of Greater Manchester Authorities. December 2008 8 Greater Manchester Economic Development Plan 2004/05 – 2006/07. Manchester Enterprises Case study – Families with young children 1 Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council is the Background lead authority for the project. The Borough of Bolton is one of ten metropolitan districts Greater Manchester’s Total Place pilot that make up Greater Manchester. Just over focused on an in-depth look at services for 262,000 people live in the borough. Bolton children aged 0 to 5 years and their families. is a borough of contrasts, with some of the To support this work, the Association of most and least deprived areas in the country. Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) Bolton’s population is changing, with the commissioned a supporting project to collect number of older people expected to data and profile the needs of young families increase in the next ten years. (see text box below). Much of the project work was undertaken by Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council. In anticipation of Greater Manchester’s Rochdale has a population of 206,500 Total Place pilot, AGMA funded a people. Although it is close to Manchester project during the first half of 2009 city centre, two thirds of the borough is open which focused on: countryside. Nearly a quarter of residents are • obtaining postcodes from data aged 15 or younger – the highest proportion already held by public sector of young people in Greater Manchester. organisations and external data to identify households of young families • obtaining profiles of the families identified, including their social and demographic profiles and their preferred communication and engagement methods • mapping the customer journey / circle of need for each identified population group with customers and a range of partner organisations to provide a picture of who is responsible for various services and to inform a more joined-up approach to delivering services • measurements of the take-up of services by the group across the region. 2 Case study – Families with young children The resources and timescales for this project were limited, but the interest and appetite “We hope to deliver everything but from the partners for better data and insight the baby at the children’s centre, grew and was developed as an application from immunisation to job training for for further funding for the Customer Led parents.” Transformation (CLT) programme. The CLT programme funded the project on which this Sue Johnson, Deputy Chief case study is based. Executive of Wigan Council, discussing Manchester The CLT funding has helped AGMA generate City-Region’s Total Place pilot insight and understanding into the needs and aspirations of young families with low incomes, their experience and perceptions of Total Place pilot identified children centres services, and how this can most effectively as potential hubs for both promoting and be supported (see ‘Objective’ below). providing services to families (see figure entitled ‘Deprived Families with Young Families – Proximity to Children’s Centres’ Objective below). AGMA’s objective for the Customer Led Hence, the CLT-funded project specifically Transformation programme funded insight sought further evidence to support their project was to: thinking on how low-income families could benefit from their local children’s centres, and “Develop customer insight to to understand how best to use the children’s improve take-up of entitlement centres to promote other supporting to services and benefits by low services that address their needs. As well income families with young as childcare, these services could include children across the Greater providing or promoting back-to-work training Manchester area.” such as IT training or CV writing courses, as well as advice about their benefits Following on from the Total Place pilot, the entitlements. insight work sought to understand young families’ needs from services and benefits, In order to begin to deliver against these in order to: objectives, the councils involved needed to understand how many families were on low • communicate and engage customers incomes, where they lived, and what services more effectively regarding existing services they are currently using – and what they • improve the way services are designed needed from services. going forwards • identify and realise efficiencies. The ambition is to engage young, low income families and increase their participation in services that help raise their aspirations and improving outcomes and those of their children. The insight work undertaken for the Case study – Families with young children 3 Approach Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council was chosen as the pilot for the in-depth analysis The project comprised the following stages: as the initial stages identified the borough as representative of the other Greater Developing a segmentation map of families Manchester authorities and with a high in the region. This involved: concentration of families with low incomes and pre-school age children. Rochdale had • identifying and refining the low-income also already obtained agreement to share a family segment range of data with key partners. • analysing the distribution of the segment across the region, and which councils were For a description of the findings from this most representative of the region. work, and how it has contributed to service improvements, see ‘Findings’ and ‘Outcomes’ Mapping services for the low income family below. segment. This involved: • identifying low-income families’ ‘Circles of Developing a family Need’ segmentation • working with customers to understand their aspirations and needs, and the barriers The project created a custom segmentation they face in improving their lives and those of families across the Greater Manchester of their children. area, comprising 13 segments (as seen in the table below). The segmentation was Focusing further in-depth analysis on a council based on: that the analysis showed was ‘representative’ of the wider region. This involved: • age of the youngest child • household