Corporate Plan, Chapter 3: Our Corporate Priorities

More choice, better value

We must improve the way we work and the infrastructure with which we work to deliver  value for money to our customers. Our corporate services include finance, human resources, audit and corporate governance. These play a significant role in driving our vision for:

‘a smaller entity with a smaller but more efficient corporate support function and a greater concentration of resources on outcomes.’

We will improve the ways in which we provide community leadership, community choice and higher quality services at the lowest possible cost. We have made a commitment that the amount the council spends on support services in 2010 will be no greater than in 2007.

We will undertake a full programme of Value for Money reviews building on the previous year’s programmes and outcomes and a more rigorous self-assessment approach to take account of new guidance including in relation to Use of Resources.

We will consult and engage with our customers to help us design and deliver services that are focussed to their needs.  As part of this we will ensure our customers are fully aware of the consultations taking place across the borough, making consultation as accessible as possible and ensuring customers are informed of the results and the actions taken. As part of delivering this we will focus on developing a Consultation E-portal where residents can view all consultations done by the council and by our key partners.  It will tell customers how they can get involved and what has happened as a result.

Objectives for 2008/09 and beyond

  • Provide customers with a choice of access to services and service information
  • Maximise income and debt recovery
  • Support and challenge for better use of resources across the organisation
  • Enhance and further develop corporate governance
  • Stimulate high quality democratic engagement
  • Inform and encourage residents to get involved via consultation and engagement.

Priority Improvement Initiatives

Provide customers with a choice of access to services and service information

  • Implement Customer Relationship Management and co-ordinate customer services functions
  • Open West of the Borough customer access facility at Burnt Oak
  • Establish a Voluntary Sector Resource Centre in the borough.


Maximise income and debt recovery

  • Implement all actions from the debt management review undertaken in 2007/8 by December 2008.


Support and challenge for better use of resources across the organisation

  • Prepare the council for the Comprehensive Area Assessment and Use of Resources Assessment
  • Implement ‘Systems Applications Products’ portal technology with employee and manager self-service functionality
  • Complete Pay and Grade Review
  • Integrate the Accommodation and Modernising the Way we Work programmes to deliver efficiencies and space utilisation
  • Assimilate Housing Benefits into the Resources Directorate.


Enhance and further develop Corporate Governance

  • Establish the new Annual Governance Statement process and promote this as being more about a ‘Governance Health Check’, as opposed to the risk assessment basis of the Statement of Internal Control
    • Milestone:
      • First AGS approved by Audit Committee in June 08
  • Establish a Governance Framework for Barnet
    • Milestone:
      • Codify Governance Framework by June 08
  • Promote ‘governance’ as a concept both internally within the council and externally to the community
  • Implement actions from Internal Audit review 07/08  by June 2008
  • Implement second Ethical Governance Assessment by September 2008
  • Promote and embed the ethical governance principles to mainstream through the work of the Standards Committee
  • Revise Freedom of Information Publication Scheme by December 2008
  • Liaise with client departments to agree new more robust Service Level Agreements by April 2008
  • Put in place an annual reporting process (including a report to the Resources, Policy and Partnerships Overview and Scrutiny committee) by July 2008.


Stimulate high quality democratic engagement

  • Review and reposition scrutiny to perform a more effective role
  • Promote community engagement (in light of new legislation).


Inform and encourage residents to get involved via consultation and engagement

  • Develop a consultation E-portal where residents can view all consultations done by the council and our partners,  access and take part in current consultation, sign up for future consultations and view the actions taken as a result of consultation.

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