Collaboration, innovation and a shared vision for transformation

As Managing Director at Perago, I am particularly proud to share this case study of the transformation we’ve been working on with Caerphilly County Borough Council (CCBC). We set Perago up in 2017 to use our skills and experience to support public sector transformation. At a time when this is needed more than ever, this work highlights the power of collaboration, innovation, and a shared vision for improved public services. Our partnership with CCBC not only achieved significant financial savings but has also put the foundations in place for sustainable, user-centred service delivery. 

The challenge 

Like many local authorities across the UK, CCBC faced increasing demand for services alongside significant funding gaps. The council needed to save money while continuing to meet the needs of its communities. So CCBC embarked on a comprehensive portfolio of change, aiming to reduce spend by over £65 million. A challenge of this scale needed external support. They approached us to support this transformation, focusing on mobilisation, strategic narrative creation, leadership coaching, and portfolio management. 

The power of collaboration and communication 

From the outset, collaboration was at the heart of our partnership with CCBC. We worked closely with the council’s leadership team to create a single view of change and understand their current landscape. We knew that this wouldn’t work if we went in and ‘did it’ to CCBC.  Transformation of this scale could only work if we used our shared skills and experience, and worked as a team to deliver the change needed. This collaborative approach allowed us to quickly respond to budgetary deadlines and develop a strategic narrative that reflected both the current situation and future ambitions. 

This narrative was important as communication is core to our engagement with clients. We know that transformation will not be successful without effective communication and engagement. We developed a strategic communications strategy, facilitated workshops with the council’s leadership team and created a shared vision for the transformation. We focused on internal and external audiences, ensuring buy-in, delivery, and understanding of user needs. This included launching a campaign, “Your Council. Explained,” to demystify some of the frequently asked, complex topics and support engagement with elected members, colleagues and residents. 

We also supported the Council to embed communications into agile ways of working, from the role of comms in the overall portfolio through to embedded support on individual projects.  Aligning comms approaches to sprints and backlogs was a new way of working, as was the transparency of working in the open. 

Agile ways of working and user-centred design 

A significant aspect of our collaboration was the introduction of agile ways of working and user-centred service design. The council’s traditional delivery approach was primarily based on a large-scale waterfall methodology, which would struggle to support the pace and transparency needed to deliver the outcomes within the budget timelines facing CCBC. We demonstrated how user-centred design thinking could deliver better and more cost-efficient services.  Something all public service delivery organisations need to challenge themselves to do better. 

We worked as a blended team, building capability within the council, developing customer journeys and identifying opportunities for service improvement based on user needs. We introduced agile working methods, including fortnightly sprints and daily stand-ups. This approach not only improved service delivery but also fostered a culture of continuous improvement and transparency within the council.  This will allow CCBC to maintain the approach and pace of change as we exit the contract. 

Engaging the organisation 

Engagement across the organisation was vital to the success of the transformation. We identified the need for a designated space where team members from different service areas could collaborate openly. This agile working area encouraged transparency and allowed colleagues to see the work in progress first-hand. This was a new way of working for Caerphilly. It can be challenging to share so openly, especially in the early stages of discovery when things aren’t tied down or ‘signed off’ through the organisation in a way people are used to. 

Over the months, the number of people attending weekly stand ups grew.  From a hesitant handful of people face to face around some post it notes, we ended up with weekly stand-ups, attended by around 150 in person and upwards of 170 online, creating a sense of pace and positive momentum. We had to adapt our approach, merging it into a show and tell to demonstrate progress, challenges and collaboration. These sessions became so popular that other organisations, including Welsh Government and representatives from all 22 Welsh local authorities, came along. This transparency became a key part of CCBC’s way of working, ensuring internal and political stakeholders were aligned with the transformation goals. 

Financial and spend control 

Effective financial management was key to this work. We established an open and transparent relationship between finance and service areas, embedding a structured change approvals process. This allowed CCBC to create a single view of change assessing the impacts of change and funding requests centrally, ensuring that decisions were supported by business Cases that included a cost-benefit analysis and financial model. 

We also introduced a New Initiative Process (NIP) to support governance and prioritise projects. This process ensured that both monetary and qualitative benefits were understood, and could lead to the realisation of significant financial efficiencies.  

The results 

Our partnership with CCBC achieved remarkable results. Within the first two years, the council achieved savings of over £20 million, with a roadmap poised to deliver an impressive £65 million in total efficiency savings. 

The introduction of agile methodologies and user-centred service design has completely shifted the council’s approach to change, basing it on responsiveness and adaptability. 

The ambitious vision received support from the leadership team and cabinet members.  This cross-organisation support was critical, demonstrating a unified commitment to progress and innovation with a mindset shift in CCBC to meet the user need with their front-line services. 

Thank you 

The success of our partnership with CCBC is a testament to the power of collaboration, innovation, and a shared vision. It is what we at Perago do best.  

It’s been a hugely rewarding project to be part of and a massive thank you goes to the Perago team who’ve been engaged with CCBC throughout our work together, and to the team in Caerphilly, in particular Ed Edmunds, Liz Lucas and Sue Richards who had the vision to see what could be achieved and engaged us to support them. Also to the Leader of the Council, Sean Morgan, who has demonstrated commitment to the change from the outset and been prepared to hold the line despite the political challenges change of this scale brings. 

If your organisation is facing similar challenges and seeking real, impactful change, we’d love to chat. You can read the full case study here.