Overview
West Lindsey (WLDC) is a local government district in Lincolnshire, England. The district covers the area immediately north of Lincoln and forms the northwest gateway to Lincolnshire. Covering an area of 115,733 hectares (447 square miles, 1,158 square kilometres), the district is predominantly rural and provides an attractive setting for its three market towns of Caistor, Gainsborough and Market Rasen.
The council serves a population of around 95,000 across 20 wards. The following vision has been adopted by the Council:
“West Lindsey is a great place to be where people, businesses and communities can thrive and reach their potential”
Like all local authorities, WLDC has a complex structure made up of the full council and its various committees, directorates and services.
What West Lindsey District Council wanted to achieve?
In 2020 West Lindsey District Council embarked on a large-scale transformation programme, Together24. The programme will review every service within the council to improve the efficiency of the services both internally and externally.
Underneath the Together 24 Programme the council is also implementing new ERP and CRM systems. With so much change happening across the council WLDC requested additional support to both Senior Managers and to the Governance of the ICT elements of the programme. Whilst WLDC have excellent ICT services, WLDC felt that they needed additional support at a Senior Level to help guide the programme.
Our solution
Syncity first started working with the council to review their current ICT strategy, to align it to both their corporate goals and their transformation programme. We worked alongside the Director of Corporate Services to improve his knowledge of ICT and how digital could be used across the organisations, taking an outcome-based approach to planning.
With the Director of Corporate Services leaving the authority, Syncity took on an extended role to chair the ICT Programmes Board, whilst continuing to work one to one with Senior staff.
“Richard at Syncity has become my trusted advisor. His experience and knowledge of ICT programmes is unparalleled in the sector. His non nonsense approach leaves you in no doubt as to where you are at with your plans. This approach makes it simple to take your plans forward, knowing that you are on the right path.”
Nova Roberts, Assistant Director, Change Management and Regulatory Services, West Lindsey District Council
The benefits West Lindsey District Council is seeing
Since working with Syncity, WLDC has seen a number of benefits. Perhaps the most significant is that they now have a clear definition between the transformation programme and the role that ICT are playing within that.
With Syncity, the crossover between the ICT and transformation programmes have been clearly defined. Programmes that had the potential to be seen as ICT programmes and system implementations have been reorganised. The Together24 programme now has a clear steer and now defines the work that ICT undertakes. ICT is an important part of the overall programme, but it is only one part of it. There was a danger that the CRM and ERP programmes were becoming the driving force for the transformation. Syncity has helped WLDC reverse this. There are now clear ICT plans in place, with resourcing and the technical aspects of the work governed by the ICT Programme Board, leaving the Together24 Board to focus on the services and the business cases for change.
“Working with Syncity has helped me as Together24 programme lead to focus on service improvement, knowing that the ICT is in safe hands. Where programmes had the potential to overlap, Syncity has helped us to define these clearly to ensure that the council has the right governance in place to ensure the smooth delivery of change.”
Ady Selby, Assistant Director Commercial and Operational Services, West Lindsey District Council