Blog: Can co-production improve your service delivery? Our experience in Fife is ‘yes!’
In this blog, Pegs Bailey, National Third Sector Employability Partnership Engagement Manager, shares how taking a co-produced approach to planning employability commissioning strategy and infrastructure in Fife has led to better services.
Engaging in co-production approaches to planning service provision can sometimes feel like taking ten steps backwards to take two steps forwards. And the changes in direction can, at first, feel small and subtle: maybe a change to how we record personal information, training for staff on strengths-based working; investing in structures to grow co-production approaches in our organisations or our governance and oversight processes.
But just as a small shift in the direction of a train track can lead to very different places, so a small shift in valuing diverse perspectives can lead to very big changes in how our services are experienced by the people we aim to support.
More flexible and appropriate support for people
Having taken a co-produced approach to planning employability commissioning strategy and infrastructure in Fife, the Local Employability Partnership (LEP) has noticed that services they fund are becoming more flexible around the needs of the people seeking support, and therefore more appropriate in terms of the help that is offered.
‘In Fife, co-production and co-design has been central to creating more inclusive, supportive and tailored provision that better meets the needs of the individuals who are accessing the support.’
LEP Manager, Fife
Public service governance in the UK often has a strong focus on demonstrating effectiveness and efficiency through counting Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of one kind or another. In the world of employability this tends to be the number of people supported into work and number of jobs sustained.
While increasing performance in this way was not a priority for the Fife LEP, the reality is that the % of people achieving positive destinations is increasing, at the same time as services are working with those furthest from the labour market.
Viewing data through a learning lens
The LEP still values this data, but now views it through a learning lens. So instead of asking ‘does this data demonstrate effectiveness and efficiency?’ they are asking ‘what does this data tell us about how we can improve effectiveness and efficiency?’, and crucially ‘what other data should we be considering?’
‘As a previous client of services, and now in an organisation that oversees other services, I believe, once trust and respect is built between the strategic decision makers, delivery partner and people who use the services, authentic conversations start to happen naturally and without fear of who is qualified and who is not.
This leads to all those involved becoming more understanding of the barriers services face and the barriers service users face, resulting in a whole picture of what needs to be done to improve the service.’
Lived Experience participant (now staff member) in NOLB Fife Co-production
Co-production is not something that happens once and is ‘done’. It as an ongoing, iterative dialogue and learning journey between those who commission, deliver and use services. Done well it can be, and is, empowering for all.