The 2016 conference and exhibition will take place 10 months into the new Fire Minister’s tenure. It will provide an opportunity to discuss priorities and plans for the future of the Fire and Rescue Service over the next parliament and talk about the challenges the sector is facing.

Civica is delighted to be supporting this event once again. Visit us at stand 4 during the exhibition to find out what products and services Civica Fire can offer you.

To find out more and register your interest, please visit the LGA website. 

New report from Solace and Civica explores how changes in culture and leadership style are critical to achieving wholesale transformation

Key findings:

• 47% of public sector workers think their leadership team lacks the management skills needed for a period of massive and accelerating change
• 36% want public sector leaders to invest in creating a more flexible and adaptive working environment
• Only 7% view the public sector as an empowering environment to work in

16 February 2016, London: A report published today by Solace and Civica, a market leader in specialist software, technology and outsourcing services, reveals that only 7% of public sector employees at middle manager level and below view the public sector as an empowering environment. The report, ‘Invigorating the Public Sector Revolution’, explores how a public sector cultural revolution is essential to lead a progressive workforce to empower the digital citizen and discusses how people, culture and leadership are not only key barriers but also enablers of wholescale change.

The sector’s imperative to balance the books is still driving significant spending cuts across the majority of services. Although the public sector has started to make some head-way in its journey to deliver re-designed and integrated services in the run up to 2025 and beyond, this latest Solace and Civica report identifies a need for leaders to empower the wider workforce and create an organisational culture and structure that supports and drives transformation. Civica research found that 34% of public sector employees at middle manager level and below believe leaders need to alter the entire organisational structure, with 30% claiming a lack of clear direction is holding the sector back from effective change.

Kim Ryley, Former CEO and Chair, Solace in Business, commented: “The biggest barriers are not technology or resource based, they are people’s attitudes. Public sector organisations need a style of leadership that creates a sense of purpose where they can sell hope to the people, and visibly walk the walk.”

The report encompasses the perspective from Civica’s Leadership Forum of public and private sector executives, which agreed that there needs to be a radical change, not only in leadership style but in organisational structure and culture across the sector to reflect three main strands:

1) Everyone is a leader – Every revolution needs strong leadership to drive on-going success in the face of daunting challenges. Public sector leaders need to encourage motivate everyone across the organisation to take accountability for delivery and improvement. Leaders must give employees a voice and empower people to make decisions.

2) Constant evolution – To inspire a revolution, the public sector needs a different working environment. The public sector has spent decades working in professional silos, leaders need to encourage barriers to be broken down and create teams that work together across agencies. They need to drive ongoing learning and improvements for everyone to see that their role is constantly evolving. As Kim Ryley, Former Chief Executive Officer and Chair, Solace in Business, explained: “There are examples where silos are breaking down. I have set up multi-agency roles, bringing together seven different agencies under a single management, where they all had different terms and conditions, etc. But it didn’t matter as they came together to focus on delivering the best job.”

3) Light touch rules – There is no quicker way to suffocate original thinking or genius ideas than by punishing failure and not giving people space to innovate and take risks. The Leadership Forum agreed that a democratic and agile structure falls flat if it lacks the checks and balances to keep everyone on track. “There needs to be a balance of control, accountability, flexibility and trust,” said Stephen Curtis, Director of the Centre of Excellence for Information Sharing.

After seeing the benefits of a successful restructure first-hand, Henry Branson, Senior Head of Infrastructure, Eastbourne Borough Council, explained: “The pressure to do more with less, without letting service levels drop, is unrelenting for most organisations within local government. Alongside the technical transformation, the restructure of our organisation - creating an empowered culture - has been crucial in delivering the improvements we needed. Having a clear vision and strong leadership has been fundamental to the success of our transformation.”

Wayne Story, Deputy CEO of Civica, concluded: “As the pace of change accelerates, not everyone has the necessary skills to manage and build on the shifts taking place. Public sector leaders need to be able to empower and inspire the wider workforce and take responsibility for building a culture that encourages employees to innovate and try new ways of working without fear of failure.

“Whilst excellent public sector training and development exists to support individual challenges, we would propose introducing a nationally-funded programme to arm leaders with the skills they require to meet future demands and effectively manage the significant change and increasing expectation using tools and technology available to encourage collaboration and innovation.”

‘Invigorating the Public Sector Revolution’ outlines five practical steps to help public sector leaders invigorate a cultural revolution in the sector. It is the third instalment in Civica’s ‘Changing Landscape’ report series.

ENDS

Notes to editor

Leadership Forum attendees:
1. Jo Vigor, Senior Development Advisor, Health Sector
2. Kim Ryley, Former Chief Executive Officer and Chair, Solace in Business
3. Trevor Holden, Chief Executive Officer, Luton Borough Council
4. Stephen Curtis, Director, Centre of Excellence for Information Sharing
5. Susie Kemp, Former Assistant Chief Executive Officer, Surrey County Council
6. Henry Branson, Senior Head of Infrastructure, Eastbourne Borough Council
7. Steve Jorden, Executive Director of Strategy and Commissioning, Head of Paid Service at South Hams District Council and West Devon Borough Council
8. Maggi Evans, Senior Partner, Apter Development
9. Steve Shakespeare, Managing Director, Civica Services
10. John Hood, Chief Technology Officer, Civica
11. Wayne Story, Deputy CEO, Civica

About the research
The research was conducted by Opinium Research, for Civica, in January 2016. Sample: 276 public sector workers in middle management or below.

About Solace:
Solace is the representative body for senior strategic managers working in the public sector in the UK. We are committed to promoting public sector excellence. We provide our members with opportunities for personal and professional development, and seek to influence debate around the future of public services to ensure that policy and legislation are informed by the experience and expertise of our members. Whilst the vast majority of Solace members work in local government we also have members in senior positions in health authorities, police and fire authorities and central government.

About Civica:
Civica (www.civica.co.uk) is a market-leading specialist in software, technology and outsourcing services that help teams and organisations around the world to transform the way they work. Combining exceptional customer focus, experience and commitment, Civica supplies more than 4,000 organisations in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Canada and the USA.

Civica is pleased to announce the launch of its new customer information portal, Userbase.

The new Userbase provides an improved user experience with some great new features:

• Access anywhere – with a responsive mobile user interface you can access Userbase from any mobile device
• Improved performance – faster download times for large files via the cloud
• More efficient - advanced search, with full document previews
• Greater flexibility - configure email alerts to a date and time to suit you.

Userbase is designed specifically for Civica customers, to provide access to information and news, a forum for discussion and to share knowledge between the user community.

Existing customer accounts have been migrated to the new site. To find out more and register, please go to https://customer.civica.co.uk

Acquisition of 370-strong software firm creates leading digital solutions capability

3 May 2016, London: Civica Group Limited (“Civica”), a market leader in critical software applications, digital solutions and outsourcing that help organisations transform the way they work, has announced that Civica UK Limited, the company’s wholly owned subsidiary, has acquired digital transformation specialist IPL Group Limited (“IPL”).

IPL, based in Bath, specialises in designing, building and managing secure business-critical software solutions for customers in both public and private sectors with core capabilities in digital and mobile solutions, data management and analytics. The company has a focus on supporting digital transformation from concept to implementation and the acquisition extends Civica’s position as a leading digital partner for its markets with a combined specialist capability within the Group comprising more than 750 people and related annual revenues approaching £90 million.

IPL has a successful 37-year history of delivering secure software solutions to help improve customer experience, operational efficiency and risk management for more than 400 organisations across government, security and intelligence, transport, infrastructure and financial service sectors. Customers include the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Environment Agency, Highways England, Nationwide Building Society, First Group and Kent Police. The business has continued to perform well in 2016 with new contracts including Airbus, Marine Management Organisation, Oxford Instruments and Ordnance Survey.

Simon Downing, group chief executive of Civica said, “I am delighted to welcome IPL to the Civica Group. Organisations in both public and private sectors are looking to transform the way they work to engage customers more effectively and operate more efficiently, and there is increasing recognition that improvement is dependent on digital technology and automation. IPL brings specialist expertise and the combined business creates a market-leading digital solutions capability well placed to respond to the needs of customers.”

Paul Jobbins, chief executive of IPL Group, said, “This is an exciting development for our customers, partners and employees. IPL’s skills, knowledge and capabilities are complementary to Civica’s, enabling the combined business to offer a broader range of solutions to a wider customer base at an important time in the market. We look forward to building on our joint strengths and vision in order to deliver increasing value to customers.”

The Civica Group has a successful track record of acquiring and integrating businesses with complementary skills and technology.

About Civica
Civica (www.civica.co.uk) is a market-leading specialist in digital solutions, critical software applications and outsourcing services that help organisations around the world to transform the way they work. Combining exceptional customer focus, experience and commitment, Civica supplies more than 4,000 organisations in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Canada and the USA.

About IPL Group
IPL (www.ipl.com) is a system integrator focused on digital innovation. Strongly placed to help organisations tackle the growing issues of big data, mobile and cloud computing, IPL works with customers to break down information silos, reduce risk, boost productivity and create first-class digital services. Founded in 1979, the company employs more than 370 staff and operates in a wide range of sectors, including transportation, banking and finance, oil and gas, and the public sector.

By combining expertise in business and technical consultancy, software delivery and managed services, IPL provides customers with the full range of capabilities required to achieve their vision. The company is certified to ISO 9001 and TickITplus for quality management, ISO 27001 for information security and ISO 14001 for environmental management.

Independent research with CIPFA across 45 local authority CEOs and CFOs found that:

• 40% of local authority leaders say commercialisation plays some part in their current strategy
• However, only 4% of public sector CEOs and CFOs say they have significant commercial expertise
• Positive progress is being held back by a lack of understanding of what the market needs (36%) and concerns about the risks involved (56%)
• A restrictive culture (40%) and discomfort about new models (56%) is also having an impact
• Despite this, those with a commercial strategy say commercialisation gives them more control over developments in the community, builds closer relationships with the people they serve and supports the creation of new jobs.

13th July 2016, London: A new report published today by Civica, a market leader in critical software applications, digital solutions and outsourcing, in partnership with The Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy (CIPFA), reveals that local authority leaders understand the importance of a more commercial approach, but lack the experience and support to embrace it fully. The report, ‘The Commercial Imperative’, explores the role of commercialisation as a way for authorities to close the funding gap, become self-sufficient and provides step-by-step guidance on how to find the right path to achieve a sustainable commercial model.

Following another tough financial settlement for councils and increased financial uncertainty in England, whereby Government grants have been cut by 25% and organisations are expected to be financially self-sufficient by 2020, local authorities are looking beyond service reduction towards commercialising services. While commercialised approaches and options are plentiful, finding the right strategy that will deliver genuine returns is a task that few local authorities have found easy.

Rob Whiteman, Chief Executive, CIPFA commented: “Commercialisation is going to be one of the most important priorities for local authorities over the next decade. If they haven’t already, council leaders and CFOs must start thinking about short, medium and long term strategies for generating their own income. Reappraising their appetite for risk is vital to making these endeavours successful. Not every attempt will make money and as public bodies using the public purse, it’s a difficult position to be in. But a thorough review of risk management, cost and modelling systems, together with open conversation at a board level can make it easier.”

At a recent Leadership Forum, Civica brought together a group of local government and private sector leaders to discuss how to achieve a sustainable commercial model. The discussion and independent research across 45 local authority CEOs and CFOs, and the report it informed, outlined that local authorities must be passionate, committed and agile while battling against financial constraints, complex demands and rapidly innovating competitors – just like private businesses. This is the only way to generate the results required to state their claim in the commercial race and improve the lives of the communities in which they operate.

And, while 40% of local authority leaders said commercialisation plays some part in their current strategy, public sector CEOs and CFOs have admitted that they don’t have as much commercial expertise as they’d like. In fact, only 4% claim to have significant expertise in the area. Council leaders and CFOs across the UK believe that commercialisation is not only being held back by lack of experience but by concern about the risks involved, discomfort about new models (56%) and a restrictive culture in the public sector (40%).

Despite this, there are some ambitious and progressive local authorities in the UK that are leading the way with innovative commercial endeavours. For example, in 2015, Bristol City Council announced the launch of Bristol Energy, one of the first wholly-owned municipal energy companies to enter the market. The council has invested into the company based upon Market Economy Investor Principle (MEIP), along the same lines as private equity investors would do, including return rates from the investment, which are above 20%.

The research also found that 65% of council CEOs and CFOs surveyed plan to implement larger more radical projects to generate greater income streams, with 35% looking to implement smaller, less risky projects to do so. Hull City Council has successfully saved £165m by implementing multiple initiatives both big and small. Brendan Arnold, Director of Finance, Infrastructure and Transformation at Hull City Council, explained: “I think organisations make the mistake thinking that the small stuff doesn’t matter. It matters immensely and stacks up to numbers that really make a difference. If you ignore small opportunities and don’t exploit them, that is a missed opportunity.”

In fact, the Leadership Forum discussed four revenue generating opportunities that, in their experience, should be considered to address the severe funding gap:

1. Trade directly with communities
2. Make the most of existing assets & boost the local economy
3. Share and sell services amongst peers
4. Drive digital: To create efficiencies & new revenue streams.

Wayne Story, Group CEO of Civica, concluded: “Local authorities are juggling a wide-range of transformational activities. While adding commercialisation to the mix may seem daunting, with no sign of financial and service demand pressures abating – it’s essential. As always, those who make the journey with the most passion, commitment to success and flexibility will be the ones who see the best results. And ultimately will be the ones who most improve the lives of the communities in which they operate.”

‘The Commercial Imperative’ outlines critical success factors influencing commercial journeys, four ways to generate revenue and six practical steps to help local authority leaders build a sustainable commercial model. It is the fourth instalment in Civica’s ‘Changing Landscape’ report series.

ENDS

Notes to editor

Commercialisation Forum attendees:

1. Vic Allison, Deputy Managing Director, Wychavon District Council
2. Bill Edrich, Director of Energy, Bristol City Council
3. Nick Rowe, Strategic Finance Partner, Ealing Council
4. Andy Brown, City Customer Services Manager, Hull City Council
5. Brendan Arnold, Director of Finance, Infrastructure and Transformation at Hull City Council
6. Dominic Whelan, Director of Shared Services at EK Services
7. Peter Gillett, former Finance Director of Bristol City Council, now Cothan Solutions
8. Mike Butler, Managing Director, Peopletoo
9. Rob Whiteman, CEO, CIPFA
10. Paul Bradbury, Business Development Director, Civica
11. Gary Bell, Managing Director, BPO, Civica
12. Wayne Story, Group CEO, Civica

About the research:

The research was conducted by The Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy, for Civica, over May and June 2016. Sample: 45 local authority CEOs & CFOs.

About CIPFA:
CIPFA, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, is the professional body for people in public finance. Its 14,000 members work throughout the public services, in national audit agencies, in major accountancy firms, and in other bodies where public money needs to be effectively and efficiently managed.

About Civica:
Civica (www.civica.co.uk) is a market-leading specialist in software, technology and outsourcing services that help teams and organisations around the world to transform the way they work. Combining exceptional customer focus, experience and commitment, Civica supplies more than 2,000 major customers in 10 countries around the world.

Acquisition of 200-strong software firm expands leading digital services capability

25 July 2016, London: Civica Group Limited (“Civica”), a market leader in critical software applications, digital solutions and outsourcing services that help organisations transform the way they work, has announced that Civica UK Limited, the company’s wholly owned subsidiary, has acquired government digital specialist SFW Ltd (“SFW”).

SFW, based in Woking with an offshore development centre in Vadodara, India, specialises in building and managing digital solutions for the public sector, supplying 70 organisations predominantly in UK national and local government. Core capabilities are focused around digital engagement, CRM-based applications and workplace collaboration.

The acquisition strengthens Civica’s position and capability as a leading digital partner for the markets it serves, adding to the specialist capability within the Group to support digital transformation which now comprises almost a third of the company’s 3,500 employees.

SFW has a strong record of helping organisations to digitise internal processes and customer interactions. Government customers include the Home Office, DEFRA and DECC, together with non-departmental bodies such as the Environment Agency, Acas and the Electoral Commission, which deployed a digital service created by SFW to collate the results of the EU Referendum. The company also works with local public services and regulated markets.

SFW’s Indian development centre provides highly cost-effective application development, support and testing services. It provides an important platform to support the development of Civica’s business globally through a flexible Right-Shoring model which combines on-shore, near-shore and far-shore delivery to ensure the right mix of specialist resources both for customer projects and also to shorten time to market for Civica’s proprietary software.

Simon Downing, chairman of Civica, said, “Civica has a successful record of adding complementary businesses and I am delighted to welcome SFW to the Group. At a time when the public sector is looking to modernise services and make savings through digital transformation, the skills and experience of SFW’s team are an excellent fit and extend our market-leading digital services capability following the acquisitions of IPL and WTG.”

Simon MacDowall, chief operating officer of SFW, said, “The combination of Civica and SFW is very well placed to respond to evolving customer needs. We look forward to building on our combined strengths to respond to an increasing focus on business critical digital and cloud-based solutions across the public sector and regulated markets.”

About Civica
Civica (www.civica.co.uk) is a market-leading specialist in digital solutions, critical software applications and outsourcing services that help organisations around the world to transform the way they work. Combining exceptional customer focus, experience and commitment, Civica supplies more than 4,000 organisations in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Canada and the USA.

About SFW Ltd
SFW (www.sfwltd.co.uk) is a British technology company which provides design-driven digital services for the public sector. Best known for creating new digital services, CRM-based systems, intranets and document management systems, SFW provides end-to-end services from discovery and design to application development and management, together with off-the-shelf products including SFW Plaza, a Microsoft® Office 365 based hosted intranet solution for the public sector.

Great Britain’s remarkable success in the Rio Olympics and Paralympics has reminded us all that if you plan well and train hard, every goal is achievable, no matter how tough it may seem at the outset. And with sprinting, jumping and rowing fresh on our minds, there’s some lessons that public sector organisations can learn from the mindset and long-term commitment of our winning athletes.

The saying may go that “it’s a marathon, not a sprint”, however while that may be true for Mo Farah, public sector organisations need to pick up the pace to meet the service delivery demands of citizens. While improvement in public services seems increasingly dependent on IT-enhanced ways of working which can improve efficiency, reduce costs and increase agility, the question is whether organisations have the skills, stamina and ability to embrace new technologies whilst also coping with financial constraints? To stay on track, authorities need to remain fixed on the end-goal and, just like athletes do, they need to work with a team of expert partners to help them win.

Sweating existing assets
The first step in succeeding with any technology challenge is to make the assets you already have work harder for you. However, reviewing skills as opposed to hardware or software is often harder for IT departments as technology is constantly evolving and new platforms and applications are constantly coming to the fore. This is compounded by the proliferation of devices and the increased availability and volume of data being collected which is creating whole new jobs. Therefore, just like the best Olympians, constant evaluation is needed to ensure that teams are fully equipped and prepared to win.

According to recent research we conducted with senior UK IT decision makers across both the public and private sector, many organisations admit to missing key IT skills. The skills most lacking across the UK include cloud migration, security and IT engineering. To fill these gaps, many organisations (57%) are looking to make their current teams run the extra mile. However, while it’s important to ensure that the business is benefitting from the full-breadth of employee skills, organisations need to be mindful not to drive staff to the point of burn out.

And it’s not just capacity and skills that need to be considered, it’s also the equipment and infrastructure an organisation currently has. Organisations need to ask themselves, do these match up against future requirements? Will they help meet efficiency challenges and deliver digital transformation? Without the right equipment in place, organisations won’t make it past the heats.

Investing in new team players
To reach new levels of success in the sporting world, athletes often switch coaching teams to access new capabilities and expertise. Likewise, Team GB coaches go through a rigorous selection process to ensure they form a team with a winning combination of attitude and skills. The same strategy can be applied to public sector IT teams.

As it stands, 43% of UK organisations plan to select and hire more staff to bridge their current IT skills gap. However, new talent doesn’t come cheaply. According to IT decision makers, recruiting the people needed to fill their current gap would require an extra £112,000 per annum. Given budgets are being squeezed harder than ever, more and more organisations are turning to external partners to plug the gaps in terms of expertise and help them reach long term goals.

Finding the right training partner
The role of a good technology partner is much like that of a good coaching team. They should be proven experts in their field who share a common vision and dedication to the sport and who support players to create the performance improvements required to win.

It’s not just about sharing expertise, helping to train and providing motivation. A good coaching team provides an end-to-end capability from equipment through to medical support. The right technology partnership enables organisations to select the most appropriate hardware and software, as well as access the IT skills they need to address backlogs, manage peaks in activity and process workloads at short notice. For example, by deploying a managed solution for one aspect of their business, organisations can be free to focus on the bigger picture in the same way that an athlete with the right coaching team can focus solely on their performance.

This way of working tends to prove more cost-effective in the short and long term, allowing organisations to be more responsive and flexible, as well as helping them achieve better results in terms of service delivery to citizens and staff. It seems almost a third of IT decision makers understand and appreciate the benefits, as they say using external IT services is fundamental to keeping their organisation’s lights on throughout the UK.

Reaching future goals
Having trained for four years for their moment to shine, Olympians all feel the heat on the day. However, while it may be one person running the race, you have to remember that it’s a whole team of people that have got them there. Public sector organisations are under similar pressure to deliver, and to make their organisation fit for the future. With the right technology partner, who shares their vision and drive, they can achieve the best results possible in the years to come – not just in their next race.

Gary Bell, Executive Director, Civica