IT, productivity and culture

On the LSE Politics and Policy Blog there is an article highlighting how the productivity of the Department for Work and Pensions fell for much of the last two decades. The explanation is not the traditional Aunt Sally of allegedly lazy or incompetent public servants – it’s more complex than that as well as relevant beyond Whitehall.

Policy churn, organisational change and personnel turnover at ministerial change partly explain the dismal performance at DWP. More significantly, Patrick Dunleavy and Leandro Carrera suggest that a conservative mindset hindered the adoption of IT for improving productivity:

Three main organisational culture problems inside DWP prevented top officials even considering a shift to digital-era governance. First, senior officials with little or no IT background themselves did not believe that the poorer households and individuals receiving welfare benefits would ever get Internet access. However, in 2008 they discovered to their surprise that 51 percent of DWP ‘clients’ were already online with broadband Internet access.

Second, for years top civil servants saw the web as merely a place for posting static billboards of information and had no conception of creating a more interactive Web experience. Third, internal organisational power over policy on IT was concentrated among officials (aged in their 40s and 50s) running the big-budget mainframe computer systems, who saw web processes as a financially trivial (and hence organisationally irrelevant) sideline.

While these issues may be particularly acute in parts of central government, some of those attitudes can be found throughout the public and third sectors.

Hindmarch’s hints on college turnaround

Today's Guardian has an interview with the Colin Hindmarch - the principal credited with Harlow College's turnaround. The article includes advice on organisational recovery:

For turning around a college

• Keep students at the heart of everything you do

• Create a clear strategy for teaching and learning that is understood by everyone

• Be bold and brave and don't be afraid to take risks

• Create a culture where everyone accepts responsibility for students' successes and failures

• Always be truthful about what is going on at the college. Never deceive anyone else or yourself

A spring of disgruntlement? Strikes, pay and pensions in the public sector

Today the teaching union ATL announced that it would be balloting its members on industrial action over the proposed increase in teachers’ pension contributions. Meanwhile in colleges and universities UCU is doing likewise on the issues of jobs, pay and pensions.

Beyond schools, colleges and universities are we facing a spring of disgruntlement?

How will public sector unions respond to the austerity that is affecting their members’ jobs, pay and conditions?

Headlines may inflame matter when they highlight the remuneration packages of se senior management. The Daily Telegraph this weekend reported on pay rises enjoyed by university vice chancellors. (The paper’s survey found that three-quarters of vice chancellors saw pay packages, including salary, pensions and other benefits, increase during the year to August 2010. Eleven of the 87 surveyed benefited from rises of more than 10 per cent.)

The issue of pensions is likely to be a highly sensitive one. The Hutton Commission final report on public sector pensions is due in March 2011. The exact date has not been published but the 2011 Budget is on Wednesday March 23 – this would be an obvious candidate. The final report is likely to recommend pension entitlements based on a career average salary rather than “final salary”.

Public sector pensions are not “gold-plated” but public sector pension schemes do give workers a certainty about the timing of retirement and a level of entitlements that most private sector workers lack. I suspect that not all public sector workers recognise the full value of their pension schemes. Unions have not mobilised against the change in inflation indexation introduced last year. However, the increased pension contributions likely to kick in across the public sector from 2012 will be harder to swallow - as seen in the case of ATL members in schools - when pay is frozen for most of the public sector. Whether unions will enjoy public sympathy is another issue.

Quiet zone: the public sector whispering when Twittering

Maybe it is inevitable that last week Facebook complained that social media is not used enough by public agencies in the US. Perhaps as a relative newbie to the world of Twitter, I should not criticise those who are even later to the party than me. However, I have noticed that in the world of Twitter some UK public and third sector organisations have a presence that is worse than useless.

Fundamentally too many organisations do not know who they are talking to (Users? Other stakeholders? Media? Opinion formers?). Let alone what they are trying to convey.

Quite a few organisations lose interest after setting up their Twitter profile – why have a corporate presence if you have nothing to say?

Some struggle to get any followers at all. This is hardly surprising. They forget that you need to follow others in order to attract attention. A few hashtags might encourage people to take a look.

Too often tweets do not have any links - so the content becomes a dead-end rather than a path to a corporate website or other media content. (These cul-de-sacs do nothing in terms of search engine optimisation.)

It is sad that some organisations cannot even be criticised for using social media for “broadcasting” their messages rather than engaging in dialogue. So many organisations are half-heartedly whispering rather than broadcasting.

Is fraud rocketing? Even if it isn’t, what should you do about it?

Last week Public Finance was reporting that levels of fraud rocketed during 2010. There is plenty of media coverage of fraud. This week I joined in tweeting a link to a
blog about Portsmouth University and MacIntyre Hudson’s survey of public sector fraud.

It is worth emphasising that the Public Finance’s report was based on KPMG’s Fraud Barometer which tracks fraud cases in UK Crown Courts. So detected fraud is “soaring” – is actual fraud up?

Recessions, credit crunches, austerity, etc have a tendency to expose financial chicanery. Just ask Max Madoff. I am sure that Bob Maxwell would agree.

To borrow a great quote from Warren Buffett and use it in a different context:

It's only when the tide goes out that you learn who's been swimming naked.

Of course, total – detected and undetected – fraud may be up too – in line with media coverage. For example, some of the squeezed middle may resort to white collar crime in hard times. Media coverage may even have a copycat effect – MPs are not the only ones who may be susceptible to the feeling that if colleagues’ snouts are in the trough, they should no be missing out. Experts point to need, opportunity and justification driving fraud - "others doing it" offers a self-justification for some.

Organisations should treat the fraud threat seriously. They should ensure that internal audit allocate sufficient days to fraud detection using IT tools as well as addressing fraud risks as an integral part of other audit reviews.

Decisions, decisions

I am currently reading The Decision Book. It sets out fifty models for decision-making alongside some historic context to each model. I’m reading one a day – a bit like Thought for the Day.

The Decision Book even has something of interest to say about old and familiar favourites like the SWOT model of Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats. The SWOT section includes a quote from Margaret J. Wheatley relevant to our uncertain times:

The things we fear most in organisations – fluctuations, disturbances, imbalances – are he primary sources of creativity.

Colleges, Alumni and their donations

I was pleased to see on the Education Guardian website an article about colleges and alumni. Iain Mackinnon – from the governing body of Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College – was suggesting that donations from alumni could become a major source of income for colleges as it has for many UK universities.

Ian MacKinnon gave examples of colleges generating income now:

Plumpton College in Sussex, for example, which has an international reputation for its wine-related training, was recently given £70,000 for research. Bournemouth and Poole College has raised over £1m in the last 15 years, from a wide range of supporters. The City Lit, London's most illustrious adult education college, raises tens of thousands every year, mostly from alumni, which it uses to help students with their fees.

I am aware of sixth form colleges seeking to generate donations from parents. This a wise move but parents are no longer when students move on – alumni are for life.

Following my earlier blog post on alumni donations, I googled to see how many colleges had alumni pages on their websites. The answer was very few. Not all of them may be using alumni to

EMA may be saved or, more likely, more than 10% salvaged. But its not likely. Students now could benefit from alumni donations and the associated Gift Aid. What is stopping colleges?

Talking about the future – what about small housing associations?

This week’s Inside Housing carries a roundtable discussion on What’s on the cards for 2011. It brings together figures from the world of social housing and its hinterland to discuss the threats and opportunities of the next 12 months.

The discussion was quite upbeat. Maybe the flexibility of the new Affordable Rent at 80% of market levels will ensure new development despite the huge reductions in public finance.

What struck me was who at the table. Local authorities and large housing associations were well-represented. Small housing associations were not there. Liverpool Mutual Homes and City West Housing Trust have around 15,000 – other soothsayers in the article many more.

The small associations will struggle to develop in the future – does that mean decline? The roundtable participants believe that associations will have to be more commercially driven. That is not necessarily something that small housing associations are well prepared to do with their limited resources and voluntary ethos.
One participant suggested: “‘Voluntary boards are part of the past now”.

Small associations – those with a few hundred or, even, a thousand or so homes - will have to do some serious thinking. Working together and with others will be vital for the associations who like to call themselves as “the smalls”.

It would be ironic if local organisations based on a voluntary ethic found themselves evicted from a future of localism and Big Society.

Academies: the significance of numbers and the future of regulation

So one in ten English schools are now academies – marking a doubling of academy numbers. I do have some sympathy with commentator Conor Ryan’s tweet that:

It is not the number of academies, but their contribution to school improvement that matters most.

As a former advisor to the last government Conor Ryan blogs:

it is simply ridiculous to claim that the marginal governance and financial changes involved in converting an outstanding school to an academy are in any way comparable to the huge task involved in gaining secure sponsorship and leadership for a new academy in a tough area or an academy replacing a failing school.

The setting-up of academies planned by the previous government and the conversion process allowed by the current government mean that there is a significant challenge and workload associated with regulating them. (On top of that free schools are in the pipeline.) It is therefore ironic that a fog of uncertainty has descended on the future regulation of the academy sector since the regulatory changes planned for 1 January appear to have been postponed. The Young People’s Learning Agency is funding and overseeing the sector, but Third Sector reported yesterday that it has not formally been made the new Principal Regulator to replace the Charity Commission.

Bracing weather - the "double freeze": pay rises and increments

Today’s Financial Times reports on proposals from a group of NHS chief executives for a "double pay freeze" - that is, a two year pay freeze for staff earning less than £21k and a freeze on incremental rises which over two thirds of NHS staff enjoy. The good news would be a promise of no compulsory redundancies – the article notes scepticism over whether all NHS organisations could afford that guarantee.

Similar plans – whether or not the NHS proposal happens – may be seen elsewhere – perhaps in education where funding cuts for some organisations may be serious enough to require radical action but not so deep as to require compulsory redundancies.

I am tweeting

I am now on Twitter and getting the hang of it. You are very welcome to follow, re-tweet and anything else.

I am personally finding that following others is a handy and quick way of keeping up to date.

Foretelling the future: 2011 predictions and speculations

With Christmas and New Year at the way it’s time to read the retrospectives on 2010 and the crystal ball gazing for 2011.

I have not yet listened to Radio Four’s Correspondents Look Ahead programme but Paul Mason of Newsnight makes an interesting prediction on the BBC website. He suggests that in 2011 the Coalition will fall “because everytime it tries to do something serious a bit falls off the machine”. (Interestingly Tony Benn and Dennis Healey made a similar preduction yesterday on Radio Four's Broadcasting House.) Paul Mason foresees a Liberal Democrat pull out leading to “a Second Coalition to be formed between the Conservatives, an inner core of Orange Book Libdem leaders and various Unionists, with a slim majority.” We will see if that happens and what it means for the public and third sections.

The London School of Economics blog on British Politics and Policy has a look ahead at some of the big issues that could dominate 2011. The list is far-ranging although it is a list of questions rather than predictions. While it features the Coalition and austerity, it does not mention the impact of the changes in schools and the NHS which are potentially profound and, the case of the slow painful death of Primary Care Trusts, possibly toxic.

One area which I will be watching and trying to understand is open source government, armchair auditors and some of the technology which may make this something significant. I am sure that there will be some headlines as more public bodies have to publish the detail of their financial transactions. There may even be some good to come out of these exercises.

A Cultural Revolution starting in the higher education sector?

While the huge reductions planned in teaching grant and the significant proposed increases in the average level of tuition fees for universities has political significance, the mainstream media has missed some of the other fundamental changes in higher education this year.

Only last week Pearson announced plans to create a vocational degree offered in partnership with further education colleges. It was covered on the BBC’s Education website but I did not see it anywhere else.

In the US for-profit universities have had a bad press this year but it can only be a matter of time before they arrive on this side of the Atlantic on a significant scale. The private sector BPP university college is almost here.

With the media talking about the Maoism of the Coalition’s policies, they have not really recognised this Cultural Revolution starting in the universities.

Nine years of being a board member - lessons learnt

Yesterday was my last board meeting. I have learned many things by being on a board for nine years.

Here is some of what I have learned:

1) Boards need to focus on mission. Strategies should support mission rather than distract from it.

2) Board members need time to gain the knowledge and confidence to fully contribute. I think the first one or two years are a matter of finding your way even if you are given a good induction and commit to learning about the organisation and its environment. It is bewildering that some housing associations seek to rotate resident board members after three years – board renewal should not be about getting rid of new blood.

3) Boards need practitioners. I can say with confidence as a non-housing practitioner that housing associations need housing practitioners. I had worked as a consultant and as an auditor in the housing sector but recognised that having hands-on practitioners could bring something extra. They can re-balance the inevitable information asymmetry between full-time executive managers and part-time non-executive board members. (In my day job I have seen colleges how education practitioners are vital for adequate board level scrutiny at colleges.)

4) Boards can recruit excellent board members from a range of fields. If an organisation can afford board remuneration (and if it is legally allowed to pay it), it can be almost overwhelmed by interest. (I had not fully appreciated this when I was wary about board remuneration.) More recently I learned that social networks like LinkedIn can play a valuable role in attracting and identifying new talent.

5) Board members – however individually talented – need to be wielded into an excellent board. That is not automatic – it requires a chair to leverage in all the talents as well as encourage useful challenge and teamwork.

Apologies if some of that just sounds like common sense.

Mortgages, misery and the happiness index

The Council of Mortgage Lenders has published a forecast that next year net mortgage lending will fall to the lowest level since 1980. It will be £6bn compared with £110bn in 2006. It could be worse - the CML are assuming there is no double-dip.

This will have implications for the housing market.

Yesterday I was reading the latest Research in Public Policy bulletin from the CMPO think tank at Bristol University. It included research on a link between house prices and well-being. The study found a correlation but explaining it is more tricky. The article suggested: "Perhaps the state of the housing market – and media coverage of the housing market – foster a ‘feel good factor’ when house prices perform well – and vice versa." That feel bad factor might be bad news for David Cameron's happiness index.

Public sector pensions as a business risk - no need to panic?

Tomorrow morning I am attending a briefing for colleges and other organisations who are part of one of the local government pension schemes (LGPS) in the north west. I suspect that the content on long-term developments may be a little vague as we await that final report from Lord Hutton.

How big a business risk is the LGPS now for colleges, transfer housing associations, etc? I do not often sound overly optimistic but I have started to wonder if the pension risk has started to recede.

While the viability of some weaker organisations will still be threatened by the costs of keeping promises, in general the shift to CPI indexing and the 3% pensions levy will have both lowered entitlements and shifted the costs towards employees. (It is worth noting that the indexation change will - according to Hutton's interim report - reduce entitlements by 15% - which disproportionately reduces the burden on employers as they are the ones who underwrite the scheme bar a degree of burden-sharing on life expectancy.)

When I recently suggested that the pensions risk may have slightly abated, the risk of industrial action was drawn to my attention. We have seen industrial action at the BBC - and we may see it elsewhere. But unions have accepted the CPI indexation surprisingly quietly even though it has taken away existing entitlements.

Elitism in the tuition fees debate: left, right and centre

Following the tuition fees debate in the media I have been a little disturbed by some of the implicit elitism at work.(I have no problem with elite universities – higher education finance needs to ensure we can compete globally. My issue is with elitism: The belief that certain persons or members of certain classes or groups deserve favoured treatment by virtue of their perceived superiority, as in intellect, social status, or financial resources.

On the left (or at least centre-left) we have blogger Marko Attila Hoare commenting:

the simultaneous expansion and dumbing down of higher education over the past two decades, and to the proliferation of Mickey Mouse courses and institutions, where third-rate students could take courses on East Enders Studies or Football Studies or whatever

In the middle at the Independent Mary Dejevsky asks:

Everything else is being cut, so why not student numbers?

I think I caught a Liberal Democrat MP suggest on Radio Four's World at One that fewer students would be better than higher fees.

On the right flank the Daily Telegraph reports that Conservative MP David Davis opposing the Coalition's fees plans as believes that the answer to higher education funding problems is a reduction in the number of universities and people attending them.

Whatever we think of the Coalition’s proposals, it is a pity that there is not a stronger recognition of the vital role that higher education can and should play in promoting social mobility. It is disappointing that a higher proportion of young people are now getting a degree in Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic than the UK. It is even more depressing than so many opinion-formers favour an even lower proportion here.

Winners and losers from changes in higher education funding

Today’s media coverage of the University and College Union’s report on the future financial health has helpfully broadened the current debate. The report (pdf available) warns that More than a third of England's universities may be forced to close or merge as a result of changes in higher education finance. (I do feel sorry for the four institutions which have been flagged up as particularly vulnerable – they are even more so today.)

There can be some scope for debate over the report’s methodology. For example, the report gives a higher risk score where the university admits significant numbers of disadvantaged students. Research commissioned by the Higher Education Funding Council (pdf available) shows that in the past the introduction of fees has not substantially affected access to universities for disadvantaged students. (Of course, as Coalition spokespeople point out as often as possible: the increased fees will be paid by graduates rather than students on entry.)

Maybe the most badly affected universities will be those who fail to offer their customers value for money. Newer universities and further education colleges may be well placed to offer students a focus on teaching and vocationally orientated qualifications – as well as the savings and convenience (for young people!) of studying while living at home.

There will certainly be significant turbulence in the universities sector from higher fees and reductions by about three-quarters in teaching grants. However, the winners and losers are likely to be different from those identified by the University and College Union report.

U-turns and Big Bangs – councils and academies

It is interesting to see that Richmond is proposing that all its primary and secondary schools become academies. I can see a big bang might be more convenient for the local authority to cope with than a slow withering on the vine of maintained schools as they leave council control. It is not clear whether the local head teachers and governing bodies have bought into the plan.

It should be noted that Surrey County Council was planning something similar – and then announced a change of mind. Even more strangely, at almost the same time as the county-wide plan was revealed, the Conservative leader of Surrey Council said that he saw "little benefit" in schools there becoming an academy.

The LGiU blog suggested yesterday that the current rate of progressing in local authority applying for academy status and applications being processed means that it could take 140 years for all schools to convert to academy status. I suspect things will quicken up. It is a major decision for head teachers and governors. Moreover, it’s scary being an early mover. While academies are a priority, the Department for Education has a lot on its plate.

What is clear is that the academy conversion process and the emergence of free schools will pose practical challenges to local authorities when they already face many other constraints and difficulties. A harbinger of this could be seen back in January the Conservative leader of Kent County Council indicated that the authority’s enthusiasm for academies had waned because the council lost money needed for “crucial support services for all its schools”.

Pluralism in education - enter the humanist free school?

In the current issue of New Humanist Francis Beckett - author of The Great City Academy Fraud - suggests "co-operating with an objectionable and reactionary educational policy" and setting up a humanist free school. He suggests that this is "a one-off chance to show that real secular state education works".

It would be broadly tolerant, liberal but firm. The boundaries would be drawn widely, but they would be fixed. Cross that boundary and the sky falls in on you. Our staff would have better things to worry about than the length of their pupils’ hair, and there would be no uniform. But any form of bullying or abuse would not be tolerated. And neither would boring lessons. We can’t divorce ourselves from the target culture, but we can make sure it doesn’t ruin the lives and the learning experience of our pupils.

(It all sounds a bit like the liberal Kunskapskolan schools opening as part of the academies programme.)

The magazine’s website has an online poll on the issue. When I last looked almost three-quarters of those voting said that they would support the establishment of an avowedly atheist and humanist state school.

As someone who works with faith schools and colleges, I hope the humanist free school project gets off the ground. The project will contribute to the diversity and innovation created by academies and free schools.