RESOURCE MAPPING AND LEADERSHIP OF PLACE
Experience has shown that the building of trust between partners is a fundamental pre-requisite to move towards
different ways of working and different models of service delivery. However, in itself it does not guarantee that this change will translate into improved delivery of outcomes or more efficient and effective service delivery. Resource Mapping is best seen as another fundamental building block to support this change process. It is particularly useful as a tool to effect change when a foundation of trust already exists between partners as this can help to pinpoint the real areas of opportunity and the change required to realise them.
The overall aim of the resource mapping activity is to improve our understanding of the partner resources (people, assets and third party spend) that are consumed in an area and their alignment with the priority needs and outcomes for the area. Resource Mapping can operate at a number of different levels, any of which may be appropriate depending on the needs and priorities of a particular area and the maturity of the partnership relationships. Whatever the starting point, the resource mapping element is intended to focus on generating a bank of evidence and an understanding of the resources (total spend, people, assets and third party spend) applied to an area, a theme, a locality or a local priority. To achieve this, it is important to ask:
How well does spend align to priorities?
Are our resources targeted effectively to deliver key outcomes?
How effectively are we working together to use our resources?
How can we use resources more effectively?
By doing this, resource mapping can help to stimulate change and improvement across the partners by ensuring that c
ustomer needs are well understood and targetted around them; resources are targeted at priority areas of need; services (provided or commissioned) are integrated; services (provided or commissioned) are delivered effectively. Finally, that all of this happens irrespective of organisational boundaries.
APPROACHES TO RESOURCE MAPPING
HIGH LEVEL COUNT
It may for example be appropriate to take a "top down" holistic view of spend in an area, in order to obtain a high level
picture across the many public sector organisations that contribute. This is similar to that undertaken in the "Counting Cumbria" analysis last year which identified that c£7.1bn was spent by public bodies in the area of which £1.9bn was controlled or directed through local bodies. This is useful to get an understanding of the range, type and resource contribution of the various public sector partners, including government and non-departmental organisations.
Thematic analysis of spend
This top down analysis may be further extended to cover a thematic, locality or activity based view. This type of analysis
has already been undertaken in the national Total Place pilots and elsewhere within the East of England so there is a body of experience that exists to support undertaking this exercise.
An alternative or complementary approach is to take a bottom up view of a theme or a local priority and to undertake an in depth study of the activity and resources applied to that to determine whether these are best targeted at and aligned with the desired outcomes and customer needs. Again this type of analysis is being undertaken already in the national Total Place pilots and elsewhere within the East of England so there is a growing body of experience which can be drawn on of how to do this well and the types of results that can be achieved.
For more information about Resource Mapping please contact Ricky Fuller on ricky.fuller@improvementeast.gov.uk or T: 07920 466995.
Follow this link for more information on Improvement East's work around 'Total Place' and Leadership of Place.