Peoplefirst is the brand name for what we believe is one
of the most far-reaching strategic programmes currently underway in local government. Developed by the city
of Sunderland, it uniquely pulls together the themes of performance improvement, service integration,
e-government, democratic renewal and community engagement. The new approach will be introduced over the next four years
in an investment estimated at £50 million.
A number of councils have developed models to bring together local authority services in order to provide easier access and improve take-up by customers. Peoplefirst promotes this thinking beyond the concept of ‘one-stop shops’ into a multi-agency approach, working through a variety of alternative channels. Providing services how, where and when citizens wish to access them is the guiding principle. An advanced e-government programme provides a platform for many of the improvements.
This ambitious approach puts the citizen-consumer at the heart of a programme that is being shaped by the views, needs and choices of local people. Even the brand name Peoplefirst was chosen in consultation with future users of the services.
Peoplefirst is an important example of the drive to go ‘beyond excellence’, a challenge being addressed by the Innovation Forum – the group of 22 local authorities rated as excellent under the recent comprehensive performance assessment, of which Sunderland is one. Sunderland is leading on the Forum’s theme:
to ‘develop new models for integrating public services.’
Partnership is the driving force behind our ambitious programme to put people first in delivering public services to them. The initiative is primarily led by Sunderland city council, but the vision is to dovetail the labyrinth of civic services with those supplied by other public service providers.
Working with our local strategic partnership, we have generated commitment to the programme from key partners in the city, including the Sunderland House Group – custodians and developers of the city’s 36,000 former council houses – Northumbria Police, Sunderland Teaching Primary Care Trust, the University of Sunderland, City of Sunderland College, City Hospitals Sunderland, Tyne and Wear Learning and Skills Council, Job Centre Plus, Tyne and Wear Fire Authority and Business Link.
The plan is to integrate the services of all these providers through a network of service centres, ICT-based channels and
a new Sunderland contact centre, which is due to open early
this year.
We plan up to 26 new service centres throughout the city. Six regeneration areas will have an area centre, a service centre staged by multi-skilled council staff, a library, an electronic village hall with free internet access, flexible meeting space and a range of partner facilities based on local need and investment opportunities. Staff will be able to deal with service requests and enquiries and provide advice on a range of services, including those of partner organisations.
Plans for some of these area centres already include commitments from partner organisations to provide general practitioner services, housing offices, a Northumbria police presence, a diagnostic centre funded by the Teaching and Primary Care Trust and commercial interests such as chemists shops.
Within each of the regeneration areas there will be a number of smaller centres providing a less extensive range of services, but based on the same principles of integration.
An early example of the type of service hub planned is the Hetton Centre, which opened in April 2003. It includes a library and electronic village hall, a GP surgery, police office, a youth worker and a drop-in centre, as well as function rooms, cafeteria and sports facilities.
Some of the benefits of integrating and co-locating services in this way have already been seen in Hetton: there has been a fifteen percent reduction in crime in the local area since the centre opened. It’s felt that this is a direct result of the police and youth service working closely together with young people in the area.
