The public sector runs more transformation programmes per pound than any other, and most of them share a design flaw: the programme office reports and the directorates decide. When a directorate’s saving slips, the office records the slip. Nobody in the structure is able to say ‘no, this happens’.
Give the programme a director who can stop a workstream
At a council facing a section 114 notice we did three things in week one: agreed the number (£6.2m recurring) with the chief executive and the section 151 officer, appointed a programme director with written authority to stop or resequence any workstream, and published weekly cash to every head of service.
£6.2m
recurring savings, budget balanced in-year, no service closed
How it was measured
Recognised in the audited outturn against the baseline agreed in week one. The programme office is now run by the council's own finance team.
Sequence by what residents notice last
Back-office consolidation, procurement, property, then service redesign, in that order, because residents notice the last first. Three of the four previous programmes had started with the service redesign, which is where the resistance is, and stalled.
Publish inside, not just up
The board saw a monthly report. Every head of service saw the weekly cash position and every other directorate’s progress. Peer visibility did more for delivery than any escalation route.