Children s Commissioning Post-Munro: the Case for Good Design

1. Children�s Commissioning Post-Munro: the Case for Good Design  Sue White Professor of Social Work (Children and Families) University of Birmingham

2. In the past, problems have too often led to more central prescription, culminating in the current over-proceduralised system. This review proposes an alternative view: that the system is complex and it is not possible to predict or control it with precision (Munro, 2011).

3. Poor design.....

4. Assumptions of Policy Responses People need extrinsic motivation to do a good job Strong top-down management is the key to quality and performance; Standardisation of processes and explicit targets drive quality � �doing simple things right�, Aided by rigorous micro-management of processes and outputs via comprehensive systems of performance indicators � �deliverology� That errors are a result of professionals failing to share or record information Efficiency is privileged over �reliability� That technologies including ICTs are integral to this reform agenda

5. In the astral zones where �policy elites� devise reform, the importance of understanding the need for design is critical, and ignorance of it is the cause of much mischief... In practical terms, moving from delivery to design requires the opening up of �creative space� at the local level, the freedom (and responsibility) to experiment and to tailor bespoke solutions that reflect local contingencies, preferences and modes of working (Wastell, 2011: 176).

6. The Way Forward...? Requisite Variety - Only variety absorbs variety! Risk cannot be eliminated Rediscovery of �helping� Local service design Human centred systems design Some corporate LG reforms place further barriers between social care and other professionals, individuals, communities and families

7. What sort of Management? Lessons from the Factory Age....

8. Robert Owen, management pioneer, and social reformer of the early factory age When it was known in Manchester that Mr. Drinkwater had engaged me, a mere boy without experience, to take the entire direction of this new mill, the leading people thought he had lost his senses� I at once determined to do the best I could and began to examine the outline and detail of what was in progress. I looked grave, inspected everything very minutely, examined the drawings and the calculations of the machinery. I was in with the first in the morning, and I locked up the premises at night. I continued this silent inspection for six weeks .. and during that period I did not give one direct order about anything. But at the end of that time I felt myself so much master of my position, as to be ready to give directions in every department.... I soon perceived the defects in the various processes and improved the quality of our manufacture.

9. Robert Owen was a Designer.

10. Choose Design not Kitsch Design thinking and systems thinking are one and the same. In great design, form and function come together seamlessly. Every part contributes to the whole in a way that seems inevitable. So too in a great system. Hence I�ve coined the term beautiful system (Peters, 2005, p. 54) Precisely by deflecting the creative and the uncertain, kitsch advances the repetitive, the secure and the comfortable, supplying the reassurance that what is to come will resemble what has gone before, that the hazards of innovation and uncertainty are far away, and that one is safe and secure in the routines of an unadventurous genre (Binkley, 2000, pp. 135-6)

11. Civilian aviation � standardisation works � passengers self-standardise, everything is predictable, min. uncertaint. Cooperation, visibility. Civilian aviation � standardisation works � passengers self-standardise, everything is predictable, min. uncertaint. Cooperation, visibility.

13. The Message of Design Science Get close to practice Watch and learn Have humility � be prepared to change your mind Look for latent conditions that have been designed in locally and design them out Don�t decide what �ought� to be without investigating and evaluating what �is�

14. Implications for Commissioners What conditions and knowledge do you need to contribute to good design? �There is some evidence that if service developments are left to providers they simply generate more of what they do....however, in my view there is considerably more evidence that says that the most innovative and creative service developments comes not from a rigid split but where a good manager/leader is both provider and commissioner. In children's services, people at my level, and the one below in bigger organisations tend to do both. What that allows for is people who are responsible for service delivery and who have (or should have) some sense of what service users need and experience and also have the ability to change and mould services accordingly�. (Director, Children�s Services)

15. The value of dialogical, innovative and co-created commissioning �Where I think we have not done well is really unpicking and understanding 'need' that will help drive service construction. We do get stuck in assessing need for services rather than need per se and that leads to spending money on what we've always done. Dartington had a go at developing something different through their 'Matching Needs and Services' process which I have used a couple of times but generally we have not done a good job on this. If we got this better then some of the smaller charities could get more certainty about their future...although we have moved to more and more three year contracts with the third sector (Senior Manager Children�s Services).

16. But not too independent � the view from nowhere, may get you nowhere! An example is here we are trying to develop more flexible service responses between ourselves and partners.....us and the Police can move fairly quickly and straightforwardly on it whereas health's ability to contribute is almost entirely based on whether the commissioners are up for it or not, and even if they are they cannot move quickly. Health would require it to be led by commissioners which in turn would require it to be part of their longer term commissioning intentions (Senior Manager)

17. Some key points when commissioning from the third sector Third sector organisations deliver more than you commission � a relationship with them is needed so you can think creatively about how to assemble the services your populations need Services at present may be fragile, your commissioning needs to be sensitive to this Commissioning is not an event it is collaborative, interactive process which should ideally include people who will use services

18. Commissioning, Procurement and Contracting Procurement � necessary stage in securing cost effectiveness, but it is not commissioning If it is to be innovative, commissioning needs to be collaborative, based on real population need and informed both by providers and people who use services

19. Accountability and Outcomes Munro stresses the need for different models for judging service effectiveness Inspectorates are still working within a particular output-focused paradigm Beware of proxies for success (e.g. Narrowly specified activities which stifle innovations for providers; indicator sets) Interrogate claims that interventions are evidence based � look at the evidence � because it works in the US with a selected sample population and rigid exclusion criteria doesn�t mean it will work for your children and families Children, young people, families and providers can help you identify indicators Don�t suck resource out of provider agencies by excessive and unfunded data demands

20. Ditch the Kitsch! Ask yourselves how much time you routinely spend getting to know the practice and the needs in your area of responsiblity? How much do you watch, listen and learn, before you rush to implementation/procurement?  An up- close-and-personal eye on the real work � what your organisation is trying to achieve for individuals and families is vital. This should be your day job � you can innovate you can design, you can argue your case Kitsch is the enemy of creativity. Do a kitsch audit and sling it out! (From Wastell and White, 2011, Managers as systems designers: towards a new relationship with technology, Community Care Inform)

21. A useful book for designers