Circles of Need
We've done a lot of work to understand our customers needs and offer them as much help as possible at the first point of contact. This has been done through the Circles of Need project.
What is the Circles of Need project?
The Circles of Need is a pioneering project, which was established to examine the needs of citizens, business, environment and public interest groups.
It is thought by understanding needs and the relationships between each need a model could be produced. This model will allow organisations to better understand a customers, business, environments and public interest groups needs and hopefully allow more services to be offered at the first point of contact. These services will not necessary be from a local authority but may also include services from partner organisations such as fire and rescue, Primary Care Trusts or the police.
What was the project's scope?
The projects scope as negotiated with the National Improvement Process Panel (NPIP) was:
1. To develop the Circle of Need model to examine the needs of:
- a. Business
- b. Environment
- c. Public Interest Group
following the same methodology as the proof of concept project which examined the needs of a citizen and services provided by a local authority, producing an integrated model covering all four LA customer groups.
2. To map services which are provided to citizens by selected partner organisations. The project partner organisations were:
- a. The police
- b. Primary Care Trust
- c. Fire and rescue
3. To test a sample of the model by undertaking a citizen consultation exercise.
4. To develop a customer satisfaction tool to understand if a customer's need has been met.
5. To map the needs of a citizen, business, environment and public interest group to all 198 National Performance Indicators.
6. To understand if a happy customer is cheaper to serve.
What did the project actually deliver?
The project delivered the following documentation:
Circles of Need final report- Circles of Need user guide
- Circles of Need glossary guide
- A hyper linked powerpoint version of the Circles of Need model
- A 'need' to national indicator mapping tool
Who was involved in the project?
Representatives from the following local authorities provided invaluable input into the Circles of Need project:
- Cumbria Connected Partnership
- Fylde Borough Council
- Lancashire County Council
- North West e-Government (NWEGG)
- Salford City Council
- South Ribble District Council
Who funded the project?
This stage of the Circles of Need project was entirely funded by the National Improvement Performance Panel (NPIP). NPIP is part of the Department for Communities and Local Government.
Further information on NPIP can be found here.
What's next for the Circles of Need project?
The project produced what it thought was the logical next steps for Circles of Need concept in the projects final report.
Are there any other documents related to the Circles of Need project?
Prior to obtaining funding from NPIP for this phase of the project, a proof of concept was produced.
The proof of concept was entirely funded by North West e-Government (NWEGG). NWEGG remain fully supportive of the project.
A copy of the report produced at the end of the proof of concept is available here.
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