VALUE FOR MONEY – POLICY COMMISSION CHECKLIST

How is the Service delivered now?

· What is the Service – what does it seek to do for the Island?

· What are the Service’s current overall costs?

· What are the current costs for key services? (“Key” needs to be defined according to customer demand, statutory context etc)

· What is the Service’s spending plan and does it take into account lifecycle costs? (time period to be defined but standardised)

· Does the Service follow corporate/I&DeA model for procurement and is VFM monitored in this area?

· What is the level of overheads for the Service?

· What external factors (such as Island Apart, ageing population, Index of Multiple Deprivation etc) could affect costs?

· How could these external factors affect costs and what can be done to mitigate against this?  (Hopefully mitigation has already started)

· What other considerations could affect costs?

· What is the value of the Service’s assets (fixed, portable and qualitative including people)? This will require tight definition.

· How well is the Service delivered at the moment (customer feedback crucial here)

· How does the Service link into the policy objectives of the Council?

· What are the performance results for the Service? (Regional benchmark is minimum comparative standard here)

· How do the costs compare with the Service’s results?

· How does this compare with benchmark “family” results?

What are the contextual factors around the current Service?

· What is special/unique about the quality and standards that the Service achieves? Why is this the case?

· Is the Service an area where investment has been targeted, to meet corporate objectives? 

· Is the Service an area where investment could be targeted, to meet corporate objectives?

· What levels of external funding and income streams are possible for the Service to achieve?

· What levels of external funding and income streams have already been achieved?

What are the monitoring systems for VFM currently?

· What external verification/inspections have been undergone by the Service?  What did they say about VFM?

· Does the Service’s service planning process build VFM into its “day job” plans for service delivery? Does this work?

· Do systems exist within the Service to monitor/demonstrate VFM? Do they work?

· Is there clear accountability within the Service for VFM?

· What evidence base exists within the Service to prove VFM? The figures would need to be available to the Commission, in clearly-accessibly format

How could the VFM of the Service be improved?

· Which alternative options for service delivery exist? (Methodology and channel of service delivery need brief explanation)

· What benchmark data exists to support their relevance to the project – ie how closely do they match current market demands on the Island for this Service?

· What are the likely costs of the alternative options? (To include costs of change in terms of training, equipment, time of service loss, PR problems etc. – unit costs across all the different channels and methodologies need to be provided, to demonstrate favourable comparison)

· What are the implications of the alternative options, in terms of revenue liability, valuation of assets, quality of service?  Is there any external evidence to support this?

· How will these developments affect the people who use the Service?

· How would the alternative options be affected by the contextual factors above?

· Would the monitoring systems for VFM need to be amended?  At what cost?

Who has informed this VFM study?

· Officers currently involved

· Members of Council

· Customers/Service clients

· Stakeholders – evidence required to justify their definition and inclusion

· Partners in service provision

· Alternative providers

· Suppliers

· External/governmental evaluation

Assessing the Value

· How did the Council arrive at the rationale behind its delivery of the Service – what was the methodology and identification of need?

· Why is the Service provided?

· Why is the Service important?

· What are the benefits for the public?

· How can it be improved?

· What is best practice?

Service Plan – end-of-year review of Service, using VFM template, to demonstrate Service VFM. This will allow a review of VFM across the whole authority, service by service.