Small win could mean a big impact!

“Three months ago I took up my new role and made a pledge to the 4000 people who work in my Department”

And although that pledge was internally facing I really hope it will have a big impact too for Staffordshire people who use Social Care services and also the tax payers who fund them. It was about scrapping bureaucracy.

It was about cutting red tape and, above all, helping the people who trained long and hard to be social workers and professionals in the field to do the job they trained for rather than endless form filling.

Cutting red tape and busting bureaucracy

Early on during my many visits to meet staff at social services offices across the county it was clear that the burden of overbearing bureaucracy was a major issue.

And of the many bits of paper, one form, which is the very first thing completed in just about everything social workers do, was both demoralising because of its length and complexity and also a symbol of that red tape and bureaucracy.

So I set up a task force to break through some of that nonsense which plagues the delivery of public services. And against all the odds and despite people saying from the start there was no chance of changing the system, today I was briefed on a small but significant win.

The infamous form called the SW1A with its dozens of pages containing hundreds of fields and questions which ‘must be completed’ is now a mere shadow of its former self. The time to complete it has been reduced by an estimated 40% and the trials taking place now to make sure it works are said to be ‘going exceptionally well’.

In reality this small win affecting thousands and thousands of these forms completed each year in Staffordshire should mean much more time for front line work instead of form filling. So a satisfying start to my pledge to cut red tape which should make a genuine and practical difference.

And even better, it’s clear those tasked with doing this work are getting a taste for this bureaucracy busting… so hopefully this is just the start.

Shredders at the ready please!

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