The roll-out of Jobcentre Plus
In February 2008 we published a report on The roll-out of the Jobcentre Plus office
network. This is one of the largest public sector
construction programmes undertaken in the United Kingdom in recent
years. The report focused on the project to procure the new office
network. The project was successful in delivering nearly all the
planned offices while making savings against the original budget of
£2.2 billion. Part 2 of the report explains how we assessed the
success of the project.
Other NAO reports have covered how well Jobcentre Plus is doing
at helping people into work and delivering services [Footnote 1]
We concluded that the way the project was managed compared well
with external good practice and there are important lessons for
other government transformation projects.
Being prepared to learn was a key success factor
The project team did not seek to deliver the original blueprint
at all costs. They made changes based on experience as the roll-out
progressed, which strengthened governance and helped to reduce
costs.
Learning was also important at a local level. The roll-out went
well at offices which learned from other’s experience. For
instance, staff were more confident about implementing the new
processes.
Consistent leadership and a clear governance structure
really made a difference
After the first year, Jobcentre Plus
- established a core project management team and a Senior
Responsible Owner;
- clarified understanding of the roles and responsibilities of
key stakeholders; and
- put in place more structured reporting and decision-making
arrangements.
Consistent leadership and close monitoring by the central
project management team, while being flexible allowed the project
to deliver its objectives. There are more details in the report (paragraphs 3.5 to 3.25).
Using partnering to incentivise contractors played a
key role in reducing costs
After the first year of the roll-out, the Department introduced
innovative methods to control costs, including a partnering
approach to procurement. 14 delivery partners were selected by
competitive tender. They had one contract which set the same terms
and conditions from the outset, so there was no need to renegotiate
the terms and conditions for each site. This led to a
non-confrontational relationship with the contractors.
The Department monitored the contractors effectively using key
performance indicators, by which the contractors were ranked
against each other. There are more details in our report
(paragraphs 3.26 to 3.39). We estimate that the partnering approach
saved costs of 15 per cent per office when compared with costs in
the first year of the roll-out.
- [back from footnote 1] Jobcentre Plus
reports: