LB Islington

The Problem
The London Borough of Islington like most other London Boroughs and many authorities suffered from the problem of staff recruitment, training and retention.This meant the on going use of temporary and agency staff, which was not only costly but could not guarantee the service levels required to meet Government BVPI targets and to further improve the Council’s CPA rating which is currently “the fastest improving in the country”. More importantly Islington wanted to sustain the provision of an excellent benefits service to its citizens being some of the neediest in the borough.

The Borough which handles over 31,500 benefit claims therefore decided that a radical approach was required to resolve this situation. After consultation with staff, senior officers, cabinet members and trade unions the decision was made to relocate part of the benefit service outside of the borough. However, as Islington wished to retain full control of the service this was not to be a standard Business Process Outsourcing contract. Instead it was to be a partnership with the private sector. Following discussions with suppliers Islington selected RB Solutions as its strategic partner on the basis of its expertise and track record within the market place and the quality of staff employed by the company. RB Solutions also shared the vision of Islington with regard to the future delivery of the benefits service using this unique model.

The Solution
Ian Adams, Assistant Director of Housing (Benefits) at Islington says “We wanted to use our staff to process  benefit claims but we needed someone to manage them as well as the IT and the premises. Working in partnership with RB Solutions is a win-win situation for us because they take care of the things that we would struggle to manage remotely whilst we retain the control of the staff, the work and the budget. In my view RB Solutions have good people working for them who try and work with you to meet the needs of the service. They are small enough to enable you to speak to the people who make the decisions but at the same time have the capacity to achieve what they promise.They are an up and coming company and I have been pleased with our relationship so far.”

From RB Solutions offices in Ashton under Lyne in Manchester, staff directly employed by Islington access their DIP and workflow and benefit systems remotely through the RB solutions technical infrastructure which is highly reliable and secure. RB solutions are responsible for the management of this infrastructure and also helped with the recruitment process and training of the staff. A dedicated RB Solutions Benefits Manager works closely with Islington’s own management to ensure that the authority’s policies and procedures are being followed and that the quality of work delivered is of the highest standard.

The Result
Gavin Jones, Sales and Marketing Director at RB Solutions says “Our partnership with LB Islington in creating this innovative model, provides the benefits market with a viable solution which allows authorities to improve their Benefits Service in a controlled and cost effective manner.We perceive this model is a vehicle for Authorities to retain control of their benefits service without the need for contract staff or the consideration of outsourcing the service.”