Case Study: Dorset County Council

Video Transcript

Angus Campbell: Leader, Dorset County Council

Dorset’s a beautiful county and most people think of it as a place to go on their holidays, but Dorset also has a very large population of about 400-404,000 people. The demographic is really quite old; we have a fairly large elderly population in Dorset. Transportation, because we are a widely rural area is hugely important to us and of course the services we cover are the same as other services that counties cover which are education of the young i.e. children’s services, dealing with adult social care and the elderly and keeping the roads and transportation going and transportation of course is a very big issue in rural counties.

Well currently, and it is of no surprise, our priorities are to do with the economic situation. Basically we serve the people. We’re there. We wouldn’t be here if we weren’t to serve the population of Dorset and all their needs that come under our remit. But at the moment as we all know, the financial situation is very difficult for all local authorities. We have that to work with, we have our share of those problems and we have to deal with them. We have to see our way through to a future and there won’t be any going back. This is a tectonic shift so basically we need to evolve into the future and communications are hugely important in that.

David Jenkins: Chief Executive, Dorset County Council

The government have been very clear that their top priority nationally, is to reduce the public spending deficit and public authorities in Dorset, as everywhere else, have to make our contribution towards that reduction in public expenditure. In Dorset County Council for example, we are having to save over £30 million this year, over £50 million over a three year period. That’s reductions between 5% and 34% in every budget within the County Council so an absolutely vital priority is to work more efficiently and to reduce our spending.

Communications need to get better. With people. With each other. We need to get slicker and faster and have more streamlined processes. And the very best communication links are vital for that.

Afshin Attari: Head of Distributed Government, Kcom

A Public Sector Network is a network of networks which connects all of the public sector users both in the centre and in the regions together. It’s scalable, it’s expandable and it’s resilient.

Basically we are providing connectivity to 400 sites within Dorset which encompasses the County Council and the six District Councils. Through that connectivity we provide Voice, Data, Unified Communication and Managed Services and we make use of the infrastructure which already exists in the context of exchanges and connections to make sure that we deliver the best savings.

David Jenkins: Chief Executive, Dorset County Council

I expect our Public Service Network to enable people to communicate with public service bodies more effectively and to enable public service bodies in Dorset, and there are several, to link with each other more effectively too so that we move from separate bodies more towards a single public service in Dorset.

Angus Campbell: Leader, Dorset County Council

The PSN will enable us to work into the future with all our partners more effectively as a result of the PSN, because you can’t divorce other organisations and other ways of doing things from it, but it’s an enabler, the PSN, and the close partnership working, joining the county up with itself and with its neighbours actually, is hugely important to that.

The only way we are going to get through this and be able to improve the services we give to the public is through close working and therefore sensible, joined up use of budget.

David Jenkins: Chief Executive, Dorset County Council

I’m absolutely convinced that this is a very worthwhile investment for the local taxpayer in Dorset. At times when money is difficult to find, it becomes perhaps more difficult to justify upfront investment, but those are the very times when it’s all the more important to do that. I’m convinced that the investment that we make now will reap dividends and will enable us to work more effectively and provide better value for the taxpayers’ money in future.

Afshin Attari: Head of Distributed Government, Kcom

The cabinet office vision is to create a network of networks across the whole of the UK for all of the public sector stakeholders to communicate with each other. They set the standards, they set the guidance and they set the policy, and that really delivers the savings as seen in the centre and in the regions. And we can see those savings as a result of the deployment of the Dorset PSN within the Dorset region. So you can argue that the Dorset PSN is like a pathfinder for the vision set by the centre. The standards are set, the guidance is given, the network that we’re building adheres to those standards and actually delivers the savings which Government and public sector wants to achieve, and that is in line with the PSN compliance guidance set by the cabinet office.

Paul Simpson, Executive Director, Kcom

Well PSNs are an integral part of the Kcom strategy. We’ve been working with local government for many years and the PSN initiative brings together our expertise in the design and management of distributed networks plus also the Unified Communications expertise that we’ve built up. Looking at the success of the PSN I think there are a number of criteria to look at. Firstly the OPEX savings that are envisaged as part of the original business case, plus also the opportunity to extend the reach of the PSN by bringing in additional council bodies on to the network as it develops.

Angus Campbell: Leader, Dorset County Council

It will be a success if we manage, as a result of it, which is one of the main reasons but there are lots of other things we have to do too, as a result of it, to communicate better, to involve all the public sector partners that we have in driving out a more efficient future and driving ourselves towards the vision. Because we’re never going to go back to the way, in my opinion, the way public sector services have been delivered in the past. This is an opportunity actually, it’s a forced opportunity. We need to innovate, and a key part of that innovation is communication, up to date communications, being able to work with other people. So it’s an ongoing evolution this, it just goes on forever and ever. We’re never going to be in stasis again.