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Decision Conferencing adds value to Fire Service budgeting

From my perspective, the process added value, and the comments from participants and observers alike support this view

Susan Johnson, Chief Executive

Situation

Susan Johnson took over as Chief Executive of County Durham & Darlington Fire & Rescue Service (DDFRS) at a time when the Chairman of the Fire & Rescue Authority said:

Susan decided to hold a Decision Workshop in October 2006 to explore alternative budget scenarios for the next financial year.

Vision

DDFRS wanted a decision making process that could support their business and financial planning.

How Catalyze helped

Following a Planning Meeting in April 2006 with the Chief Executive and the Head of Finance, we co-ordinated the preparation for and the provision of a 2-day Decision Workshop which involved the whole of the Service’s Policy Setting Group (PSG).

At the second meeting, members of the PSG were briefed on the Decision Conferencing process and set the task of identifying how their departments would respond to various budget reductions, and what opportunities they would want to develop if more resource was available.

A Review Meeting was held to check on progress on the preparation of these options and to resolve any questions and concerns. The final options were collated into a single document which was used as the input to the 2-day workshop.

During the workshop each option was evaluated against its contribution (or lack of contribution) to the Service’s strategic objectives. This resulted in two prioritised lists, one of possible ways of reducing the budget (starting with that which had the least impact per British Pound on the objectives), and one of proposed service developments (starting by that which offered the most benefit per British Pound).

By comparing these two lists, the PSG were able to explore a number of alternative budgets, focusing on which savings should be made (having the least impact on the Service objectives) and which of the proposed developments should thus be funded (those having a greater impact on the Service’s objectives than the savings to be made).

The process was supported by Equity which allowed the PSG’s judgements to be modelled, and provided a means for the PSG to identify the alternative possible budgets.

Outcome

• All the Chief Executive’s objectives were achieved
• A number of deliverable budget scenarios allowing DDFRS to respond to the final budget figure for 2007/8 when it was announced in December 2006
• Budget settlement in December required all proposed savings to be taken to help fund some of the growth bids
• Nearly £600K of savings (from a budget of over £27 million) identified that had minimal impact on Service
• All members of PSG acknowledged a clearer understanding of the pressures in all parts of the service
• A substantial number of management actions were identified
• In a response to a questionnaire, all workshop participants felt that Decision Conferencing had added value to the budget process
• Subsequent independent audit of Service complimented DDFRS on the use of a rigorous and transparent process to align budget with service objectives
• Process to be amalgamated into DDFRS Business & Financial Planning

Susan Johnson, Chief Executive