A presentation at an APM conference How risk drives assurance and how assurance drives risk! on Tuesday 19th May 2015 in London.

1. Managing risk through assurance in the local public sector
APM conference 19 May 2015

2. © Local Partnerships LLP 2009
Presentation agenda
• About Local Partnerships
• Harnessing Assurance to mitigate risk
• LP Review community
• Maximising the power of assurance data
• Questions

3. © Local Partnerships LLP 2009
About Local Partnerships
LP is a joint venture between Her
Majesty’s Treasury and the Local
Government Association.
We work with Government, Local
Authorities, local public bodies, and the
community focussed third sector to
support them deliver investment in local
infrastructure and local services.
Through our ownership, and joint
activities with other parts of the Local
Government Group, we form part of the
local government family.
LP works only for the public or third
sectors, and solely for public benefit. This
ensures we operate without the limitations
of commercial conflict, and can (and do)
share our intellectual capital freely across
the public sector.
Our offering is additional, and we are not
seeking to displace commercial or
specialist advisers, instead our focus is
on making the public sector client side’s
commercial and delivery capability
stronger.
Our charging model is based on cost
recovery (not maximising profit).

4. © Local Partnerships LLP 2009 4
Local Partnerships support to public services
Assurance - Reviews of high risk programmes and projects to
keep them on track.
Efficiency - support public sector contracts to make savings,
and the management of outsourced contracts.
Infrastructure - develop specialist support for a wider range of
infrastructure programmes
Investment & Reform –Support for wider public sector reform
agenda to create shared services and more efficient delivery.
Growth - Physical development, property and asset
management, including asset rationalisation and retro-fitting
energy measures.
Commercial and procurement support to projects, programmes and change processes.

5. © Local Partnerships LLP 2009
Efficient risk mitigation through assurance
• An intensive and concentrated focus on external objective scrutiny of a
specific programme, project or change process to identify areas of best
practice and those needing strengthening to enhance likelihood of a
successful outcome.
• Using LP database of review information to spread anonymized good
practice and knowledge of key sector risks and mitigation strategies.
• Also using database of information to
inform policy makers at government
level of issues at delivery stage.
• Building capacity and capability in
public sector community by exposure
to a broader body and range of work

6. © Local Partnerships LLP 2009
Wider benefits of Assurance
• Limit risks of expensive failures √
• Harness best practice √
• Develop networking √
• Baseline against best in class √
• Widen public sector skill base √
• Increase project awareness √
• Assess views of and strengthen
stakeholder community awareness √
• Develop latent potential in
project management community √
• Provide support at key stages √
• underpin corporate governance √
• Provide objective external perspective √

7. © Local Partnerships LLP 2009
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Building the Capacity of Public Services
Better
Skilled
Staff
Assurance
Reviews
Improved
Project Delivery
Improved
Public Service
Capability
Development
of Best Practice
… to improve project delivery

8. © Local Partnerships LLP 2009
Reviewer benefits
• Wide range of reviews in different sectors
• Networking - Reviewers drawn from a wide range;
Public sector, LP consultant associates, Local
Partnerships staff, other assurance hubs.
• LP Reviewer support –
training & network events
and virtual community
• Broader perspective -
Members of LP reviewers
take part in reviews for other
assurance hubs

9. © Local Partnerships LLP 2009
Building strong review teams
• Carefully selected blend of skills and experience matched to
needs of programme.
• Balance of reviewers with specialist sector skills appropriate for
project with others reviewers from different sectors
• Blend of experienced and
relatively inexperienced
reviewers
• Excellent leadership by
experienced Review team
leaders

10. © Local Partnerships LLP 2009
LP Reviewer community
• Over 800 experienced and fully accredited
reviewers
• Reviewers drawn from wide range of
professional and sector backgrounds
• Range of experience and seniority
• QA system - 360 feedback system
for continuous improvement

11. © Local Partnerships LLP 2009
Reviewer career pathway
• Initial training by experienced reviewers
which includes role playing based on
scenarios drawn from real reviews.
• Teams of 4 to allow inexperienced
reviewers to develop in supported
environment
• Carry out 2-3 reviews to become fully
accredited reviewer
• Develop soft skills – team leadership,
verbal and non-verbal communication,
analysis, succinct report writing,
presentation
• Progress from RTM to RTL with
Mentoring by experienced reviewers and
additional Master class training
Probation
RTL
Initial training
day
RTL
Senior RTL
Probation
Reviewer
Accredited
RTM
Senior RTM
Masterclass
training

12. © Local Partnerships LLP 2009
12
Programme or project
team completes pas
Report delivered to PO
(cc 4ps)
Local Partnerships, PO,
PD & PM agree review
requirements
Local Partnerships
arranges review and
sends out emails
week 0
2 – 4
4 – 6
5 – 7
6 – 8
8 – 10
11 –12
RTL engages with PO
and project team
Local Partnerships briefs
RTL with assessment
summary
Prepare Review
Planning Meeting
Set up Review Team Logistics
Assessment Meeting
PAS
Undertake Review and Draft Report
Feedback (PO, RTL & RTMs)
Lessons learned evaluation
RTL briefs team
Agree key issues.
Confirm “readiness for review”
Agree “readiness for review”
assessment summary produced
Recommendations and delivery
confidence assessment
Review team agree
findings
Final Report
Overview of the Assurance Review Process
Project assessment
spreadsheet

13. © Local Partnerships LLP 2009
13
Multi-Tasking Essential
Review Team Meeting
PO Update Meeting
PO Report Meeting
Report Template Preparation
Emerging Findings Outline Findings
Typical 3 Day Review

14. © Local Partnerships LLP 2009
Managing quality of reviews
• LP Review experience – undertaken over 900 reviews in
15 years across a wide range of sectors
• Select strong teams with good leaders carefully
balanced to needs for review
• Utilise the specialist
knowledge and insights
of reviewers in a wide
range of areas

15. © Local Partnerships LLP 2009
Flexible range of LP assurance products
• LP accredited provider of Gateway reviews in
local and regional space
• Assurance Health checks (bespoke to client
needs) 1-5 days 1-4 person
• Sector specific reviews
• Assurance of Action Plans

16. © Local Partnerships LLP 2009
Managing though the lifecycle
• Validate strategic concepts
• Review Options
• Procurement stages
• Contract Management
• Assess lessons learnt

17. © Local Partnerships LLP 2009
Adaptable to all Sectors
• Infrastructure
• Regeneration
• IT
• New delivery structures
• Savings
• Transformation – organisational change

18. © Local Partnerships LLP 2009
LP Internal Assurance Toolkit
• Strategic relationship with authorities
• Establish assurance at a local level
• LP support to set up a flexible assurance process with
minimum distribution tailored to authority needs.
• Make use of LP extensive body of knowledge,
processes, systems and documents

19. © Local Partnerships LLP 2009
19
Opportunity to Influence Outcomes
100%
Abilitytoinfluence
Business
Justification
Procurement
Strategy
Readiness
for Service
Benefits
realisation
Investment
Decision
0% Time
Develop
Business Case
Manage
Contract
Award and
implement
contract
Competitive
Procurement
Develop
Procurement
Strategy

20. © Local Partnerships LLP 2009
Questions

21. © Local Partnerships LLP 2009
21
Contact details
Paul Monaghan
Project Director
07747 441 495
paul.monaghan@local.gov.uk
For further information
visit www.localpartnerships.org.uk
or call us on; 020 7187 7379
Email: LPenquiries@local.gov.uk
or visit at;
Local Partnerships,
Local Government House,
Smith Square,
London,
SW1P 3HZ