The challenge

West Sussex County Council (WSCC) has been carrying out a Fundamental Services Review, with the aim of putting its residents as the heart of everything it does.

WSCC recognised the need for an overarching customer proposition, defined as ‘What can you (WSCC) do for me (a resident)?’ which would provide the basis for the Council to review its services and structure them to meet customers’ needs.

What did we do?

We started working with WSCC part way through the proposition design project, when initial customer consultations had already been conducted. The key for us was to create a process, employing proposition development methods used successfully with other clients, which led step by step to a conclusion which all stakeholders could agree to.

This meant one-to-one and workshop sessions with the WSCC proposition team, the Chief Executive’s Board and the WSCC Cabinet, to agree the objectives, develop proposition themes, and evaluate options against the criteria and WSCC’s stated direction.

Once a preferred proposition option was decided on internally, we were asked to test it amongst WSCC residents through focus groups and online consultation. The results of the consultation were positive and WSCC has been able to use the proposition as a guiding principle for subsequent phases of its review.

What was the breakthrough for WSCC?

The proposition development process itself, because it;

• Provided a clear framework for where we wanted to get to, and how we wanted to get there, so everyone we worked with in WSCC could see the stages and understand the journey
• Led to an assessment of all the options and a successful outcome that was arrived at objectively and based on evidence
• Meant WSCC could adopt the process for their own use in developing propositions for specific services