Balanced Scorecard

Introduction

In November 2000 our newly modernised political body agreed a highly innovative change to how the council was managed - the Balanced Scorecard.

The former Chief Executive, Graham Farrant, identified that:

'The Council as a whole needs a single cohesive approach to maximise the benefits and outcomes from the modernising agenda and to continue the process of modernising the management of the council and improving services to the borough's Residents'.

The Balanced Scorecard was chosen because it's simple and ensures we all use the same way of managing our work in an open and clear way that is measurable.

What is the Balanced Scorecard?

The Balanced Scorecard is a framework that helps organisations translate strategy into operational objectives that drive both behaviour and performance. It helps focus all the actions of the council towards the delivery of its longer term vision for the borough, within the context of the 7 community priorities.

Why use it at London Borough of Barking and Dagenham?

The authority recognised that whilst it performed well in some areas, it needed to do more across the council. To achieve this it needed:

Much stronger performance monitoring arrangements
Greater ownership for performance management
The organisation to become more strategically focused

How was the Barking and Dagenham Balanced Scorecard developed?

The Balanced Scorecard was developed over an intensive 12 week programme of work involving Senior Management on a sounding board facilitated by external consultants.

The purpose of this was to formulate the key strategic goals for the council scorecard.

These were generated via various methods such as: group workshops to identify key organisational issues, desk research, overview assessments of our performance and one to one interviews with members of the management team.

The role of Balanced Scorecard in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham

The Balanced Scorecard will enable the authority to:

Translate strategy into operational terms (actions) that is recognisable to everyone
Link-up and align the authority around delivering the strategy
Enable everyone to make a contribution to the borough's strategies and targets
Mobilise change towards the Modernising Local Government agenda
Deliver outcomes that make a real difference to peoples lives, e.g. an increase in the average income ranking of Barking and Dagenham citizens

Contact

Amir Rashid

Group Manager - Performance and Innovation

Roycraft House

Barking

IG11 8HE

Tel: 020 8227 2317

Fax: 020 8227 2806

Email: amir.rashid@lbbd.gov.uk|