Policy paper

Action 2: empower skilled and experienced Service Managers to direct the redesign and operation of services

Updated 16 January 2015

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Services handling over 100,000 transactions each year will be redesigned, operated and improved by a suitably skilled, experienced and empowered service manager

Service managers will be in place for new and redesigned transactions from April 2013.

This action forms part of the Government Digital Strategy. Here’s how departments are responding to this action:

Attorney General’s Office

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

The Law Officers’ departments do not have any transactional services handling more than 100,000 transactions a year but recognise the importance of leadership. They will identify a suitably skilled and empowered service manager for all digital services that they operate.

Progress during 2013

Law Officers’ departments do not have any transactional services handling more than 100,000 transactions a year but recognise the importance of leadership. A suitably skilled and empowered service manager has been identified for all digital services that the department operates.

Planned activities in 2014

Law Officers’ departments will ensure that a suitably skilled and empowered service manager is in place for all digital services that the departments operate.

Progress during 2014

Law Officers’ departments do not have any transactional services handling more than 100,000 transactions a year but recognise the importance of leadership. A suitably skilled and empowered service manager has been identified for all digital services that the department operates.

Planned activities in 2015

Law Officers’ departments will ensure that a suitably skilled and empowered service manager is in place for all digital services that the departments operate.

Cabinet Office

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

Cabinet Office will appoint a service manager to continue to transform and iterate the digital solution for the Electoral Registration Transformation Programme (ERTP), as a transaction of significant size by volume by March 2013.

Progress during 2013

An experienced and qualified project leader has been in place since October 2012 and has worked in partnership with the development team in GDS and its main suppliers to transform and develop the digital solution. Work is on track. During 2013 a complete dry run of the digital service, matching all electoral registers with Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) data has successfully taken place, and showed that a minimum of 78% electors should be transferred automatically to the new system when it is launched. A beta version of the online application has now been launched.

Planned activities in 2014

Complete digital development and integration testing. Subject to ministerial decision the ERTP will go live in June 2014.

Progress during 2014

Honours and appointments service was used as an exemplar to demonstrate application of the Government Service Design Manual and digital by default principles. The project was run jointly by the service and the digital and technology teams, with the digital team providing service management resource.

A new service director and a digital product manager were appointed to the ERTP.

Planned activities in 2015

As its new services are redesigned Cabinet Office will put service management into place.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

The Student Loans Company (SLC) has recently appointed an appropriately qualified specialist service manager. It will work with Companies House, the Insolvency Service, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), the Land Registry, the National Apprenticeship Service and the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) to support service managers where they exist and explore how to fill the role where they do not.

Progress during 2013

All Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) agencies and ALBs with high-volume transactional services (SLC, Companies House, Insolvency Service, IPO, Land Registry and SFA) have a service manager (or equivalent role) in place. These service managers have been empowered to lead continuous service improvement based on their user needs.

Planned activities in 2014

BIS will embed the role of service manager (or equivalent) across its agencies and ALBs. and increase understanding of the role and its benefits through networking and sharing ‘day in the life of’ experiences from service managers. BIS will also support learning and development opportunities, such as Government Digital Service’s (GDS) training programme, to ensure people undertaking the role are sufficiently skilled and empowered.

Progress during 2014

BIS supported the GDS service manager community within the department and ensured service managers received digital communications. Service managers attended events such as assisted digital workshops so they can influence wider government policy and strategy. They also received targeted briefings on Digital by Default Service Standard assessment.

Planned activities in 2015

An enhanced central digital team will play a strong role in supporting service managers, especially in partner organisations with services handling more than 100,000 transactions each year. The BIS Digital Leaders Forum will provide support and build capability so all relevant BIS services are digital by 2020.

It will monitor progress through the BIS and partner organisations’ digital services roadmap.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) does not provide transactional services so will not be appointing any service managers. However its arm’s length bodies (ALBs) have embraced the digital agenda, and with that they have highlighted the crucial importance of both senior leadership and appropriate in-house digital skills. DCMS will continue to encourage this progress.

Progress during 2013

DCMS has been working closely with its ALBs on all digital work, collaborating with them on big campaigns and keeping in regular touch with their digital leaders.

Planned activities in 2014

DCMS will continue to work with its ALBs on all their digital projects.

Progress during 2014

DCMS does not provide transactional services handling over 100,000 transactions and has not therefore appointed any service managers. DCMS ALBs have embraced the digital agenda by highlighting the crucial importance of both senior leadership and in-house digital skills, through online campaigns and communications.

Planned activities in 2015

DCMS will continue to encourage progress on digital and work with its ALBs across targeted, citizen-focused campaigns that support the government’s work.

Department for Education

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

The Department for Education (DfE) has identified the immediate transactional services that will be redesigned to move the department to a more digital by default organisation. The department is considering how to resource the required service managers to ensure their success and ongoing development.

Progress during 2013

DfE has trained 3 service managers on key digital projects.

Planned activities in 2014

An organisational review of digital skills will be undertaken across the digital community. DfE will ensure that all important digital projects will have a service manager appointed. Members of the digital community will be invited to attend training where appropriate.

Progress during 2014

Service managers were assigned to a number of departmental digital projects.

A service manager was accredited within the Digital Transformation Unit and a product manager delivered the Get into Teaching website.

Planned activities in 2015

New integrated digital governance is being put in place to ensure that service managers are identified at an early stage of a digital redesign project and are appropriately trained.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has committed to 2 high-profile exemplar transactional developments. In light of the experiences from these exemplar developments, it will review its other high-volume transactions. As redevelopments take effect, service managers will be put in place when appropriate.

Progress during 2013

Defra has 2 exemplar projects, the Common Agricultural Policy Delivery Programme and Registration of Waste Carriers, Brokers and Dealers. Both these developments have been proceeding well during 2013, and service managers will be put into place close to when the new services go live.

Planned activities in 2014

Defra will review other high-volume transactions, based on the experience gained on the exemplar developments. There are contractual constraints on a number of other services but service managers will be trained and put in place as and when it is possible to redesign these services. Defra will also review how to simplify environmental transactions as a whole.

Progress in 2014

Defra’s exemplar services are:

• Rural payments, Common Agricultural Policy (for farmer payments)
• Waste carrier registration

Rural payments moved into private beta in July and the second phase of Waste carrier registration service went into public beta in November. A service manager was put in place for the first phase of the Waste carrier registration service, and a service manager will be appointed when the new Rural payments service is fully launched in early 2015.

Planned activities in 2015

Experience gained from exemplars means that Defra can begin to consider the redesign of other high-volume transactions as resources allow. Contractual constraints apply to a number of these other services. Defra is also looking at how it can simplify the wide range of environmental transactions.

It will continue to develop capability and expertise in-house, including appointing dedicated service managers where needed.

Department for International Development

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

The Department for International Development (DFID) has no service that carries out this volume of transactions. However, it will work with their corporate service teams to ensure that where current services need to be improved, streamlined or made simpler, it will ensure those involved in the process have access to the appropriate advice and guidance.

Progress during 2013

DFID has no service that carries out over 100,000 transactions. The department has been working with its corporate services teams to ensure that where current services need to be improved, streamlined or made simpler, those involved in the process have access to GDS design principles and the Digital by Default Service Standard.

Planned activities in 2014

The department will continue to work with its corporate services teams to ensure that where current services need to be improved, streamlined or made simpler, those involved in the process will understand GDS design principles and the Digital by Default Service Standard.

Progress during 2014

DFID has no service that carries out over 100,000 transactions. It worked with its corporate services teams to ensure that those involved with improving current services understood GDS design principles and the Digital by Default Service Standard.

Planned activities in 2015

The department will continue to work with its corporate services teams to ensure that those involved in improving current services will continue to be informed about GDS’s design principles. It will also assess these against the Digital by Default Service Standard.

Department for Transport

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

Digital product managers and transaction owners at the Department for Transport (DFT) will ensure that they either have the required skills themselves, or have ready access to specialist skills to help them design and improve its digital services.

Progress during 2013

Drivers and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has appointed a service manager to direct the design of the 3 DfT digital exemplars, who has undergone the service manager training.

Planned activities in 2014

Training will be cascaded in DVLA and service manager training will continue in the merger of VOSA and DSA. Training plans will be developed for the agencies and groups delivering lower volume services.

Progress during 2014

The 3 DVLA exemplar transactions and Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s Practical driving test booking service all have service managers in place. Service managers for other high volume areas, such as the new MoT service, have been recruited. Recruitment and in-house training is underway for other lower volume transactions.

Planned Activities in 2015

DVLA will share its comprehensive approach to the recruitment and training of service managers with other agencies.

Department for Work and Pensions

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will ensure that new and redesigned transactional services are operated and improved by skilled and experienced managers, with clear accountability for quality and take-up.

Progress during 2013

During 2013 service managers were appointed for all 3 DWP exemplar services. All current service managers have undertaken and completed GDS’s service manager training, ensuring full knowledge of the Digital by Default Service Standard and how to embed the standard in delivery of all new services.

Planned activities in 2014

In 2014 DWP plans to extend the training to additional service managers and also include those product managers who will undertake, or closely align with service manager activities, to increase awareness and further embed the Digital by Default Service Standard.

Progress during 2014

All DWP service managers have either completed the GDS’s service manager training or have been through DWP’s own Digital Academy.

DWP strengthened project leadership by participating in the Major Projects Leadership Academy.

It launched a digital buddy initiative where all its digital initiatives in development have direct support from another DWP senior digital leader with personal experience in delivering complex digital services.

It began a digital job roles initiative, defining 20 specific job roles that cover all aspects of an agile delivery team. This will help ensure DWP runs and resources projects consistently and effectively, and can attract and retain people with these skills.

Planned activities in 2015

DWP will continue to ensure that all new and redesigned transactional services are operated and improved by skilled and experienced managers, with clear accountability for quality and take up.

Department of Energy and Climate Change

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) fully supports the GDS principle of digital services being overseen by dedicated and suitably-skilled service managers. It aims to have such individuals in place for all redesigned high-volume transactional services after April 2013 and for all existing services with over 100,000 transactions by April 2015.

Progress during 2013

DECC fully supports the principle of suitably skilled service managers and has set up a process to put these in place where appropriate and in line with GDS requirements.

Planned activities in 2014

DECC will continue to support the principle of suitably-skilled service managers.

Progress during 2014

DECC supports the principle of suitably skilled service managers and monitored this requirement as part of the assessment process. Most services the department runs fall below 100,000 transactions.

Planned activities in 2015

DECC assesses all projects against the 26 service standards, and will continue to support the principle of suitably skilled service managers.

Department of Health

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

The Department of Health (DH) does not currently directly deliver services handling over 100,000 transactions to the public. Should this change in future, it will put in place the necessary service managers to design and operate them.

Progress during 2013

DH has completed an audit across the department and its ALBs that identified transactional services that the department funds and manages via the Transactions Explorer.

A new team is being established within the wider digital team to focus on the redevelopment of DH-owned transactional services. The digital services team will include service managers, product managers and user experience specialists among others. Digital portfolio managers have been recruited to ensure full visibility of the digital plans and activities of its ALBs and to support them with their plans for service redesign.

Planned activities in 2014

DH will be recruiting the additional digital specialists to the team (service managers, product managers, user experience specialists, etc).

DH will ensure that all transactional services handling over 100,000 transactions a year are redesigned in line with the Digital by Default Service Standard. DH will provide support to its ALBs to transform their transactional services and help them through the standard assessment process. DH will conduct further work to identify offline transactions within the departments and its ALBs that could be redesigned as digital first transactions.

DH will ensure that the service managers will attend specialist training provided by Government Digital Service.

Progress during 2014

DH began to redesign 3 of its major transactions: NHS Choose and Book, Organ donation registration and Blood donation appointment booking. Blood donation appointment booking passed its live service assessment in October.

Planned activities in 2015

DH will ensure that a trained service manager is in place for all redesigned services. It expects NHS Business Services Authority to start its digital transformation programme, identifying services for redesign.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) will obtain the additional expertise needed to deliver digital by default and embed digital in policy, including through the establishment of an expert digital transformation unit and the development of relevant training, guidance and best practice.

Progress during 2013

FCO has defined and started recruiting for its digital transformation unit designed to provide the additional expertise it lacks internally.

Planned activities in 2014

The digital transformation unit will begin work, scoping FCO’s digital transformation so far and helping prioritise forthcoming activity. The digital transformation unit will also look at training and capability needs across the organisation.

Progress during 2014

FCO established a digital transformation unit, including experienced transformation managers, to provide the in-house skills needed to carry out FCO’s service transformation work. The department made sure new services had a named and trained service manager.

Planned activities in 2015

The roll-out of new training will allow us to continue embedding sound service manager skills across the organisation.

Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will put in place digital service managers for all HMRC transactional digital services by March 2015. The digital service manager will be an experienced leader, with an in-depth understanding of the department’s service and equipped to represent users’ needs at all levels within HMRC.

Progress during 2013

HMRC now has service managers in place for the exemplar services.

Planned activities in 2014

As part of HMRC’s target operating model the department will look to incorporate the digital services manager function across its tax regimes.

Progress during 2014

All HMRC’s digital transaction services have digital service managers.

Planned activities in 2015

HMRC will appoint a suitably skilled and empowered service manager to lead each future digital service design or redesign project.

Her Majesty’s Treasury

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

This is not applicable to Her Majesty’s Treasury (HMT) as it is not a transactional department.

Progress during 2013

This action is not applicable to HMT.

Planned activities in 2014

This action is not applicable to HMT.

Progress during 2014

This action is not applicable to HMT.

Planned activities in 2015

This action is not applicable to HMT.

Home Office

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

Within Home Office, all such transactions will be ‘owned’ by a senior civil servant transaction process owner. This owner will have full responsibility for the end-to-end transaction. These owners have been identified and will be leading the transformation of services.

Progress during 2013

Home Office has appointed service managers for all large transactional services. These service managers are in post and are working to transform their services. Lower volume transactional services that have been through its internal assessment process have also been assigned service managers.

Planned activities in 2014

Home Office service managers will continue in their posts working towards transforming all Home Office transactional services.

Progress during 2014

The appointed service managers continued in post and worked to transform their services. The lower volume transactional services and all staff-facing services went through internal assessment processes and were also assigned service managers.

Planned activities in 2015

The Home Office service managers will continue transforming all Home Office transactional services.

Ministry of Defence

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

Ministry of Defence (MOD) is in the process of recruiting a service manager who is suitably skilled and experienced to take forward and implement the redesign of services handling over 100,000 transactions.

Progress during 2013

A new Digital Transformation team, reporting to Director, Defence Strategy, is being recruited to form part of the Defence Reform Unit.

Planned activities in 2014

The Digital Transformation team will lead implementation of Digital in Defence. This includes providing digital services to the public and stating the user requirements for providing digital internally and externally. This will be undertaken by a virtual team that encompasses staff from the Chief Information Officer (CIO), Information Systems and Services, Directorate of Media and Communications (DMC) and contractors as necessary.

The Director of Defence Strategy will work closely with the new director general-level CIO to carry out the digital transformation plan.

Progress during 2014

MOD conducted a survey on transactional services. This identified a number of MOD services potentially suitable for redesign.

Planned activities in 2015

MOD will confirm a set of services for redesign, informed by using the results of the survey on transactional services. It will discuss how this will happen with GDS and service owners.

Ministry of Justice

Departmental digital strategy commitments (December 2012)

Ministry of Justice (MOJ) will establish service managers who oversee the design, delivery and ongoing management of each service. By March 2013 we will recruit 5 service managers with proven experience of delivering effective digital services.

Progress during 2013

MOJ successfully recruited 5 specialist digital product/service managers leading on exemplar and information transformation projects. The agency also embedded agile as a discipline for the digital programme while building knowledge and capability across the business.

Planned activities in 2014

MOJ will nominate people from the department to undergo service manager training and take ongoing responsibility for service management as products move into live service. This will free up core transformation resource for the second wave of development and building wider capability.

Progress during 2014

MOJ increased capability by appointing 5 service managers into the main areas of the business:

• National Offender Management Service (NOMS)
• HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) Crime
• HM Courts and Tribunals Service Civil/Family/Tribunals
• LAA and arm’s length bodies (ALBs)
• headquarter services

This enabled product and delivery managers to focus on product delivery within their teams, freeing up resources to deliver products in an agile 20-week framework.

Planned activities in 2015

MOJ will have 3 SCS-level service managers (for LAA, NOMS and HMCTS) and 5 Band A service managers supporting the SCSs and serving the rest of MOJ. This commitment reflects the scale of transformation it is planning across the department. It will look at how to build senior digital delivery capability in MOJ’s agencies over the coming year.