An innovative problem-solving method known as ‘garage redesign’ has helped a partnership of local authorities to dramatically improve the service it offers to vulnerable people seeking to repair or improve their homes.

Waiting times for loans have been cut by 70 per cent and over 50 per cent more people have been helped in the past 12 months than in previous years.

Consultants Habanero challenged senior management in the West Midlands Kick Start Partnership to imagine they were setting up in competition with themselves and design a cohesive new system that would outperform the existing way of doing business.

The resulting ‘best practice’ method was piloted in three authorities – Dudley, Wolverhampton and Birmingham – and then adopted across the partnership, from Stoke to Worcester, Shropshire to Rugby.

The Partnership was set up in 2004 to assist low income and vulnerable homeowners to access funding and advice that will enable them to organise essential repairs and improvements so they can live in decent homes.

Paul Lindley-Cox, Director of Business Transformation for Habanero business consulting, said: “The key issue was we had 17 local authorities in the scheme each working in what they individually believed was the most effective manner. But there was a high drop-out rate from customers and a lot of duplication. The time it took to achieve a loan was unacceptably long and it seemed expensive.

“Owing to the complexity of the existing system, we used an aggressive form of redesign, known as ‘garage redesign’, to find a solution.

“We challenged all the stakeholders, operational and strategic, to view their business through the eyes of their customers, to set aside the current method and imagine they were setting up in competition with themselves.”

Importantly, some 90 per cent of the redesign, and subsequent improvement, was in how support and services were provided to the front-line staff.

Paul added: “From the start of the service review to the end of the three pilot schemes took just 12 weeks. And in the 12 months since then, Habanero has been providing follow-up support and guidance. The Partnership now has a unified way of working, with a ‘best practice’ manual and learning forums four times a year.”

The Partnership has now grown to 28 local authorities with a remit to assist the 600,000 private householders in the West Midlands whose homes fall below the government’s Decent Homes Standard.

Sue Dawson, former programme director for the Partnership, said: “Habanero provided expert advice and management coaching that enabled our managers and front line staff to work more effectively together.

“This produced a unified way of working that has significantly improved the Kick Start experience for our customers by simplifying the scheme to produce the right service at the right time.

“During 2009/10 the Partnership increased the number of vulnerable homeowner’s homes improved by more than 50 per cent on any previous year within fixed budgets.”