Case study: Peopletoo successfully deliver a plan for the East Lothian Council’s caretaking and cleaning services

The requirement

Peopletoo were commissioned by East Lothian Council through ESPO’s Framework 664,
to undertake a review of the Council’s Caretaking and Cleaning Service with a number of
key requirements:
 

	A review of the current operating and financial model for Caretaking and Cleaning.
	Benchmarking of the cost and quality of service with comparable organisations.
	Options appraisal for a range of alternative delivery models.
	Analysis of potential savings opportunities.
	Analysis of potential commercial opportunities.
	A delivery plan including costs and timescales.

The solution

Peopletoo worked with the Council to engage with the key staff from the operational team as well as wider internal stakeholders associated with the delivery of Cleaning and Caretaking services. On site interviews were held with leads for Soft Facilities Management (FM), Education, Communities & Partnerships, Finance, Council Support and the Transformation Programme at ELC.

To compliment these interviews, site visits and walk rounds were held alongside the Service to better understand the approach to delivery. Documentation was requested, received and analysed regarding the current operating model, existing structures and financial performance against budgets along with access to all existing specifications outlining delivery methods.

As part of the review, significant benchmarking and analysis was performed to baseline the position of the service and establish whether value for money was being delivered. The review enabled Peopletoo to build a picture of the current provision and to give detailed option appraisals of the shape of the Cleaning and Caretaking function at the Council going forward.

Following the review, Peopletoo made a number of suggestions to the Council, which related to:
 

	Performing detailed analysis on materials used and establish quality baseline.
	Developing, updating and refreshing specifications across all sites and services.
	Developing Service Level Agreements.
	Establishing a Quality Assurance process and begin site audits alongside stakeholders.
	Reviewing delivery model, especially around contracted hours, enhanced payments, contractual overtime and hours of operation.
	Investing savings into the team to ensure sufficient resource to drive and sustain change.
	Delivering change and savings through an altered internal model, before reassessing model in medium to long term once improvements embedded.

The results

Client feedback




To download a PDF version of the case study, please click here.

For more information about ESPO's 664 framework please click here, or contact the Managing People and Professional Services team on:

e: resources@espo.org     |     t: 0116 294 4072