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35-653: In 2004–5, North Hertfordshire District Council undertook a Fundamental Service Review of its Museum Service. Although it found that visitors greatly valued all aspects of the service ( Hitchin Museum and Art Gallery , Letchworth Museum & Art Gallery , the Education Service with its School Loans scheme, the Archaeology and the Natural History Services), the two museums were both described as unfit for purpose and

70-433: A centrally defined framework. Best Value was not, therefore, about what local authorities should do: it was a framework that prescribed how they should decide what to do. Specifically Best Value would differ from compulsory competitive tendering in three respects: organisation performance, organisation process, and the relationship between process and performance (Boyne 1999, p. 2). A "short statutory guidance" document

105-541: A management process does not mean that it needs to be executed by 'management'; but rather merely that it makes decisions about the implementation of the delivery process and the design of the delivery process itself. A broader definition is that of the Institute of Quality Assurance who defined "continuous improvement as a gradual never-ending change which is: '... focused on increasing the effectiveness and/or efficiency of an organisation to fulfil its policy and objectives. It

140-402: Is 'improvement'). This method became famous from Imai 's 1986 book Kaizen: The Key to Japan's Competitive Success. Key features of kaizen include: The elements above are the more tactical elements of continual improvement processes. The more strategic elements include deciding how to increase the value of the delivery process output to the customer (effectiveness) and how much flexibility

175-607: Is also used in environmental management systems (EMS), such as ISO 14000 and EMAS . The term "continual improvement", not "continuous improvement", is used in ISO 14000 , and is understood to refer to an ongoing series of small or large-scale improvements which are each done discretely, i.e. in a step-wise fashion. Several differences exist between the CIP concept as it is applied in quality management and environmental management. Continual improvement in environmental management systems aims to improve

210-429: Is not limited to quality initiatives. Improvement in business strategy, business results, customer, employee and supplier relationships can be subject to continual improvement. Put simply, it means 'getting better all the time'.' " The key features of continual improvement process in general are: Some successful implementations use the approach known as kaizen (the translation of kai ('change') zen ('good')

245-421: Is to explain the process framework within which local housing authorities will need to operate in obtaining best value in housing (DETR 1999, s.1.3). Therefore, while the message was unequivocally that compulsory competitive tendering was to be withdrawn, the replacement was to be less prescribed, with the intention that local authorities follow a responsive and locally determined method of service provision within

280-405: Is valuable in the process to meet changing needs. The PDCA (plan, do, check, act) or (plan, do, check, adjust) cycle supports continuous improvement and kaizen. It provides a process for improvement which can be used since the early design (planning) stage of any process, system, product or service. The PDSA (plan, do, study, act) cycle is often credited to W. Edwards Deming and often called

315-508: The Audit Commission . The 90 BVPIs covered many, but not all, aspects of services provided by local councils. These were withdrawn in 2008. In order to provide a balanced view of performance, the BVPIs cover four dimensions: Each year government departments work with each other to set indicators for the next year. BVPIs are set in line with the financial year (1 April to 31 March). Many of

350-479: The ISO 9001:2000 standard—which addressed quality management systems and principles—debated whether or not to update the use of the word continuous to continual . ISO Technical Committee 176 and regulatory representatives ultimately decided that "continuous was unenforceable because it meant an organization had to improve minute by minute, whereas, continual improvement meant step-wise improvement or improvement in segments". The committee reportedly did not base

385-461: The BVPIs have been in effect since the start of Best Value in April 2000, but some new indicators have been set, and some existing indicators were revised either to improve their definition or to be aligned with central government policy. Where a BVPI has a target attached to it, these targets are reviewed each year, in light of the most recent performance data provide by a local council. As far as possible

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420-555: The Deming cycle though W. Edwards Deming referred to it as the Shewhart cycle. Walter A. Shewhart back in the 1920s was working at Western Electric Company with W. Edwards Deming and Joseph M. Juran . Shewhart took the standard academic scientific method of inductive and deductive thinking , used in hypothesis testing , and converted it to a simple notion. When one does something, they plan it, do it, study it, and act on its results –

455-581: The Museums Resource Centre at Burymead Road in Hitchin as outdated and inefficient. The review had five main recommendations, one of which was to close the two existing museums at Letchworth and at Hitchin, and instead run a museum and gallery on a single town-centre site. A feasibility study was commissioned to investigate the possibility of converting Hitchin Town Hall to museum use. The museum, which

490-483: The PDSA cycle. This was a far simpler notion to use and inform the shop floor of Western Electric while building telephones, where many workers would not and could not understand the scientific method. In fact, the PDSA notion could easily be applied to everyday life; driving a car to work. Thus the PDSA cycle was very easy to relate to by Western's workforce and gained the buy-in needed. The continual improvement process concept

525-642: The Secretary of State can direct the council to take specific action to secure improvement, or, in extreme cases, remove the functions concerned from its control altogether. The duty of Best Value in relation to Scotland applies to all public bodies. It is a statutory duty for Scottish local authorities and a formal duty for the Scottish Police Authority and its Chief Constable and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Authority and Chief Fire Officer. Elsewhere in

560-464: The adverse effect of competition as a prime objective. Under the leadership of John Major the Conservative government pursued compulsory competitive tendering almost as a dogma, often against the wishes of local government. This led to an uncomfortable stand-off between the two, with CCT regulations being produced in increasing detail, and sometimes extending further than would have been the case in

595-405: The benefits that flow from a healthy partnership. All too often the process of competition has become an end in itself, distracting attention from the services that are actually provided to local people. CCT will therefore be abolished. Thus, the rationale for Best Value emphasised three points: the failure of compulsory competitive tendering; the importance of partnership in service provision; and

630-700: The election of the Labour government in 1997, but similar concepts were soon promoted by the Labour government through its 'Best Value' policy. Best Value was adopted in England and Wales by the Local Government Act 1999 , introduced by the UK Labour Government . Its provisions came into force in April 2000. The aim was to improve local services in terms of both cost and quality: A Best Value authority must make arrangements to secure continuous improvement in

665-553: The first established in England by Vic Wayling, secretary of Hitchin Town F.C. , opening in 1956 and transferred to Hitchin Museum and Art Gallery in the 1980s. There is also a case Collecting the World, in which objects from every continent are displayed. This gallery is used to display temporary exhibitions. 51°56′56″N 0°16′48″W  /  51.949°N 0.280°W  / 51.949; -0.280 Best Value Best Value

700-464: The government has tried to limit the number of changes. In fact, there were no amendments of additions to the BVPI set last year, and government has agreed to make no amendments to the present BVPIs until 2008/09. Where a council fails to meet a statutory target, the Secretary of State is at liberty to take action, particularly where an authority is not meeting its duty of continuous improvement. In practice,

735-533: The ideas of Conservative politician Nicholas Ridley , who made "unfavorable" comparisons between the "fat and bloated" local authorities of the United Kingdom and the relatively "slim" contract cities of the United States. CCT required public-sector organisations to enable private companies to bid for contracts to deliver certain public services in competition with the public sector's own organisations. The idea

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770-465: The light of their efficiency , effectiveness and flexibility. Some see continual improvement processes as a meta-process for most management systems (such as business process management , quality management , project management , and program management ). W. Edwards Deming , a pioneer of the field, saw it as part of the 'system' whereby feedback from the process and customer were evaluated against organisational goals. The fact that it can be called

805-457: The natural consequences of products and activities, not the products and activities as such. Secondly, there is no client-orientation in EMS-related continual improvement processes. Also, continual improvement processes in environmental management systems is not limited to small, incremental improvements as in kaizen, it also includes innovations of any scale. In the late 1990s, the developers of

840-555: The new approach". The rationale for the introduction of Best Value was summarised as follows: Under Compulsory Competitive Tendering service quality has often been neglected and efficiency gains have been uneven and uncertain, and it has proved inflexible in practice. There have been significant costs for employees, often leading to high staff turnover and the demoralisation of those expected to provide quality services. Compulsion has also bred antagonism, so that neither local authorities nor private sector suppliers have been able to realise

875-646: The private sector. The government was unambiguous about what was required – issue of tender, receipt of tender, selection of provider. The term compulsory competitive tendering was superseded in 2000 by best value . Labour's Best Value proved more difficult to define. The notion of Best Value prior to implementation was enshrined within one key consultation document: Modernising Local Government — Improving local services through best value. This set out four defining elements of Best Value. In turn these four aspects of Best Value are bound by adherence to twelve principles of Best Value mentioned above. The answer to

910-551: The public sector it is a formal duty placed on Accountable Officers, such as the chief executives of NHS bodies and further education colleges . Continuous improvement A continual improvement process , also often called a continuous improvement process (abbreviated as CIP or CI ), is an ongoing effort to improve products, services, or processes. These efforts can seek " incremental " improvement over time or "breakthrough" improvement all at once. Delivery (customer valued) processes are constantly evaluated and improved in

945-452: The question of what method of service delivery, precisely, the government expected to arise from Best Value seemed to centre on local interpretation as satisfactory. The lack of clear definition, in the context of housing services, was explained as follows: The paper does not attempt to define what best value in housing is — that is primarily a matter for individual local authorities in consultation with local people. The primary intention

980-431: The statutory framework was introduced in the 1998/9 parliamentary session. In the period between announcement and introduction (May 1997 and April 2000) the government sponsored 37 voluntary council 'pilots', 22 of which contained a housing element. The purpose of the pilots was to "test elements of the best value framework, and assess the extent to which actual improvements in service quality and efficiency have flowed from

1015-488: The way in which its functions are exercised, having regard to a combination of economy, efficiency and effectiveness. (LGA 1999, section 3[1]) The range of activities affected includes almost all local authority functions, including for example social services, environmental health, housing and planning. The first details of Best Value were set out in the 'Twelve Principles of Best Value' announced in June 1997. The bill to provide

1050-549: Was designed by Buttress with museum layout by Mather & Co., opened in July 2019. The museum has three galleries containing permanent exhibitions – Discovering North Herts, Living in North Herts and The Terrace Gallery – and one containing temporary exhibitions: This gallery follows the story of the district in chronological order. It highlights how and why North Hertfordshire has transformed over time, from 90 million years ago when it

1085-645: Was government policy in the United Kingdom affecting the provision of public services in England . In Wales , Best Value is known as the Wales Programme for Improvement . A statutory duty of Best Value also applies in Scotland . The predecessor to the UK Labour Government 's Best Value policy was the Conservative Government 's 1980s policy of compulsory competitive tendering (CCT). CCT originated in part with

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1120-425: Was issued in 2015. For councils and authorities to be measured against Best Value, performance indicators, known as BVPIs ( Best Value Performance Indicators ) were introduced. These were a statutory set of 90 indicators developed by government departments to measure the performance of local authorities, that is, all local authorities must measure themselves against BVPIs. The data is collected and audited annually by

1155-610: Was issued in September 2011, dealing with certain "reasonable expectations of the way authorities should work with voluntary and community groups and small businesses when facing difficult funding decisions". Eric Pickles , in his foreword to the guidance, noted that councils had been "freed from excessive and prescriptive guidance" in exchange for a commitment to support voluntary groups and small businesses in their administrative areas. Revised best value statutory guidance on working with voluntary and community groups and small businesses

1190-412: Was to improve services through competition. The Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980 provided for a tendering requirement in relation to construction and building maintenance work contracts, and the Local Government Act 1988 provided for the following activities to be subject to CCT: CCT was later extended to other activities such as housing management. The requirements were relaxed upon

1225-510: Was underwater, to the urban planning that has shaped the district today. This gallery is arranged thematically, to draw out similarities and differences between how people lived at different times in the past. The principal themes include Living off the Land, Fun and Games, Making and Selling, and Cradle to Crave. This gallery is also arranged thematically. It includes the Football Collection,

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