The final evaluation of a pilot project to help councils better understand how much it costs to provide a service has been published.
South Lanarkshire and East Renfrewshire Councils tested the esd-toolkit's Cost Architecture Model within Registration Services and Licensing and Trade Waste respectively from August to December 2009. The Model uses Activity Based Costing (ABC) to help councils develop a clearer understanding of how much it costs to provide their services. The Model seeks to identify
- how resources are being used to identify waste and inefficiencies
- the potential for services to improve given their current cost base
- where to focus quality improvement efforts.
The pilot projects looked at the ease of use of the cost calculator and the usefulness of the data produced, the ease of use of the accompanying user guides and support materials, the effectiveness of other, external support mechanisms, and the effectiveness of the Cost Architecture Model in identifying waste and inefficiency and helping to drive service improvements.
It concluded that the Cost Architecture Model has enabled the councils involved to systematically break down the service costs and resource allocations for activities, provided useful baseline data, and helped identify or validate opportunities for reducing waste or efficiency. However, there is clear consensus that the design of the Model could be simplified and that support and guidance could be improved in order to make the tool more user-friendly.
A copy of the evaluation report is available for download.
