Performance Improvement in the Public Sector
City Council Liverpool’s Adult Social Care (ASC) Services are experiencing unprecedented challenges. Recognising the lack of national reform, Liverpool City Council initiated its own transformation, focusing on tailored approaches for older adults and unpaid carers. Previous reviews had failed, but Inner Circle’s bespoke change management approach successfully engaged stakeholders, secured leadership support, and established effective governance
Inner Circle have achieved this through genuine co-production with frontline staff, shifting traditional care pathways away from being transactional to person-centred and redesigning workforce arrangements to enable progression and reduce duplication – transforming not just processes, but the lived experience of care in Liverpool.
Early results have seen an increase in residents receiving the right support at the right time, and up to £8.9m annual cost avoidance. Beyond this measurable impact, we have positively impacted culture, fostered ownership of change and emphasised knowledge transfer and upskilling. Liverpool is now positioned for sustained, long-term transformation in the medium and long-term – demonstrating what is possible when a council transforms despite national policy inertia. Liverpool now serves as an example for other local authorities facing similar challenges, showing that meaningful transformation in public services is both possible and essential.
In January 2023, Liverpool City Council (LCC) was confronting a reality that many local authorities in the UK will recognise: rising demand, workforce challenges, and financial constraints threatening the foundations of public service delivery. In addition to this, central-Government-appointed Commissioners were concluding their engagement and the Council was developing its first multi-year Medium Term Financial Plan in years. This unfolding crisis occurred against a backdrop of minimal government direction. Despite talk of a transformative National Care Service, concrete action has delayed to at least 2028, with social care absent from government missions for this parliament.
Liverpool needed locally driven transformation, with a higher proportion of older adults and unpaid carers, a one-size fits all approach would not work.
View the Inner Circle Consulting profile in the MCA Members Directory.