Executive Summary

This report: ‘The Big Idea: Putting People First’ reflects upon the findings from an Advice NI systems thinking project which commenced in October 2009 and ended in March 2010 involving advice agencies in two pilot areas (North Belfast and Omagh District Council area).

Advice NI was motivated to embark on the systems thinking project in response to the volume of social security and housing enquiries dealt with by member  organisations. Advice NI membership profile statistics (2008/09) indicated that social security and housing enquiries accounted for over 150,000, or two thirds of all annual enquiries. Within these categories Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Employment & Support Allowance (ESA), repairs and Housing Benefit were the most common enquiry type.

Figures from the Social Security Agency (SSA) for 2008/09 indicated that in relation to DLA in this period almost 60,000 claims were received; there were a total of 179, 919 people in receipt of DLA and 243, 126 enquiries were dealt with. In relation to ESA in this period over 30,000 claims were received; there were a total of 14, 276 people in receipt of ESA and over 258,000 enquiries were dealt with.

Similarly information from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) for 2008/09 indicated that in relation to repairs over 490, 000 queries in relation to defects were received and almost 360, 000 jobs completed; and 56, 363 applications for Housing Benefit were received although information in relation to associated enquiries was not collated.

Advice NI was drawn to the systems thinking methodology following work carried out by Advice UK in Great Britain and their concerns that plans for improving legal and advice services would lead to an advice sector which would be more focussed on serving the ‘top down’ interests of government than the ‘bottom up’ interests of people seeking advice.

Advice NI believed that a systems thinking approach provided an alternative option and a better way to transform both advice services and public services in Northern Ireland. Essentially the systems thinking approach requires management to understand that systems govern performance, not the people who work in the system; and that up to 95% of organisational performance is governed in this way:   so in order for any organisation to improve its performance it needs to understand and improve its system rather than focus on managing. At the highest level, any system responds to two types of customer demand: ‘value’ and ‘failure’ demand. ‘Value’ demands are those you want customers to place on the system; they are the reason you are in business. ‘Failure’ demands are those you don’t want; demands caused by a failure to do something or do something right for the customer. A systems thinking approach requires a thorough knowledge about customer demand ‘in the clients’ terms’ (what do they want and need from the service?). It then deploys expertise at the point of customer transaction to get the work done faster and more efficiently.

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