Two services looking to transform how they operate have been awarded funding through the Council’s Change Fund.

Launched earlier this year, the £700k fund provides managers with an opportunity to bid for money that will help transformational and cost effective Council of the Future projects speed up change.

Business cases submitted to the fund are evaluated by a Change Fund Panel against criteria that includes financial returns on investment, alignment to the Council of the Future’s vision – RITA (Responsive, Innovative, Trusted & Ambitious) and time to implement.

Children & Families and Procurement’s ‘Closer to Home’ bid was awarded £228k to help keep children who are at risk of becoming looked after either at home or within a family placement.

The fund will help:

• Modernise Camelon lodge so children currently accommodated away from home can have supervised visits with their birth families in a safe and homely environment.
• Design and launch a marketing campaign to increase the number of foster carers registered with the Council.
• Fund preventative spend to help assist families in crisis or children who are on the edges of care.
• Employ a full-time procurement specialist for the Children & Families Service who will support the service and help it realise the ambitions set out in the Closer to Home strategy.

Development Services' ‘Services for the Bereaved’ bid was awarded almost £120k to help further modernise the service and fund:

• Live streaming of funeral services at the crematorium, when requested by customers, to make it easier for mourners to pay their respects when unable to attend a funeral.
• Upgrade the cemetery management system, taking a range of services online including application forms and booking.
• Produce maps of cemeteries and the crematorium for visitors that will be available online and at grounds.
• Digitise bereavement records to reduce the number of paper records and box files currently held to meet statutory requirements for electronic registers and make it easier for staff to retrieve information for the public.
• Investment in hand-held devices for staff to improve efficiencies and maximise opportunities for a more modern and digital way of working.