City of Edinburgh Council Case Study

Property Conservation Debt Reduction

Edinburgh City Council commissioned Ross International to facilitate a Kaizen Blitz/Rapid Improvement Event to help it reduce the outstanding debt associated with the Property Conservation process.

A multi-level, multi disciplinary team was focused for a week to understand the challenges then develop new processes that would eliminate the problems and bring about a reduction in the outstanding debt. 

The team developed new ways, gained acceptance from them from the staff, then drew up an action plan to bring the changes about.  Some of the results achieved can be seen from the table below:

RIE Results	From	To
Issuing of invoices	2 years backlog	1 week
Issuing emergency invoices	1 year	1 week
Answering solicitors’ letters	20 days plus	Same or next day
Invoices returned	30%	10%
Invoice issuing process	4 steps in 3 locations	1 step

 

A simplified, standard operating procedure was introduced for all aspects of the Property Conservation process from property inspection right through to issuing of the final invoice.  The information on the invoices is now more accurate increasing the chances of the bills being settled in a reasonable timeframe.  

Two days every week for several staff were saved by making it possible for the invoices to be sent direct to the customers after printing in Newcastle instead of having to be returned to Chesser House in Edinburgh, and then sent to Property Finance to attach more information prior to posting.

The time saved was used to develop other aspects of the process resulting in a large increase in staff morale as the pressure of the huge backlogs was eliminated.

Issuing the invoices in a timely manner is leading to a significant reduction in the outstanding debt.