Results - ICIPS awards 2020

Some 60 entries were received for the four categories of this year’s awards.

A cultural shift towards embedding the concept of continuous improvement has been revealed at the annual awards of the Institute for Continuous Improvement in Public Service (ICIPS).
Some 60 entries were received for the four categories of this year’s awards.
“Lightbulb moment” category winner is Shropshire Council, for their work in improving the application of IT through the introduction of IT Business Partners working across the council.
Debbie Simpson, the institute’s chief executive, said: “If I reflect on how the content of entries has evolved over the years, I can see a remarkable change.
“There has been a move from one-off, often localised improvement projects to today, where entries showcase continuous improvement – CI – as a way of working within and across organisations.”
Serco won the “collaboration” category in recognition of its ground breaking work in the provision of CI training to prisoners in the UK.
In the “inspirational team” category, Network Rail scooped top prize for their Lean Alliance initiative to embed CI.
The chief executive’s special award went to Serco. “Over the past few years ICIPS has witnessed Serco make a radical shift in their approach to continuous improvement,” said Mrs Simpson.
“It has been embedded at every level in the organisation worldwide. It is woven into every step of the employee life cycle. Each discipline, from HR to finance, work together to ensure CI is the way work is done. Not only this, but their CI ethos extends to the way they work with their customers and suppliers.
“They are very worthy winners and I offer heartiest congratulations.”
ICIPS, an independent and self-funding charity launched at the Cabinet Office in 2012, has around 3,000 members across the world upholding professional standards of practice.
The awards were part of a live streamed event which featured a keynote speech by Lord Kerslake, president of the Local Government Association and former head of the civil service.
Mrs Simpson added: “Over the years we have been running these awards, we have seen a remarkable shift in the way people are thinking about CI. I am delighted to note that almost every entry this year showed that organisations are taking a culture-led approach to embedding CI in their organisations.
“Not only does this align with the approach that we promote as an institute, but the benefits are there for all to see.”
Runners-up in the “lightbulb moment’ category was Orbis, a shared service partnership between Brighton and Hove City Council, East Sussex County Council and Surrey County Council for their work in coming together to rationalise the approach and improved across contract management and value analysis.
In the “collaboration” category, runners-up were Paraffin for their work with Portsmouth City Council on Project Bridge – work that succeeded in reducing rough sleeping; and the Home Office for their work with Deloitte to improve the process for in country and out of country visa applications.
SSCL, whose document management team have delivered incredible improvements in their operations worldwide, were runners-up in the “inspirational teams” category.
Award entries will be placed in our world of knowledge shortly.
Entries fort 2021 awards should be submitted by 31 December 2020. For details contact info@icips.org
Box set of the conference and awards available to buy https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/continuous-improvement-2020-tickets-114258048900