Total Place

What is Total Place?

Total Place is an initiative that looks at how a ‘whole area’ approach to public services can lead to better services at less cost.

It seeks to identify and avoid duplication between organisations.

Hopefully this will deliver a change in service improvement and efficiency at a local level, as well as across Whitehall.

Kent is one of the13 pilot areas participating in the scheme.
As a pilot area Kent has a real opportunity to rip up the text book and redesign the way public services are planned and delivered.

Total place is not just another Whitehall initiative, it gives places the opportunity to tell Central Government how it could behave differently to make collaborative working more effective.

Kent Total Place Final Report (PDF, 719k)

Why are we involved in Total Place?

The impact of the economic downturn means all of the public sector needs to find radical new solutions to not only deliver better value for money, but also better local services more tailored to local needs.

What does Total Place mean for Kent?

Kent has identified three projects which are delving deeper into specific local issues in order to identify new ways of tackling them.

The three identified projects in Kent are:

• Gateway multi-channel - This well established project is based on ‘face to face’ customer service, and has been extended to include service improvements for telephone and web channel access.
• Asset management - This project has a view to simplify business processes which will lead to a reduced requirement for property and other physical assets.
• Margate Task Force - Despite the efforts and successes of the regeneration work undertaken in Margate, deprivation levels have worsened in both Cliftonville West and Margate Central wards. A number of key local partners have recently come together to radically rethink joined up working in these two most deprived wards.
  

Where next for Total Place in Kent?

The pilot phase finished in March 2010 and work is now being done to deliver the proposals we made during the pilot.
Since the introduction of the new coalition government we are waiting to hear about the future for Total Place.

However it is certain that although the name may not be carried forward the principles of providing better services at less cost will still apply to all places.

Who can I talk to if I want to know more about Total Place?

If you would like to know more about Total Place in Kent please contact:

Sarah.bruce@kent.gov.uk