The Document Conception to Publishing Process
How to save money and improve performance by changing the way documents are produced
Developing and delivering on policies and strategies, and providing advice and information to citizens, is a core activity of a local authority, using a substantial amount of time and resources. Yet these processes are so ingrained in day-to-day activities that despite the evident scale of the undertaking there is little understanding among organisations of the costs involved.
Limehouse Software has just completed extensive research into the document conception to publication (C2P) processes within local authorities, reviewing over 2,000 documents from 134 councils, comprehensively analysing 33 council websites and conducting in-depth interviews with council staff.
Did you know?
- On average, a local authority has 2,566 live and current documents in the public domain
- The average annual production of documents is 998, made up of more than 13,000 pages of new content
- This activity costs a local authority £11M* per year
- Only 12% of these documents will be produced to a high design standard
We have conducted extensive research into the document conception to publication (c2p) processes within local authorities, reviewing over 2,000 documents from 134 councils, comprehensively analysing 33 council websites and conducting in-depth interviews with council staff.
The findings of this new research are published in an informative white paper which outlines the substantial efficiency savings that change in this area can provide to a local authority. Moreover, it shows that this can be done whilst improving overall quality and that the benefits are easy to achieve when compared to many other change projects.
This paper:
- Presents the findings of a major research project undertaken to profile the scale and processes behind document production
- Provides accurate benchmarking costs to local authorities to help them understand their own investment in this area
- Outlines measures that can be taken to realise major cost savings and performance improvements
This new research is intended to be an invaluable aid to local government senior officers as a means of identifying and evaluating what, for most local authorities, is an entirely untapped area to realise savings and improve performance.
*All figures are based on a tier 1 local authority - Shire Counties, Unitary Authorities and London Boroughs. Financial figures for tier 2 authorities are approximately 25% of these figures.