On Monday the 28^th of February Governance International held a Co-production Roadshow event at the excellent Inspire Centre in Greater Manchester.

The event began with a presentation from Tony Bovaird and Elke Loeffler of Governance International, who explained how “co-production helps improve public services and lower their costs”. This showcased the Governance International Four Co's of Co-production - co-design, co-commission, co-deliver, and co-assess. One participant commented that this ‘broke down the aspects of co-production well… it revived my commitment to co-production’.

This was followed by an outline of the Department of Health's approach to co-production, presented by Shahana Ramsden. Martin Routledge then discussed how Putting People First, and in particular its Think Local, Act Personal initiative, has improved partnerships amongst public service providers and community organisations, giving individuals, families and carers greater choice and control over their care and support. Martin outlined how this built up social capital and helps reduce longer term costs.

Participants were then enthused by the story of how Sally Percival and Alan Crone, both parents who have children with autism, work on the Transforming Adult Social Care Programme Board. Sally also runs the South Lakeland Austism and Asperger’s  Syndrome Support Group. Being on the programme board means they have been able inform public service professionals about their direct experiences, and about the needs and priorities of families and individuals with autism. They showed how greater co-production and engagement can transform public services to achieve better outcomes.

Robert Powell and Jude Wells provided a case study of local co-production good practice, specifically Stockport Council’s ‘My Care, My Choice’ social care website. Using co-production, the social website was radically improved and the overall quality of social care provision was increased. These changes have reduced the numbers of unnecessary calls that the council receives and the number of calls abandoned because they could not be answered satisfactorily in a reasonable time. The improved service has been estimated to save the department £300,000 per annum. Full details of this case study can be found here. One participant committed on the spot to taking this example back to his council to consider emulating it!

In the evaluation, participants praised what they described as an informal, enjoyable event, in a comfortable setting, that allowed for lots of discussion.

Interested in finding out more about co-production? Why not come to the NESTA co-production Roadshow that Governance International is co-hosting on 29 March 2011 in  Birmingham? To register and find out more click here.