The challenge
Bradford Council approached Attenti Consulting with need to:
- Support them in their Financial Assessment consultation relating to a proposed charging change
- Providing support to a potential 4,000 individuals who would be potentially affected
- Provide specialist Financial Assessor advice in relation to the consultation
- Facilitate community engagement days
- Collect, process and analyse feedback for use in the executive report
The solution:
Attenti Consulting was commissioned by Bradford Council to deliver a fully outsourced service to manage customer service, collect feedback, and provide expert advise relating to the proposed removal of a discretionary buffer as part of their charging policy. The initial request was for a full-time team of Financial Assessors to be provided for 12 weeks. FAOs do not tend to operate on an agency basis and this would have relied on 5 professionals resigning from
full time roles for a 12 week project without notice periods.
Attenti designed and delivered an option to provide a triage service for individuals in receipt of nonresidential
care and support services, optimising professional resource and focusing project deliverables on engagement.
Attenti’s internal team managed incoming queries and scheduled meetings with a specialist Financial Assessment Officer where required. The solution not only enabled Bradford to proceed with the consultation within the proposed timescales but resulted in it being delivered for 60.53% less than the projected cost, savings totalling around £49,988.64.
Results:
Following successful completion of the project, Bradford benefited from the below results:
- Consultation timeline kept on track by innovative project design
- £49,988.64 in delivery savings
- Proactive Attenti engagement of those in receipt of care leading to a 64% increase
- 23.96% over engagement target set by CBMDC
- Over 4,000 people contacted, 0 formal complaints
- 20 community engagement days supported against an initial target of 12.
“Attenti Consulting provided an innovative and highly effective solution to support our 12-week consultation on proposed changes to our financial assessment policy. Their expert guidance helped us avoid a prohibitively expensive delivery model and instead implement a triage-led approach that was costeffective, efficient, and exceeded our engagement expectations.
The team demonstrated a deep understanding of our financial assessment processes, relevant legislation, and the local context. They swiftly mobilised a well-trained workforce, provided specialist support at engagement events, and ensured that service users received clear, compassionate advice and reassurance throughout the consultation.
Attenti’s flexibility, responsiveness and commitment to quality were evident throughout. They delivered the project 60% under budget, achieved almost 24% more engagement than our target, and supported 20 in-person engagement events – far exceeding the original target of 12. All of this was achieved with zero formal complaints.
This project was a clear example of how the right consultancy partner can add value beyond delivery.
Attenti’s approach enabled meaningful engagement with service users while maintaining compliance, safeguarding, and professionalism at every stage.”
Bev Winter – Programme Lead
City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council