Transforming a Service-Led Operating Model for a UK Government Service
A central UK government department commissioned a service-led transformation to improve a regulator’s support service amid intense regulatory and delivery pressures. Lancia Consult supported discovery and operating-model analysis, establishing a current-state view and setting the strategic direction for a multi-year, end-to-end service transformation.
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Service
Sector
Prioritised recommendations for service improvement aligned with both service needs and organisational appetite for change.
The Challenge
To respond to major changes in processes and rising operational complexity, a central UK government department commissioned a transformation of its service’s operating model. At the time, the service was operating under extraordinary levels of regulatory, political, and delivery pressure. Sustained volumes of change had eroded the service’s ability to consistently fulfil its role as an environmental regulator and expert contributor within the planning system. Alongside the immediate need to stabilise and improve service delivery for both internal teams and external stakeholders, the transformation also served as a pilot for service-led transformation, aligning with a wider, cross-government move towards service-based operating models.
The Solution
- 30+ 1:1 interviews with senior leadership, operational staff, and external stakeholders
- 5 workshops conducted across regions to gather and validate user findings
- 3 core business services mapped end-to-end, containing ~40 processes and sub-processes.
Lancia Consult deployed a Transformation consultant in the role of Senior Business Analyst to be embedded within the organisation’s service transformation team.
Over a six‑month period, the consultant conducted in‑depth interviews and workshops with senior leaders, operational staff, and external service users. This activity was used to map the organisation’s core business services, identifying bottlenecks, handovers, decision points, and opportunities for improvement. Qualitative user insights were combined with quantitative analysis and the organisation’s current‑state operating model to create a coherent, evidence‑based view of the service.
In parallel with their core analytical role, the consultant supported the programme manager with vendor management and organisation-wide dependency mapping. This included overseeing a third-party supplier conducting process mining of the organisation’s case management system to ensure that data-led insights were grounded in the real operational context. We also reviewed the wider change portfolio, identifying and categorising dependencies aligned with transformation objectives to support risk mitigation and ongoing reporting to senior programme stakeholders.
The Impact
Operating within a complex political and regulatory environment, the transformation team delivered a comprehensive assessment of the current state and an organisational readiness review.
Key outputs:
- A clear as-is assessment of service pressure points across people, processes, systems, and data architecture.
- Prioritised recommendations for service improvement, aligned with both service needs and organisational appetite for change.
- A strategic roadmap aligned with organisational readiness and transformation ambition.
The discovery phase concluded with a senior-led visioning workshop, establishing a shared direction of travel and laying the foundations for future end-to-end service design as part of a multi-year transformation programme.
