News Summary of Collaboration and Shared Services from 12 March 2014

There has been plenty about housing in this week’s shared service and collaboration news…

Last year, in Shared Service Architecture Magazine, Manny Gatt (our MD) wrote about the need for Housing Associations to develop the collaborative leadership skills of their staff, not to share services with each other, but to work effectively in the vacuum left by the reduction in services from local authorities and others.

Manny was not writing about housing staff replacing or delivering those services, but about enabling them to work collaboratively to co-ordinate filling the vacuum through more effective collaborative leadership across communities. This necessity is brought out in a new report from the Chartered Institute of Housing and the Wheatley Group…

Housing staff expected to fill support gap, study finds

Housing professionals are increasingly expected to fill the gap left by the withdrawal of other services as tenants require increasing levels of support, a study has found. Read more >>>

The vacuum left by the reduction in services has been exacerbated by the impact of welfare reform and the CEO of Circle Housing is calling for greater collaborative working to solve the problems…

 

Circle Housing chief urges housing leaders to tackle welfare reform together

Circle Housing Chief Executive Mark Rogers has urged the housing industry, government and third sector agencies to pull together and support customers affected by welfare reform, in the light of new figures highlighting the challenges facing customers moving on to Universal Credit.  Read more >>>

However, shared service working in housing is occurring in small pockets with this example of co-ownership and sharing of training…

Housing associations join forces to buy training company

Three Midlands-based housing providers have joined forces to acquire an award-winning training company. Read more >>>

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Local Government

I was running the CIPFA SS(PRAC)™ session on the SSA Trust & Vision toolbox yesterday. I asked the delegates, from local authorities, to name the things that a council would not want to share with another authority. Ultimately they agreed that everything is up for sharing from their view.

Yet only two years ago, with the same exercise there would have been three or four things at least. For example, Children’s Services, Adult Social Care, or Planning. It feels like the mind-set has shifted now and this can be seen in the rise of the ‘super council’ concept.

Super councils may only relate to economic development issues at the moment, but if successful with that service, the obvious question will arise, “Why aren’t we sharing other core services too?”…

North East ‘super council’ secures government backing

The Cabinet Office has begun the legal process to set up a new combined authority in the North East. Read more >>>

However, let’s not forget that the journey of collaborative working can be a bumpy one as partners change, or re-assess themselves and their future purpose…

Wirral shared services on hold

The Chief Executive of Wirral Council is to make a recommendation to pause the process of developing shared professional services with Cheshire West & Chester and Cheshire East Councils as it begins a major review of every service it provides. Read more >>>

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Health

I admire the work of the King’s Fund in gnawing away at “wicked problems” that can only be solved through collaborative working. For you, the reality of the wicked problem in this report is that by 2030 you may be one of the ageing society whose pension is inadequate and you become dependent on integrated, state health care. So start working the solution now...!

King’s Fund: Ageing society demands a ‘fundamental shift’ in healthcare delivery

A fundamental shift is urgently needed in the delivery of health and care to meet the challenges of a rapidly ageing society, says a new report from The King’s Fund. Read more >>>

To finish this week, I nominate this article. Tracey Leforte who is responsible for procurement in the health service, provides helpful tips for working on collaborative procurement…

 

Soft skills crucial to stakeholder engagement, says procurement official

Utilising soft skills is crucial when dealing with stakeholders, the Deputy Director of Procurement at Barts Health NHS Trust has said. Read more >>>