News Summary of Collaboration and Shared Services from 19 February 2014

This will get you smiling! If you cannot even agree on the name for your collaborative working, what hope is there of getting anything done…

Combined authority naming row relegates Liverpool

The mayor of Liverpool has hit out at the decision to give the region’s combined authority a name featuring all six of the districts. Read more >>>

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Highway Code (TECKAL TEST)

 

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that the EU has passed a ruling on the TECKAL test making it easier for councils to set up their shared services - and with an increase to 20% maximum on trading with others. It was ratified this week and could come into law during this year, but certainly within the next two years…

The key benefits relating to the TECKAL test are set out in this article (add this to your Highway Code folder) http://www.out-law.com/en/articles/2014/january/the-10-most-important-features-of-the-eus-overhaul-of-public-procurement-law/

At a quick glance they are:

… an authority may contract with another public body, quasi-public body or other supplier, such as a shared services company if:

• the authority, on its own or in combination with other authorities, exercises over the other body a degree of control which is similar to that which it exercises over its own departments;
• the other body carries out more than 80% of its activities with the authority, or authorities in the case of joint control,; and
• there is no direct private capital participation in the other body, although there is a limited exception for non-controlling and non-blocking forms of private capital participation required by national law.

You should read the full article as there are caveats to the above.

There is a summary of the background to the ruling here…

Final procedural approval given to new EU public procurement rules

The General Affairs Council within the Council of Ministers voted to approve three new EU Directives, on public sector procurement, utilities sector procurement and the procurement of works and services concessions by contracting bodies in the public and utilities sectors. Read more >>>

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Local Government

 

Last week there was the announcement by Leicestershire County that it was exploring unitary government and now Warwickshire is following. Is this the domino rally beginning?…

 

Report calls for six councils to be merged in Warwickshire

Plans to scrap six councils in Warwickshire and create a single unitary authority are to be debated in the county. Read more >>>

The next article, from Ben Goward, CIO at Westminster City Council, provides a valuable roadmap for working through merging ICT services when each of the partners is in a different starting place (for example one using in-house provision, another outsourced provision…). It is from the London Tri-Borough collaboration and is well worth reading if you are working towards shared ICT, the first and most important key to unlocking successful, major, shared services…

How three London boroughs developed a shared services strategy

The start of the process, he says, involved commissioning external consultancy from Gartner and other organisations to get some ideas as to how the three boroughs should structure their services in the future. Read more >>>

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Health

When we are listening to managers and leaders in the Health and Social Care arena, it feels like there has been insufficient work so far around the people, power and politics of collaborative working. Throwing money at a problem never resolves it. These two brief articles evidence there are common problems around integration and they have been identified by the Health Select Committee …

Health committee: Give local boards responsibility to commission joined-up care

The health select committee said it wants local health and wellbeing boards to be given the responsibility to commission joined-up care services. Read more >>>

Integration between health and social care further highlighted

The need for integration of health and social care was further highlighted in a report by the Health Select Committee, released today (Wednesday 12 February 2014). Read more >>>