News Summary of Collaboration and Shared Services from 13th May 2015

Welcome to “Austerity 2”!

Let’s go back to the Conservative manifesto and see what it said about collaborative transformation in the public sector…

On p13: ‘We will devolve far-reaching powers over economic development, transport and social care to large cities which choose to have elected mayors. We will legislate to deliver the historic deal for Greater Manchester, which will devolve powers and budgets and lead to the creation of a directly elected Mayor for Greater Manchester….And we will deliver more bespoke Growth Deals with local councils, where locally supported, ....’

If you would like to revisit the background to combined authorities there is an explanation in the new edition of Collaborative Transformation Magazine which you can download by clicking here: http://www.sharedservicearchitects.co.uk/Download-A-Free-Copy-Of-Collaborative-Transformation-Magazine .

And on p53 of the manifesto: ‘We will encourage voluntary integration of services and administration between and within councils for example with the Troubled Families and Better Care Fund - to promote savings and improve local services.’

Helpfully, LGA released their updated national maps this week of what councils and other partners are doing in terms of shared services and collaborative working…

National map of shared services 2015 | Local Government Association

The LGA has re-launched the national shared services map for 2015 which now shows that there are 416 shared service arrangements occurring between councils across the country resulting in £462 million of efficiency savings. Read more >>>

So, in summary, for collaboration and shared services more of the same, but maybe faster if the changes are to be powered by Eric Pickles (and senior managers learn to be effective through the Shared Service Practitioner or Collaborative Leadership programmes..)

Pickles: Still ‘awful lot’ of money to be saved in councils

Eric Pickles has said there is still an ‘awful lot’ of money to be saved in local government that would not impact on frontline services. Read more >>>

Here is this week’s collaborative working and shared service news…

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Local Government

More transparency and scrutiny needed of Welsh voluntary council mergers

The Welsh government needs to be more transparent about the costs and benefits of voluntary council mergers, and how they will be scrutinised, according to a committee of Welsh Assembly members. Read more >>>

Local government restructure must be 'sustainable and enduring', says committee

Planned restructuring of local government in Wales must be 'sustainable and enduring', a committee of the Welsh Assembly has warned. Read more >>>

25 new jobs being created by business process outsourcing firm Arvato UK in Swansea

The shared services centre provides back office services for the Department for Transport (DfT) and its executive agencies, and forms part of a UK Government plan to help save over £400m in administration costs. Read more >>>

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Health

Vanguard integrated care sites denied all of the £200m transformation fund

Twenty-nine vanguard sites, which were selected to trial new models of care as set out in the Five Year Forward View, will not be entitled to the entire £200m transformation fund set aside for the project, it has emerged. Read more >>>

NHS and Leeds council strike multi-million pound deal for Merrion Centre health clinic

The owner of Leeds’ Merrion Centre, Town Centre Securities PLC (TCS), has completed a multi-million pound deal with NHS Trust in the city to provide a 7,000 sq ft health clinic. Read more >>>

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Police

History of collaboration between Bedfordshire Police, Cambridgeshire Constabulary and Hertfordshire Constabulary

Working with other police forces can bring enormous benefits, such as increased resilience and economies of scale. Read more >>>

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