News Summary of Collaboration and Shared Services from 1st February 2017

A major change in the public sector collaboration landscape happened yesterday (31/01/17), when the Policing and Crime Bill received royal assent. The key area of interest for you as Collaboration Practitioners and Architects is that it mandates “…a new duty on police, fire and rescue and emergency ambulance services to collaborate where it is in the interests of their efficiency or effeciveness ...” I was teaching the CTPrac™ programme at the Chief Fire Officers Association (CFOA) last week, and the week before at Ryton College of Policing. There seem to be few barriers to police and fire working together, but what is noticeable is the consensus that ambulance has yet to fully come to the party. If you haven’t seen the November Emergency Services Collaboration Review the you can download it by clicking here. Here is the rest of your collaboration news and jobs, from the last few days…  Blue Light Transformation   Policing and Crime Bill receives Royal Assent The government marked a major milestone in its police reform agenda today (Tuesday, 31 January) as the Policing and Crime Bill received Royal Assent. Read more Select committee says action needed now to address risks in emergency communication switchover A new Public Accounts Committee report has warned that the target date to replace the radio system used by emergency services is unlikely to be met. Read more Local Government Two districts approve ‘historic’ council merger Suffolk Coastal and Waveney District Councils have approved plans to formally merge and create a new ‘super district’ council. Read more   Assessing the value of regional collaboration in Wales Cardiff Business School (with Shared Intelligence and IFF Research) has published a report, commissioned by the Welsh Government, which identifies a range of factors that contribute to effective regional working. Read more   Kent district councils consider merging to create super council Four district councils are to consider a proposal into the feasibility of creating a single council for east Kent in a move that could save nearly £7m. Read more Devolution   Voluntary sector’s role recognised in Greater Manchester devolution agreement The third sector’s role in designing and delivering services has been formally recognised by the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership. Read more   Significant step in devolution call after Work and Health Programme budget is transferred to London Another significant step along the road to devolution took place today, with Whitehall officially passing the budget for the Work and Health Programme to London boroughs. Read more  Housing Do you think housing associations and local authorities are natural partners? “I get the feeling that housing associations do not really think we as a council are relevant to their business,” commented a senior local government officer to me recently, adding that this is ‘a mistake’. Read more Receive this Shared Service News Summary into your inbox every week. Just register on our website.