News Summary of Collaboration and Shared Services from 26th August 2015

After a summer break I am back with more collaboration news headlines to support your learning in collaborative working in the public sector.

Over the next five years, combined authorities, city deals, health & social care, CCG restructures, blue light integration, academy partnerships and shared service working will require thousands of leaders and project managers with skills in collaborative leadership and collaborative transformation.

SSA is at the heart of all those activities and will continue to support you in developing your skills to deliver on collaborative working, through our learning programmes, accredited recognition and online tools, templates and techniques.

Here are relevant headlines from the last couple of weeks; learning events to improve your CV and job adverts…

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Improving your collaborative leadership

Are you a collaborative leader?

Collaborative leaders have vision, commitment and confidence. They’re traits that foster high achievement, says William Buist. Read more >>>

Great Leaders Don't Have Followers: They Collaborate

I was asked recently about my leadership style and what makes a great leader. As Peter Drucker said years ago, stable times require excellence and good management. Read more >>>

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Blue Light Transformation

South West could see police and fire services under PCC control, as ministers move forward with plans

New Government proposals could see South West fire and police services sharing vehicles, offices and response efforts as they come under the joint control of police chiefs. Read more >>>

Southern police forces to offer shared £120m ERP opportunity

Proposed ERP platform could replace existing Oracle ERP system in Surrey; SAP in Sussex; and a mix of systems in Thames Valley Police. Read more >>>

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Local Government

Councillors clash in heated debate on outsourcing Worcester bin collections to private firm

Warring city councillors clashed during a heated debate on the planned outsourcing of bin collections across Worcester to a private firm. Read more >>>

Coventry chamber backs new West Midlands combined authority

Plans for a new West Midlands Combined Authority have been backed by Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce. Read more >>>

Scottish councils urge businesses to back £1bn City Region bid

A £1bn City Region deal is being developed for Edinburgh and South East Scotland in a bid to accelerate economic growth in the region. Read more >>>

West Suffolk councils launch commercial joint venture

Two West Suffolk councils have set up a new joint venture company to deliver facilities management services. Read more >>>

This next item makes for an interesting read as a shared service is curtailed and brought back in house by a district council. Divorces do happen…

Tunbridge Wells taxpayers hit with £150k bill for 'farcical' council u-turn

The deputy mayor of Tunbridge Wells has said a borough council U-turn over its planning services is a "farce" which cost the area's taxpayers £150,000. Read more >>>

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News Summary of Collaboration and Shared Services from 1st July 2015

What are you doing at 5pm on 21^st July 2015?

If you are free, you and colleagues are invited to the London launch of the Postgraduate Certificate in Collaborative Transformation by Gary Porter, the new Chairman of the Local Government Association and Rob Whiteman, Chief Executive of CIPFA. The first module is underpinned by our Shared Service Practitioner three day programme.

The nice thing is that Cllr Porter, Leader of South Holland District Council, was one of the first students to graduate from the Postgraduate Certificate in Shared Services (PCSS), the forerunner of the new Postgraduate Certificate in Collaborative Transformation (PCCT).

Gary is also an SSA fellow for his contribution to building the body of knowledge on shared service and collaborative working in local government.

If you would like to join us, or find out more about the Postgraduate Certificate in Collaborative Transformation, please email wim.van-vuuren@canterbury.ac.uk. Wim is the Programme Director and will respond to your email.

There is no news update over the next couple of weeks whilst I am on leave. Here is this week’s news and comment…

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Improving your collaborative leadership

The practice of system leadership | The King's Fund

System leaders often do not see themselves as such, believing that any successes they achieve are due to working behind the scenes rather than leading from the front. But given the unprecedented challenges facing the NHS, the system needs leaders who can motivate staff and managers to work differently, across service and organisational boundaries. Read more >>>

How HR can develop 'systems leaders'

Public sector leaders have traditionally adopted a ‘heroic’ approach to leadership. Think of ‘super heads’ tasked with turning around a failing school. Read more >>>

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Collaborative Health

Health secretary can overrule devolved health and social care decisions

Decisions made by Greater Manchester under their devolved health and social care powers could be overturned by the Health Secretary if he disagrees with them, according to a government minister. Read more >>>

Mental health workers protest at move to integrate clinic with jobcentre

Mental health workers and their clients marched on a jobcentre in south-west London in protest at a scheme they say frames unemployment as a psychological disorder. Read more >>>

Report: £5.2bn needed to overhaul health and social care system

The Government has been urged to divert £1.3bn a year into a transformation fund to help the shift towards a new prevention-focused health and social care system. Read more >>>

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Blue Light Transformation

Collaboration takes next step to meet £56m funding shortfall

Two collaboration projects between three forces are being progressed following a meeting of chief constables and police and crime commissioners this week. Read more >>>

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Local Government

Councils face £3.3bn cut in funding

The Local Government Association warned that councils will have to make "significant" savings on top of previous spending cuts. Read more >>>

Review into government shared services – 480 jobs safeguarded and better value for Victorians

The Andrews Labor Government will implement a new approach to the establishment and management of shared business support services in the Victorian Government, which includes the saving of 480 CenITex jobs. Read more >>>

Hertfordshire County Council launches library mobile app

Hertfordshire County Council has launched a smartphone application for the county’s library services so that residents can keep up to date with local services. Read more >>>

London Roadshow showcases Home Office Xtreme Agile Delivery

Public sector organisations are under pressure to accelerate digital transformation, improve citizen experience and make services more efficient, all within a climate of financial austerity. Read more >>>

Wandsworth and Richmond to merge staff

Wandsworth and Richmond Councils have unveiled a new single senior management team - the first major step in plans for a shared workforce serving both boroughs. Read more >>>

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News Summary of Collaboration and Shared Services from 17th June 2015

Our colleague, Alasdair Robertson SSAf, who lectures on the Postgraduate Certificate in Collaborative Transformation, has been unpacking the stats in the 2015 LGA Map of Shared Services and they make compulsory reading for us all.

Alasdair tells me that, “Some authorities are achieving clear cost savings but this isn't the case for all. Some may be, to quote The Kinks, 'dedicated followers of fashion' and may be putting their efforts into areas that are less effective but more 'popular'.”. Click below to see Alasdair’s study:
Shared services are saving costs for Local Authorities, but not all are created equal
Shared services in Local Government is big news. But who is achieving best results and how are they doing it? The LGA have published the latest results showing the savings being achieved already. Read more >>>

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Welsh Local Government

If you are at the WLGA conference on Thursday, then please come over and say hello to me at the SSA stand. In Wales, the political dance continues around the merging of Welsh councils and it’s all in the language.

The Minister, Leighton Andrews, is applying logical, hierarchical leadership, focused on telling councils how to make £151m savings through process reform and redundancies. Leanne Wood of Plaid Cymru is evidencing nuanced collaborative leadership, by favouring regional combined authorities with no additional employees required to make it happen…

Welsh councils could save £151m on admin finds report

Councils in Wales could save £151m a year in administrative costs if they transformed back office services in line with English authorities, a new report has concluded. Read more >>>

Party of Wales in new push for combined authorities

Plaid Cymru is set to reject the proposed council mergers in Wales in favour of regional combined authorities. Read more >>>

Labour row breaks out over local council reorganisation

Senior Labour council figures have asked ministers to water down plans to slash the number of Welsh councils. Read more >>>

I will let the rest of the news speak for itself…

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Housing

Housing association merger talks enter next phase

Two housing associations have today confirmed their intention to continue talks about forming a new 56,000-home group. Read more >>>

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Local Government

Council rules out combined authority referendum

Coventry City Council has ruled out holding a referendum on its decision to consider joining the West Midlands combined authority, saying it would be too expensive and difficult to organise in the timeframe available. Read more >>>

South East councils make devolution bid

Three councils in the South East have presented the government with a list of ‘devolution offers’ to help mitigate the pressures of economic growth. Read more >>>

'City deal' for Cardiff is 'once in a generation opportunity'

A multimillion-pound "city deal" of major investment for Cardiff is a "once in a generation" opportunity, Welsh Secretary Stephen Crabb has said. Read more >>>

NSW government outsources shared services

The NSW Government has announced outsourcing the functions of shared service provider to over 6,000 public servants, ServiceFirst, which will transfer to Unisys and Infosys by the end of 2015. Read more >>>

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