News Summary of Collaboration and Shared Services from 11th May 2016

Sadly, we didn’t predict that Leicester would win the Premier League, but early last year we did suggest that unitary-creep, in two-tier council areas would begin to accelerate as a natural consequence of both shared services and devolution. Here are two new examples from this week…

Bucks to consider single unitary council

Buckinghamshire will explore the possibility of creating a single unitary council in order to ‘streamline and simplify services for residents’. Read more >>>

County appoints experts to explore new models of local government

Oxfordshire County Council has appointed Grant Thornton to identify what new model of local government should be established in the county. The accountancy firm will explore what new structure provides the best value for money while protecting frontline services, including a single unitary authority. Read more >>>

However, maybe you can start to place your bet on whether the end game will be counties closing down the district councils, or clusters of districts carving up the counties – for example the East Kent Cluster.

Over the next few years UK landscape could contain a mix of evolving major city states and mayoral combined authority “powerhouses”, the formation of new unitary counties and new unitary super-district clusters. What then of the health and emergency services boundaries that are aligned with the current landscape?

People like you (Collaborative Transformation Architects & Practitioners) will be needed to support the collaboration journeys in a structured and successful way. So there has never been a better time to have a CTPrac™, or CTArc™, qualification on your CV.

As a friend told me recently, where there’s chaos, there’s consultancy!! That applies just as much if you are an internal consultant in your public sector organisation, as it does to professional consultants.

Here is plenty of collaboration news and jobs from the last 7 days, to get you thinking…
(and you can catch up on previous newsletters at http://sharedservicearchitects.blogspot.com/)

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New Public Sector Transformation Academy
Public Sector Transformation Academy Launch
The Public Sector Transformation Academy and the new programme for the Commissioning Academy are being launched later this month in London, Bristol and Manchester. You can register for a free place on their website. Read more >>>

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Devolution

Report: GMCA and Elected Mayor – Transition Arrangements
The latest GM devolution agreement announced as part of the autumn 2015 spending review built on previous agreements and reaffirmed commitments from government to maximise devolution. Read more >>>

 

MPs must adapt to changing accountability landscape after devolution

The Public Accounts Committee’s warning that devolution is hindering public spending scrutiny reveals a deeper challenge at the heart of the project… Read more >>>

Lack of devolution deal co-ordination puts rural growth opportunity at risk, says CLA

The government "must give clearer guidance" on co-ordination between devolved authorities if the Northern Powerhouse and Midlands Engine deals are to unlock rural business growth. Read more >>>

Delay adult education budget devolution plans, government told

The government should delay the devolution of the adult education budge, because the Skills Funding Agency has still not decided how the system will work for providers that cross regional boundaries, the Association of Colleges has said. Read more >>>

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Local Government

Continuing the Shared Services Momentum

Today, OMB issued guidance to agencies institutionalizing many of the ongoing initiatives and progress on improving administrative functions through shared services. Read more >>>

North London shared service hunts for ICT and digital chief

Camden, Islington and Haringey advertise £120,000 chief digital and information officer role. The ICT shared service being created by the London boroughs of Camden, Islington and Haringey is advertising for a chief digital and information officer. Read more >>>

How has austerity affected council bosses, police chiefs and fire service leaders in Suffolk and Essex?

District councils in Suffolk and north Essex spent more than £20million on redundancy packages over a five-year period, with some departing staff receiving six-figure payouts, an investigation has found. Read more >>>

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Health & Social Care

Six things to change in community healthcare for older people

Reverse cuts to social care budgets - David Oliver, consultant in geriatrics and general internal medicine, president of the British Geriatrics Society. Read more >>>

London develops Health and Care Information Exchange

Health and social care organisations across the capital are working to develop a London Health and Care Information Exchange. Read more >>>

Thousands expected to attend Health+Care Show

Nearly 10,000 people are expected to attend the Health+Care Show, the largest national integrated care conference for those working in health and social care. Read more >>>

NHS Scotland to launch central fleet support unit

A new National Fleet Support Unit (NFSU) is being launched in Scotland to maximise fleet acquisition, utilisation and operating efficiency across the 10,500 vehicles serving the NHS. Read more >>>

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Blue Light Services

Southern fire services pool resources with shared command and control system

Fire and rescue services in Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire and Hampshire have joined forces to deploy modern command and control technology. Read more >>>

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News Summary of Collaboration and Shared Services from 4th May 2016

Submitting your article for the SSA Magazine?

We are beginning work on the next edition of Collaborative Transformation Magazine and welcome articles from our community and alumni. If you have something on collaborative working that you want to say in an article; or you want to publish a tool, template or technique you have used or developed; or you would like to profile the progress of your shared service or collaborative working, drop me a line. Click here to see past editions.

 

If you are researching collaborative working in the public sector then you can search through hundreds of past news items by either using the search option at the top of the SSA website www.sharedservicearchitects.co.uk  or by visiting my blog, which goes back to 2014, at http://sharedservicearchitects.blogspot.com/

 

Here are the collaborative transformation news & jobs from the last 7 days…

 

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Devolution

Devolution will decide the future of the civil service

Bernard Jenkin isn’t only the chair of a busy Commons committee, he is also a leading light of the out campaign to leave the EU – which isn’t going to pack up and go home, whatever the outcome on June 23. Read more >>>

 

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Local Government

Leeds and Bradford expected to join gigabit cities focus

Improved availability of wholesale pure fibre service for public and private sector intended to build on wider high speed internet focus across northern England. Read more >>>

Doubts cast over rural England elected mayor plans

Plans for new elected mayors announced in the Budget by the government should be abandoned, Conservatives have said. Local councillors and some MPs say mayors for three rural parts of England will add an expensive and unwanted extra tier of government. Read more >>>

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Health & Social Care

£29 million set up costs for new Salford integrated care

This week, Salford City Council gave the go-ahead for Salford Together, a new `integrated care organisation' run by Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, which will amalgamate the health and social care work of the Council, Greater Manchester West Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust and the NHS Trust. Read more >>>

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News Summary of Collaboration and Shared Services from 27th April 2016

Congratulations go to Chief Fire Officer Darran Gunter and his team at the newly established Dorset & Wiltshire Fire & Rescue . The merger of the two fire services will cover 50 fire stations, 73 fire engines and over 1,000 firefighters, protecting over 1.45 million residents in the local authority areas of Bournemouth, Dorset, Poole, Swindon and Wiltshire.

They have been using SSA training and toolkits as part of their mix of project activity from the beginning, with the senior management teams and project leads completing the Shared Service Practitioner programme in the early days of the merger discussions.

 

Which brings into focus the future of current blue light integration and shared service activity. They could well be buffeted by helpful, or destructive, winds of change during this year. For example, newly elected PCCs will have their own views about who their forces partner with. In addition, combined authorities, city deals and local devolution could redraw the geographic boundaries so that current partnerships no longer sit within suitable boundaries.

 

We are delivering the CTPrac Programme at the College of Policing (Ryton) at the end of May for police collaboration and shared service project teams and there will be much discussion on this topic at that event.

Submitting your article for the SSA Magazine?

We are beginning work on the next edition of Collaborative Transformation Magazine and welcome articles from our community and alumni. If you have something on collaborative working that you want to say in an article; or you want to publish a tool, template or technique you have used or developed; or you would like to profile the progress of your shared service or collaborative working, drop me a line. Click here to see past editions.

 

Here is the collaborative transformation news & jobs from the last 7 days…

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Devolution

English devolution deals

Devolution deals to devolve power from central government to local areas in England offer opportunities to stimulate economic growth and reform public services for local users, but the arrangements are untested and government could do more to provide confidence that these deals will achieve the benefits intended. Read more >>>

 

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Local Government

Joint ventures offer ‘great opportunities for savings’, report says

Local authorities can use joint ventures (JVs) to deliver services effectively, but only if objectives and partnership arrangements are carefully considered, report says. Read more >>>

Making money ‘not main driver’ for council ABS

Generating income was not the motivation behind a council’s decision to set up an alternative business structure, one of the early town hall pioneers has told solicitors. Read more >>>

SoRDs 'shared services' not a step towards council amalgamation - councils

A regional development team wants Southland's four councils to create a "one stop shop environmental agency" but says total amalgamation is not on the cards. Read more >>>

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Health & Social Care

Why this council handed the running of children’s social care to the NHS

Big changes are afoot in Trafford. This month, the council integrated its children social care service with its adult social care and community health services, and handed the running of them to an NHS trust. Read more >>>

Council to regain control of social work from provider following performance issues

A council is to take back control of social work services from an employee-run social enterprise because of performance concerns, financial pressures and NHS policy changes. Read more >>>

 

Social Care – Training and Course Overview

In a broad range of health and social care setting, the training program in health and social care management is designed to equip participants with the right skills, interest, and knowledge required to care for others. Read more >>>

WEARSIDE MATTERS – Joined-up teams improving care

Recently formed Community Integrated Teams (CITs), which are based in five locations across Sunderland, are bringing together groups of professionals including district nurses, community matrons; general practitioners, practice nurses, social care professionals… Read more >>>

 

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Blue Light Services

Southern police forces pick preferred bidder for £120m ERP deal

Thames Valley, Surrey and Sussex forces say announcement of mystery ERP vendor is imminent. The Police and Crime Commissioners for the Thames Valley, Surrey and Sussex forces are understood to have chosen a preferred supplier for a new £120m Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System across the three forces. Read more >>>

Cambs, Herts and Beds police to expand shared service work

Forces expect to go live with integrated HR, finance and payroll system from next year to curb use of separate technology solutions. Read more >>>

 

Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service comes into being

A new era began in Dorset and Wiltshire on 1 April, when the two county fire and rescue services formally combined into one organisation. Read more >>>

JESIP – have your say on Joint Doctrine guidance

Throughout April any organisation involved in emergency multi-agency response has the opportunity to review JESIP‘s revised Joint Doctrine guidance. Read more >>>

Ambulance and fire crews report for duty at new joint Resource Centre

The Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust and North Wales Fire and Rescue Service have jointly invested more than £15m in a purpose-built resource centre in Wrexham – the first of its kind in Wales – which boasts an eight-bay fire station, a six-bay ambulance station, a make ready facility and fleet workshop plus top-of-the-range training facilities. Read more >>>

Receive this Shared Service News Summary into your inbox every week. Just register on our website.