News Summary of Collaboration and Shared Services from 6th July 2016

There is no particular panic re Brexit and public sector collaborative working activities for the moment. However, it does no harm to keep an eye on some of the Highway Code issues in your folders. Here is a useful perception on which relevant laws may, or may not, come under review...

Brexit - A View from the Coalface

The sky’s not fallen and in the short term Brexit makes no difference to UK employment law. Our law may have been driven by EU Directives but these have been implemented through legislation and regulations which remain in force until repealed. In the medium term. Read more >>>

Here is the rest of the news and jobs from the last seven days...

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Devolution

Technology and devolution: the mutual enablers

The benefits of investing in infrastructure are well established and it is right that infrastructure is the driving force behind Government’s plans to bridge the north south economic divide. Read more >>>

 

East Anglian councils agree to pursue regional devolution

Nineteen councils across East Anglia are to proceed with plans for regional devolution despite four Norfolk authorities rejecting the plans. Read more >>>

New Solent authority 'secures £900m' from government

Southampton, Portsmouth and Isle of Wight councils have announced plans to create a combined authority. A joint statement said a deal had been agreed with the government, which had allocated £900m for the authority to spend over 30 years. Read more >>>

 

PAC raises doubts about devolution scrutiny

MPs on the Public Accounts Committee have stated they have little confidence in scrutiny arrangements being put in place around the government’s flagship devolution deals, and called for these to be improved in order to protect taxpayers’ interests. Read more >>>

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Local Government

 

Data sharing programme uncovers £17m in fraud

A data sharing exercise between councils and other public sector organisations in Scotland has uncovered nearly £17m of fraud and errors. Read more >>>

London peer group launched to steer GDS implementation

LocalGov Digital has launched a London peer group to support councils in implementing its Local Government Digital Service Standard. Read more >>>

 

Five risks to cost saving from sharing services

Shared services are a popular reform for public agencies under financial pressure. The hope is to reduce overheads and increase efficiency by consolidating support services like HR, finance and procurement across multiple organisations. Read more >>>

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Health & Social Care

GMCA publishes new integrated care plans

Health and social care needs to be integrated in Manchester to improve public services for the city, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has said. Read more >>>

Launch of £200m ICO ‘will link up health and transform Salford care’

Salford’s health and social care system is set for a major overhaul to join up services and make them easier for patients to use. Read more >>>

 

The Use of Data to Improve our Health & Social Care System

Data, evidence and information are the foundations for improving the health and social care system. Without them, we wouldn’t know the mortality rates for any given condition, we wouldn’t know how or where to invest resources, and we wouldn’t know what treatment works and why. Read more >>>

 

New care roles are a distraction warn experts

New integrated care jobs are not necessarily the best way of bringing services together, a leading think tank has warned. Read more >>>

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News Summary of Collaboration and Shared Services from 29nd June 2016

How will Brexit change collaborative transformations and shared services?

Well we need to wait and see, once Article 50 is triggered and what the subsequent two years shapes. On the table for consideration may be issues like EU procurement rules, the TECKAL test, data protection rules, TUPE, post transfer changes of T&Cs and elements of the Equalities Act.

We will certainly bring Highway Code updates on the changes as they emerge. However, for the moment it’s business as usual…

I was talking at a Commissioning Conference at London Borough of Sutton last week and two interesting items emerged. Firstly, this example of a collaborative online signposting diagnostic…

Community Connect Self-Diagnostic

Community Connect offers a citizen centric self-diagnostic tool to help them tap into local support in their communities. A useful digital provision tool for health, councils and housing. Read more >>>

…and secondly, further evidence that sometimes low governance, common sense collaborative working can have as significant an impact as some of the high governance, high investment projects….

How red bags are bringing NHS and care homes closer

Like many good ideas, the way the NHS and care sectors in the London borough of Sutton are working together more closely is a relatively simple concept. Read more >>>

Here is more collaborative news, and your job opportunities, from the last seven days…

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Devolution

Think Tank Warns Over Devolving UK Business Rates

The UK Government's proposal to allow local governments in England to keep the revenue they raise from business rates "fails on its own terms," according to a new report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). Read more >>>

New chair of North East Combined Authority appointed

The councillor who led the establishment of the North East Combined Authority (NECA) has stepped down after two years, allowing a new chair to be appointed. Read more >>>

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Local Government

 

Three South Devon councils work together on joint Local Plan

South Hams District Council has teamed up with two other Devon councils to work on a joint Local Plan to ensure future developments meet the needs of all residents. Read more >>>

Exiting shared service agreement between Richmond and Wandsworth 'could be harder than merging'

Exiting the planned fusion of Richmond and Wandsworth Councils will be more difficult than the merger, it has been admitted. Read more >>>

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Blue Light Services

 

Police Scotland begins public consultation on priorities

A consultation on new strategic police priorities is seeking views on localism, prevention, response, collaborative working, accountability and adaptability. Read more >>>

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Health & Social Care

‘Why liberating providers to shape support can deliver personalisation’

At the end of March 2015 97,000 people in England were using a direct payment for some or all of their support, figures from the Health and Social Care Information Centre show. That’s 20% of those receiving long-term support for more than a year. Read more >>>

More good CCGs will merge than bad ones

The message is going out from NHS England, unofficially but with little disguise, that its moratorium on clinical commissioning group mergers is being lifted. Read more >>>

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Education

 

Work in progress: How Jisc’s shared datacentre vision is shaking up the education sector

Computer Weekly gets a progress report from the Jisc shared services datacentre team in Slough about how the education sector is making use of the site. Read more >>>

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News Summary of Collaboration and Shared Services from 22nd June 2016

Plenty of news and fascinating collaborative working jobs this week so I will let them speak for themselves.

See you after the referendum!!

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Devolution

Devolution deal is ‘best in the country’ says Peterborough City Council

Peterborough could get the ‘best devolution deal across the country’ according to the city council as it looks to set-up a combined authority with Cambridgeshire. Read more >>>

 

Single commissioning hub and place-based approach vital to devolution aims, says Sir Howard

Greater Manchester and other devolved regions across England have to move to develop a single integrated commissioning hub for all public services in order to focus on “real priorities” and place-based planning, Sir Howard Bernstein, the CEO of Manchester City Council, said. Read more >>>

West Midlands Combined Authority up and running after thumbs up from councils

The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) is officially up and running. As of today (June 17) the new regional body – formed of local authorities in Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton – has come into force after MPs and the Secretary of State signed off on plans to create the WMCA on Wednesday. Read more >>>

Councillors to debate Peterborough and Cambridgeshire shared chief executive role

Councillors will debate plans to make permanent the current shared chief executive role. Since November 2015, Gillian Beasley has held the shared role across Peterborough City Council and Cambridgeshire County Council, which was originally agreed for an initial period of 12 months. Read more >>>

If the government wants to build the Northern Powerhouse, it needs more and better maps

“I like maps; I have them all over the office. I just don’t like sticking pins in them.” The former planning minister Nick Boles – heavily paraphrased here, I should add – was responding to the view often expressed in some quarters that, if central government wants to see a lot more housing being built, it should get on and say where. Read more >>>

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Local Government

REA calls for 'urgent' collaboration between food waste industry and local authorities

Increased collaboration and action is needed between the food waste industry and local authorities to boost recycling and food waste capture rates, according to the Renewable Energy Association (REA) and the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC). Read more >>>

Richmond and Wandsworth councils finalise appointment of Capita in shared services deal

Richmond and Wandsworth councils have confirmed the appointment of Capita Local Government to provide a new joint finance system which it is hoped will save local taxpayers around £6.8m. Read more >>>

Services pledge as council to make up to £4m of savings

A bid by Arun District Council to save up to £4million by 2020 should not impact on frontline services, its chief executive has pledged. Read more >>>

Deciding between active and passive management of outsourcing services

There are effectively two models for managing outsourcing relationships, whether it’s for IT and infrastructure services or for BPO. The services industry has been pushing a managed services environment as the best practice. But in reality, this is not the best practice for all types of outsourcing. Read more >>>

Council first to adopt AI to deliver services

A north London borough has become the first local authority to ‘employ’ artificial intelligence (AI) in order to improve local service delivery. Read more >>>

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Health & Social Care

Get involved in health and social care services in your area

Orkney Health and Care (OHAC) is looking to get people involved in health and social care services within their communities. Read more >>>

Stepping up to the place: the key to successful health and care integration

The LGA has released a report with the NHS Confederation, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and NHS Clinical Commissioners that is the first place based vision for integration signed up to by the whole health and care system. Read more >>>

Sustainable homes trailblazer as health and social care partnership forged

Experts in housing, healthcare and home design from across Highland have come together to form a unique partnership to build sustainable homes for people with assisted living needs. Read more >>>

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