are Councils beginning to turn their back on sharing
services?
7 December 2011
Some local councils may be losing the appetite for sharing front
and back office services after a recent report from the Local
Government Association (LGA) revealed that only 219 councils in
England are currently sharing services.
According to the LGA who represents more than 350 councils,
around six out of ten councils in England are currently sharing
services such as waste, recycling, and 'back office' functions such
as human resources and payroll.
However research by law firm Browne Jacobson carried out less
than a year ago concluded that nine out of ten councils at the time
were or were looking to share either back office functions, front
line services or a combination of the two with other councils and
public bodies.
Browne Jacobson’s research also revealed that 68% of local
authorities were looking for more sharing of front line services by
the end of the year and with 91% of senior managers targeting front
line services within the next 2 years.
Peter Ware, head of the government and infrastructure team at
Browne Jacobson, is concerned that the severity of the austerity
measures faced by the public sector could be discouraging some from
exploring innovative ways of achieving efficiency savings and is
calling on councils to get shared services back on the agenda.
Peter Ware added:
“It is encouraging to see that the majority of councils in
England still see the potential efficiency savings that can be made
by sharing back office and front line services.
“But with the public sector facing over 700,000 job losses over
the next six years it is understandable why some councils may be
losing the appetite for greater collaborative working to
concentrate on more immediate issues.
“Some of the traditional barriers our research identified back
in January may seem insurmountable at the moment but sharing back
office and frontline services is potentially a good way to making
significant efficiency savings.
“The successful waste management partnership between Tamworth
and Lichfield saving £1 million is an excellent example of what can
be achieved.
“Our research revealed a noticeable change in attitudes towards
merging both back office and front line services earlier this year.
It is important that the momentum continues in order that councils
have a full suite of options open to them when endeavouring to
minimise the impact of the austerity measures introduced by the
coalition government.”