England's Local Councils Lead the Way in Collaborating for Shared Services

Innovative online forum helps Councils find the right partners If collaboration is the name of the shared services game, then England’s Local Government Association (LGA) is playing it right. Set up to provide one cohesive voice for England's 353 local councils, the LGA works with councils to support, promote and improve local government , to help councils weather financial challenges and still maintain quality service levels. Local government had led the way for the public sector in implementing the shared services model. The recession hit all operational budgets, and the public sector in England has felt the effects of it in no small measure. For England's Local Councils, though, the crisis also provided a springboard for collaboration and for making smarter sourcing decisions. "It started, interestingly enough, with District Councils," explains Cllr Peter Fleming, Chair of the Improvement and Innovation Board at the LGA. "These councils took the initiative, in early 2006, to share some roles across neighbouring groups – for example archaeological services across local planning departments. They were quick to recognize that one role could be split across two or even three different District Councils. From there, the movement snowballed, as District Councils started sharing Management and CEO resources, and now other types of larger councils have started to share services, as well." Today, the shared services model has been adopted by 96% of the 353 Local Councils across England. With the average council running more than 500 services, covering back office, customer facing, children and adult services, etc., sharing resources that might not be fully extended within one locale simply made good business sense. Where the LGA has stepped in is to make this networking easier by providing visibility and access to the many examples of councils sharing. Innovative online forum helps find the right partners The LGA has used its website to good effect, both to market what can be achieved and at the same time promote further collaboration. Earlier this year, after an extensive survey, the LGA posted an updated shared services map, colour coding the different regions and allowing visitors to click into a region to view individual examples of council shared services. "The aim of the map was, first, to visually promote an understanding of the sheer number, variety and depth of shared service arrangements occurring in councils across the country. In addition, it has enabled a total efficiency figure to be attributed to councils’ shared services nationally. The idea is that, instead of starting your own shared services from scratch, you can look at the map to find out which services other councils are already sharing in your area, and join in with existing arrangements," Cllr Fleming explains. Each Council's services are indicated on a map by pins, with each pin colour representing a given service, say waste management, or a back office service, such as payroll. Here's how the LGA describes the map's functionality: Simply click on a region and follow the link to view the shared services in that region. Then select the shared services arrangement you would like to view and a box will pop up with a description of that partnership, the councils involved and the (£) efficiency savings made to date. You can also select ‘category' below the map to view shared services arrangement by type (for example, Environment, Transport and Waste). Cllr Fleming summarises the value of the visual display: "This map means that any Council can now find out which of their neighbouring councils are already sharing a specific resources or services. They can see how much efficiency savings have been achieved, and they have a direct email connection to the right contact. They can then reach out to them directly to discuss collaborations." The impact has been tremendous. An Infographic (see below - click to enlarge) on LGA's webpage clearly lists achievements to date, including: GBP263million in efficiency savings in 2012 alone, with a breakdown as to where most of the cost savings came from A map showing how many SSOs are operating per region (East Midlands leads with 54) Check out the interactive map yourself, to see how LGA is engaging its stakeholders and promoting collaboration to support productivity. It's an idea organisations could copy and adopt for their own services: visuals work. If you already use visuals to promote your services to your customer base, please send me an email so we can share this. Note: Is your Council involved in a shared services that is not featured on this map? Please contact: productivity@local.gov.uk Stay ahead on public sector strategies: find out which organisations are leading at Shared Services & Process Improvement for Higher Education, Healthcare and Government, in November. Also, don't miss the UK's Procurement Transformation Summit.

England's Local Councils Lead the Way in Collaborating for Shared Services

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