Local Government, Best Practice Group 23

Date: 
18/05/2011
Time: 
09.30- 13.30
Attachments: 
application/pdf icon
BPG 23, 18th May, Agenda.pdf
application/pdf icon
Local Gov, BPG 23 Summary Notes on Shared Services.pdf
Host: 

Vodafone 

Venue: 
Central London
Theme: 
Putting local authority shared services into practice - meeting the challenges of the Spending Review
Guest Speaker(s): 

Chris Pope OBE, Director of Transformation, London Borough of Merton 

 

 

Attendees: 

Directors and Heads of Service from local government and senior executives from the private sector 

Comments

Frontline Backwards

Submitted by lily on Thu, 03/03/2011 - 18:04.

 

A think tank is suggesting that local councils’ plans to save money by sharing back-office services, thus avoiding the loss of frontline services, will not be enough. Though council tax payments remain the same, the main grants to local councils will be cut by 28%, meaning a total reduction in their spending power of 8.8% - and back-office sharing will only save 3.6% of the budget; some claim even that figure is optimistic.

Though Eric Pickles, Communities Secretary, is insisting that councils can avoid frontline cuts by sharing bureaucracies and cutting executive pay, this does not seem to be a realistic view. Caroline Flint, shadow communities secretary, said the government had been ‘misleading people’. Children’s centres, bin collection, road maintenance, social care and libraries will all suffer.

Some are suggesting that councils could share frontline services, such as social care and refuse collection. In London, Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster councils are considering sharing all services. 

(FT, Tue 1st March)

 

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