Local govt moves to shared services

Ninety percent of Town Halls say they will be sharing front line and back office services within the next two years as a key tool in coping with budget cuts - a rise of 40% in only three years.

No less than 63% told researchers they would do so as the basis for at least a 10% reduction in budget by sharing services in the 2011/12 financial year. A very high proportion - 85% - say they are also willing to do so with a neighbouring public sector organisation, while almost as many, 78%, would also consider setting up a joint venture with the private sector.

The study - based on a poll of senior local authority managers by law firm Browne Jacobson - suggests as many as 65% will target back office functions and 68% front line services in the next year.

Environmental and social care services are the two most popular areas where senior managers would consider sharing.

That's not to say managers aren't aware their plans may not be seen as non-controversial, with 28% acknowledging political and public opposition as "the biggest barrier to delivering shared services in the local government sector".

But 84% of local authorities say the long term rewards of shared services would be worth short term controversy or opposition. The views could represent as many as 150 senior local authority managers in England including chief executives, deputy chief executives, chief finance officers and service heads.

An earlier version of the poll in 2008, of 178 public sector managers, showed  less than half at that time saw any benefit in merging services and only 5% saw opportunities of working with the private sector.

"The government's austerity bombshell is clearly forcing authorities to look at innovative and radical ways in which to deliver their services and we can see a noticeable sea change in attitudes towards merging front line services," commented the body's head of shared services, Dominic Swift. "Councils are starting to think outside the box and previous no-go areas such as the private sector and large scale outsourcing are also back on the agenda.

"With local authorities up and down the country already feeling the financial pinch the next step is to turn the shared services rhetoric into action."