More than a billion pounds of taxpayers’ money has been saved by
councils sharing services, with every council taking part in
collaborative service delivery, council leaders have revealed.
The latest shared services map from the Local Government
Association (LGA), published today, shows that there are now 626
individual shared service arrangements across the country
resulting in £1.34 billion of efficiency savings.
Shared services have become business-as-usual for all councils in
England and are no longer just in the realm of the most
innovative councils. These savings demonstrate how councils are
working together to share best practice to deliver efficient
services for their communities.
As councils seek to respond to changing needs and demands within
their communities, they are no longer separately focussing on
savings, but now focus on improving performance and services.
Shared services go way beyond teams dealing with procurement,
fraud or community safety initiatives. Councils have embraced
challenges and now collaborate with every aspect of the wider
public sector, dealing with a diverse range of challenges.
For example, the Strategic Property Asset Collaboration in East
Sussex (SPACES) aims to release £30 million in capital receipts,
£10 million increase in revenue and a 20 per cent reduction in
CO2 emissions via co-location and collaboration over the next 10
years. This project has saved over £16 million since it was set
up and has saved nearly £5 million in the last year alone.
The Eastern Solent Coastal Partnership, which is a shared Coastal
Defence Management Team that provides an effective and
co-ordinated coastal defence management service that reduces the
risk of coastal flooding, has already saved £1.8 million since
2012 and £160,000 in the last year.
, LGA Chairman, said;
“Councils have embraced efficiency and innovation in a way that
is not seen anywhere else in the public sector and these
fantastic new figures show they, once again, remain at the
forefront of cost-effective service delivery.
“Councils sharing ideas and working collaboratively has
contributed to more than £1 billion in efficiency savings that
have helped local government to try and protect vital local
services amid ongoing funding pressures.
“Councils’ commitment to improvement remains strong but, faced
with an overall funding gap that will reach £8 billion by 2025,
securing the financial sustainability of councils and our local
services must be the top priority in the Spending Review.”
NOTES TO EDITORS
- Councils in England face an overall funding gap of £8 billion
by 2025. The LGA’s #CouncilsCan campaign aims to influence the
forthcoming Spending Review and highlight the growing risk to
vital local services if the Government does not take action to
secure the financial sustainability of councils. Visit our
campaign page for more information - https://www.local.gov.uk/spending-review-2019
