Here is another example of
a public sector shared service failing to sell its services to others…
CoSocius shared service firm owned by Cheshire West and Chester Council to be shut
A council-owned company with a curious name
is to close, putting an end to its ambition to save millions of pounds by
sharing back office functions. Read more
>>>
Almost all of the local authority shared services, who have attempted to sell to others, have found it very hard going. A key reason is that potential customers do not want the service delivered in the way that the seller wants to deliver it.
The result is that the
seller would have to run two, or more, shared service systems; one for its
established partners, and bespoke versions for the new customers. The cost of
complexity then kicks in, employee numbers need to be increased to provide the bespoke
services and profitability starts to go out of the window. Don’t avoid them,
but be cautious of business cases that talk about selling the partners’ shared
service provision to others but don’t take account of the cost of the
complexity. Drop me a line if you would like to know more.
Here is the rest of this week’s news…
Here is the rest of this week’s news…
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Devolution and Combined Authorities
North east devolution
deal set to be signed this week after fruitful talks
Devolution plans worth over £1bn for the
north east region are expected to be signed this week, which will also
see a metro-mayor elected in 2017. Read more
>>>
Solihull signs up to
combined authority
Solihull Council has voted in favour of
joining the West Midlands Combined Authority as a constituent member. Read more
>>>
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Local Government
VIDEO: East Lindsey District Council joins shared CCTV project
East Lindsey District Council has joined up
with North Kesteven and South Holland District Councils to share a single CCTV
control room in Boston. Read more
>>>
Top officers could be shared as Great Yarmouth and North Norfolk councils eye savings
Talks over Great Yarmouth Borough Council and
North Norfolk District Council sharing services have been going on for months. Read more
>>>
County begins consultation on future of support services
Dorset County Council has started its
consultation on how support services such as HR, IT and legal should be delivered
in the future. Read more
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Management merger between Malvern Hills and Wychavon must be "watched like hawk", says councillor
Malvern Hills and Wychavon councils could
save hundreds of thousands of pounds by merging senior management teams, say
council leaders. Read more
>>>
Shared waste solution agreed for Clyde Valley councils
A joint project run by five councils —
including East Renfrewshire — has appointed Viridor Waste Management as the
preferred bidder for a new way of processing household waste. Read more
>>>
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Blue Light Transformation
Cambridgeshire police will explore sharing more services with neighbouring police forces in bid to save cash
The three forces will put together a business
case for sharing custody, criminal justice and IT services, with the potential
for jobs to be lost as departments’ services are shared across the forces. Read more
>>>