Thursday 28 January 2016

News Summary of Collaboration and Shared Services from 27th January 2016



Blue light integration has hit the ground running this week; let’s start with these example news items:

Emergency services 'should share control rooms'

Mike Penning said it did not "make sense" to have different premises. It comes as new plans are published to get the services working more closely. Read more >>>


PCSOs to train as on-call retained firefighters

Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) from Herefordshire and Shropshire will soon undertake training to become on-call firefighters. Read more >>>

Welsh Ambulance Service and Wales’ fire and rescue services work together to save lives

The Welsh Ambulance Service has teamed up with Wales’ three fire and rescue services in a pilot designed to improve the quality of the services provided to Welsh communities. Read more >>>

Fire, police and council services now under one roof

Newhaven residents can now get assistance from East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, Sussex Police and Lewes District Council all from under one roof. Read more >>>

I suggest you definitely store this article in your practitioner bag as a story of what advanced collaboration and co-location could feel like. When you have a prescribing pharmacist in the 999 call handling centre, you know that radical collaborative transformation is taking place….

A revolution on the Isle of Wight? How island became health hub pioneer

Six winters ago, the Isle of Wight was buried in rare volumes of snow. Cars were abandoned and the island’s small stretch of dual carriageway blocked. Read more >>>

I am teaching the 3-day Collaborative Transformation Practitioner session this week with a group from a PCC, Police and FRS collaboration so that they can adopt a common way of working together.

We will certainly be talking through these examples. Back office shared services is very valuable, but frontline collaborative working is likely to yield the richest dividends. Here is the rest of the last 7 days’ news…

 

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Devolution

Cambridgeshire rules out a joint devolution deal with Suffolk

The county’s top brass have written to their neighbours telling them they will look at an informal partnership but they will not be part of a formal devolution bid to the government. Read more >>>

Northern Powerhouse: North East devolution by summer would be a 'miracle'

It would be a “miracle” if action was taken on the North East devolution deal before the summer, council leaders have said. Read more >>>

Three things that must happen for devolution to be a success

The leader of Birmingham city council this week argued for the creation of a “West Midlands sovereign wealth fund” – an idea that would see money raised from local government pension funds invested in housing and other local projects. Read more >>>

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Local Government

Councils less optimistic about coping with future cuts

A new report into the future of financial management has revealed that councils are less optimistic about coping with upcoming cuts than they were in dealing with past spending reductions. Read more >>>

Planning for shared cloud services in local government: How to make it work

Shared services across the public sector continue to grow. Councils in particular are choosing to partner with neighbours, to share capacity, costs, risk and best practice. Read more >>>

Councils ponder communications teams merger

Two South London town halls could merge their communications teams in a bid to save money. Lambeth and Lewisham are considering the move, which will be debated at a Lewisham council meeting. Read more >>>

A truly unified approach to procurement

In local government, there is a range of approaches to procurement, from single organisations setting up full procurements themselves to regional or national frameworks. Read more >>>

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Health & Social Care

Northants Neighbourhood Watch members to report health and social care concerns in new partnership

Neighbourhood Watch members are joining forces with the Care Quality Commission to improve health and social care in Northamptonshire. Read more >>>





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Friday 22 January 2016

News Summary of Collaboration and Shared Services from 20th January 2016



Invitations have gone out to our Architects and Practitioners to submit an article for the next edition of Collaborative Transformation Magazine.

 

This is the way in which they can renew their annual recognition (now more valuable than ever) without paying a fee.

 

If you are not a recognised Architect or Practitioner, you can still ask to submit an article that will inform the community of collaborative transformation and shared service practitioners. Email me if you would like more details.

 

Collaboration news over the last seven days was light and here are the key articles…

 

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Devolution

Minister welcomes case for Three Southern Counties devolution

Leaders behind the devolution bid for three of England’s strongest performing counties have outlined to Government how their plan would boost growth for the region’s residents. Read more >>>

One of the key figures in Yorkshire’s devolution debate has insisted West Yorkshire council leaders will not be rushed into a deal with George Osborne and rejected suggestions the area is falling behind Manchester. Read more >>>

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Local Government

Commission calls for Hull and East Riding council merger

Hull and East Riding councils should join to boost the region’s economy, according to commission. A report, published by the independent Hull Commission, recommends that the two councils should become one in order to benefit from the Government’s devolution agenda. Read more >>>

Job losses imminent for council workers as Sutton and Kingston to merge more services

Uncertainty looms for human resources (HR) staff at Kingston and Sutton councils after the authorities announced plans to merge more backroom services. Read more >>>

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Health

Norfolk health trusts joining forces in bid to improve care

Hospital bosses insist a new system of healthcare is “absolutely necessary” to deal with the growing pressures on our local NHS. Read more >>>





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Thursday 14 January 2016

News Summary of Collaboration and Shared Services from 13th January 2016



Welcome back to your weekly collaboration and shared service working update. In 2015, this SSA newsletter linked you to 370 collaborative news articles and 230 shared service or collaborative working jobs postings. Also you can see examples of the project work SSA delivered in 2015 by clicking here.

What are your 2016 predictions for collaborative transformation and shared service work? Email me your wildest suggestions and we can see if they happen!

We’ve got a smug smile already! Over two years ago we predicted that police and fire would be merged into a single first responder service. That has now begun, with the announcement that Home Office are now in charge of both police and fire services (see below).
So my first prediction for 2016 is that we will see a number of established shared services beginning to be unpicked and closed, because the current partners fall outside new boundary lines drawn by combined authorities and city deals. Rob Neill (SSA) wrote a really helpful article on closing down a shared service, in the current edition of Collaborative Transformation Magazine which is well worth reading and storing in your Highway Code.

My second prediction for 2016 is that we will see more major project problems in Health & Social Care activity in 2016. Not because of underfunding, but because of a lack of collaboration skills training for those thrust into working on it. They need more people like you working in that sector.

So email me with your predictions for the year and we will publish them anonymously.

Here is your relevant collaboration and shared service news from the last two weeks…

 

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Devolution

Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire launch 'North Midlands' devolution deal

Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire's joint bid to secure extra powers is now called the North Midlands, rather than the East Midlands, devolution deal. Read more >>>

Devolution is as much about sharing power as gaining it

There seems little doubt that devolution will be the chief driver of public service reform in 2016. Local leaders are enthusiastically negotiating devolution deals as a means to bring decisions about public spending closer to themselves and the public they represent. Read more >>>

South entrance ‘helps make case for city region devolution deal’

West Yorkshire Combined Authority chairman Peter Box pointed to the new Leeds station entrance as an example of why more Government powers should be devolved to the region. Read more >>>

'Let's get on with it' Chancellor sets a March deadline for signing off Cardiff City Deal  

George Osborne said he believes the City Deal can transform Cardiff in the same way the development around Cardiff Bay did and has set a deadline of March for it to be signed. Read more >>>

************ Local Government

Chief executive stands aside as rival takes top job in merger of council services

A council chief executive will leave her job in March after her post is merged with a neighbouring authority. Jenny Rowlands will leave Lewes District Council after deciding against applying for a new merged role with Eastbourne Borough Council. Read more >>>

Staffordshire's £7.2bn budget must work even harder, declares county leader in new year message

The biggest single challenge facing the public sector in Staffordshire in 2016 will be making its £7.2 billion budget 'work even better and even harder' than it is now, according to the county council's leader. Read more >>>

************ Blue Light Transformation

DCLG hands over fire and rescue authorities to Home Office

The Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) will hand over responsibility for fire and rescue authorities to the Home Office to support the “radical transformation” of how these services can collaborate with the police. Prime Minister David Cameron confirmed that this transfer will see the Home Office’s Mike Penning MP become minister for policing, fire, criminal justice and victims. Read more >>>

Mixed views over shared-use station

Fire union bosses have expressed concerns about plans for a purpose-built station with the ambulance service in Wigan. Read more >>>

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Central Government

Companies House and Intellectual Property Office save £1.5 million with shared solution

Companies House, the Government agency for incorporating and dissolving limited companies, and the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), the body responsible for intellectual property rights, will save £1.5 million supported by a shared finance system from Advanced Business Solutions. Read more >>>



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