Insight February 2011
Local Government Shared Services Where are we now? LGSS has been up and running for four months now and both our council and Cambridgeshire County Council have begun to see the benefits. The recruitment of the LGSS Management Board has resulted in a saving of ÂŁ230k and the recent contract to host our Oracle ERP platform has achieved a saving of ÂŁ7m which will be realised over the next seven years. This is a fantastic start but in order to get the maximum benefit in terms of service improvements and financial savings, we need to continue developing LGSS. Initially we are focusing on seven areas:
Organisational design and employment LGSS needs to develop its organisational structure so that we become one organisation working across the two locations, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. The Management Board was the top tier of this restructure and we are now working on the areas below this. We are currently undergoing a consultation with recognised Trade Unions on some organisational design changes – details of the current proposals can be found on the intranet under LGSS Consultation. Oracle Convergence Although we have one Oracle ERP platform supporting both councils, each council is using ERP in different ways. We now want to move to the latest version of ERP and adapt our processes so they are the same at both locations. This will mean that we only have one way of working rather than two, and that we will have best practice processes.
Process improvement, self service and service transformation As well as improving our ERP processes we also want to improve the way we work in other areas, whether that is making the most of other systems and technologies or streamlining processes to make them more efficient. We will look to develop LGSS to ensure that we are operating in the most efficient and effective way possible. Culture and behavioural change In order to make the two LGSS locations, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire, think and deliver as one business, we need to develop a culture and identity for LGSS. This will be especially important as LGSS seeks new business and expands to provide services for other organisations. Commercial A clear commercial strategy is required in order for LGSS to expand the number of organisations it provides services to. This includes working out what services we are willing to provide and for how much, as well as details on the type of organisations we wish to work with and the way in which we will engage with them.
Service Planning LGSS has begun work on its strategic direction and corporate outcomes for the next year. Once this is finalised we will be service planning for each directorate within LGSS. Alignment of scope When LGSS launched in October there were some differences in the services that each council put into the shared service. We now need to look at aligning the services provided through LGSS. Sharing services is currently one of the hot topics within local government and the wider public sector. Having worked to set up LGSS over the past two years we are certainly ahead of the game. By developing LGSS we will be able to build on this fantastic start and realise real benefits for both Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire County Councils.
Colleagues from the Cambridge and Northampton offices working on the transformation plans. From L to R: Yvonne Harris, Peter Cox, and Fiona Perkins
7