Shared service success: collaboration key

The LGA has reported that more than a billion pounds has been saved by councils sharing services.

 

Last week, the Health and Social Care Committee stressed that collaboration, rather than competition, is a better way for the NHS to respond to the challenges it faces. The same argument can easily be made for the wider public sector, and the way councils can operate with less money and fewer resources.

 

The latest shared services map outlines the 626 individual shared service arrangements currently operational across the country, which have so far resulted in £1.34 billion of efficiency savings. As Lord Porter said alongside the launch of the latest map, councils have embraced efficiency and innovation to tackle growing concerns, and collaboration is now evident within every aspect of the wider public sector.

 

As ongoing Brexit uncertainties threaten to prove as divisive as the original referendum vote, the benefits of working together cannot be stressed enough.

 

Lastly, we now know that either Boris Johnson or Jeremy Hunt will be the new leader of the Conservatives, and de facto the new Prime Minister. Will the victor call a general election before the end of year? How will Labour respond? Do we face another referendum? The same questions we have faced for the last few years remain as unanswered as ever.

 

Michael Lyons, editor