NLGN: Sharing services raises unanswered questions

The authors of a new report from localism thinktank New Local Government Network explain their thinking when it comes to council back-office savings:

“New models of shared services, from sharing chief executives and senior management teams to virtual centres, are aimed at helping local authorities with the practicalities of sharing, as well as fitting them into much broader strategies for organisational change.

“There are implications for the nature of local authority workforces, and potential for reform of organisational structures to more generalist pools of employees, coupled with targeted incentives, to help combat the ‘human’ barrier to sharing.

“Sharing services also brings questions about the nature of local authority boundaries to the fore. We are keen to preserve existing democratic structures but there is a vital debate to be had about the potential for the majority of council services to be merged together across economic geographies. It is also apparent that the ‘market’ for shared services is underdeveloped.”