Shared Support Services - Current Status
This page will provide updates as they occur on the progress of the Shared Support Services Mid Term Review.
Updates from Partner Authorities
27 January 2010: Statement from all partner authorities
Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes Fire Authority, Aylesbury Vale DC & Wycombe DC, three of the five partners in the Shared Support Services Project have decided to withdraw from the Project. Each of these authorities had their own reasons for withdrawing; among those reasons were the level of savings which might be achieved (in comparison to costs of continuing), the potential loss of local jobs and the potential risks of progressing. The other two partners, Buckinghamshire CC and South Bucks DC had agreed to continue with the Project subject to advice on the outcome of the mid-term review.
At its meeting yesterday, the Joint Committee for the Project decided in the light of these withdrawals and the consequent increased risk to the project to terminate the procurement process for the Shared Support Services Project.
The Project aimed to deliver savings and improved services for the 5 partner authorities through the joint delivery of a number of “behind the scenes” support services – Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology and Property and Facilities Management.
All public sector organisations will have to make significant savings in the coming year and beyond and it had been hoped that this Shared Services Project would contribute to these savings for all five partner authorities. The challenges to find these savings will continue through other means. The funding that has been spent by the partnership on the project so far is a valuable investment and all partners will be able to use the information and experience gained in their future work on improving services and making savings.
All five of the partner authorities have also confirmed their on-going commitment to work with all partners on a range of projects and on service delivery.
22 January 2010: Buckinghamshire County Council update from Chris Williams
Last night Wycombe District Council decided to pull out of pathfinder shared support services. This, added to similar decisions by Aylesbury Vale District Council and the Fire and Rescue Authority, means that the Shared Services Project cannot legally continue with only the County Council and South Buckinghamshire DC.
Although this is disappointing news as the project aimed to deliver around £80million worth of savings for the partnership, it does not mean the end of our work as we need to achieve around £30million of savings over the next three years.
The funding which has been spent by the partnership on the project so far is a valuable investment and the County Council will be able to use the information carried out to date to develop and take options forward as it has made a commitment to delivering improved services whilst making considerable savings.
I appreciate that this development brings further uncertainty, particularly for employees working within shared services functions and we will be looking to make a decision on the way forward as quickly as possible.
A press release will go out later today and next week there will be a special edition of Changing Times which will give more details.
22 January 2010: Wycombe DC withdraw from shared services project
Wycombe District Council members last night (Thursday 21 January) voted in favour of continuing to make efficiencies in back office services, without playing a further role in this project.
Having reviewed the proposals, considered all of the issues, evaluated the risks and weighed the financial and other impacts of proceeding with the project, the Council has decided that it would be in the best interest of taxpayers to withdraw from the project.
While Wycombe will take no further part in this project, it is still part of the wider Pathfinder Project and will continue to work with the other Bucks authorities on other Pathfinder projects.
21 January 2010 : South Bucks DC - Update from Jim Burness
The South Bucks Cabinet on 12 January agreed to recommend to Council that based on the outcome of the ISOP and the Mid Term Review report, that it was worthwhile continuing to the next stage of the procurement.
The recommendations were caveated that if the decisions of other partners were viewed as having a significant impact on SBDC’s position, then the decision could be brought back to the Council for re-consideration.
At a Special Council meeting, on 19 January, the Council was updated on the overall position including the decision of AVDC and MKB F&R to withdraw from the procurement. The Council resolved that it would continue with the procurement process with the two bidders, provided no other partners withdraw. If there are further partner withdrawals then the Council would reluctantly agree that in those circumstances it must withdraw and actively explore alternatives
20 January 2010: AVDC update from Jon McGinty
Aylesbury Vale District Council has withdrawn from the Pathfinder Shared Services project. The Council made its decision at a meeting on Monday 18 January, after considering an evaluation of the outline proposals received from bidders.
Councillor John Cartwright, Leader of the Council said "Unfortunately the two tenders on the table do not provide the savings required within the timeframe we had hoped for". However, he confirmed that the Council would continue to look at ways to reduce costs in coming years to continue to provide value for taxpayers.
He added "I must stress that this doesn’t mean the end of the Pathfinder programme, or any of our other collaborative projects. We already collaborate on a number of services with partners across Buckinghamshire and we will continue to do so".
15 January 2010: Fire Authority withdraws from Pathfinder
Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes Fire Authority has withdrawn from the Pathfinder Shared Support Services Project.
Members took the decision after a two-hour meeting in Aylesbury this afternoon after hearing that there was uncertainty over the level of savings that could be achieved.
They say they remain firmly supportive of the concept of gaining full efficiency in support services, and will continue to seek other opportunities to reduce costs and/or improve service delivery.
Chief Fire Officer Mark Jones will be sending a more detailed message to staff on Monday 18 January. He said: "We are no longer tied to the project, but we are tied to considering smarter and leaner ways of working in future."
The Pathfinder project is trying to find whether a private sector partner can provide certain support services to participating Buckinghamshire authorities more efficiently and effectively – for example finance, HR, ICT, facilities management and property services.
Other partners in the project are also considering their positions as part of mid-term review of the project following an evaluation of bids from two potential providers.
Each partner organisation will consider carefully the proposals and make a decision whether to move forward to the next phase of the procurement process. Council and executive meetings will take place where required this month and those partner organisations who so choose will then proceed with detailed dialogue with the bidders.
15 January 2010 : South Bucks DC - Update from Jim Burness
The South Bucks Cabinet on 12th January agreed to recommend to Council that based on the outcome of the ISOP, and the Mid Term Review report, that it was worthwhile continuing to the next stage of the procurement.
The recommendations were caveated that if the decisions of other partners were viewed as having a significant impact on SBDC’s position, then the decision could be brought back to the Council for re-consideration. A report will now go to a Special Council meeting on 19th January, and additional information will be provided to the Council on decisions of partners between now and then.
4 January 2010 : AVDC Interim Update from Jon McGinty
Following the evaluation of the two outline proposals we have received from IBM and Mouchel, the AVDC Cabinet have been informally discussing and reviewing the implications of both proposals for AVDC. On the basis of those informal discussions, they were content that a report is prepared for their formal discussion of the matter at Cabinet on 12th January with a recommendation that we do not participate in the next stage of this procurement.
Obviously, the final decision on whether or not we participate in the next stage of this project rests with our Full Council, which meets on 18th January. Council will consider the matter taking into account Cabinet's recommendation, and we should not attempt to pre-judge Council's decision before then.
I am sure you all know our financial position well enough by now to know that if Council decides that we should pull out of this Pathfinder project at this point, we will still have to find the savings hoped for from this project by some other means. It is also important to highlight that any Council decision to pull out of this project does not spell the end of the wider Pathfinder programme, or of any other collaboration with our Buckinghamshire partners.
Programme Update: December 2009
In 2009 there were some key achievements:
- A strategic business case was created and agreed with each authority, setting out a view of the costs and benefits of the Shared Support Services Programme. It, along with the specification of services required, will be used as the benchmark against which future proposals will be judged.
- All partners have agreed an Inter Authority Agreement (IAA) which agrees to the principles of the Shared Support Services Programme and lays out the terms for the Joint Committee, an overall guiding and decision making body which is made up of Councillors responsible for the Programme from each of the partner organisations
- The procurement phase of the programme began with the publication of an advert in the Official Journal of the European Union inviting private sector companies to bid for the Shared Support Services contract.
- Following evaluation and shortlisting based on pre-qualification questionnaires from bidding companies, dialogue was started with two bidders, IBM and Mouchel. Both of these bidders submitted outline solutions in November 2009.
- These proposals were evaluated by senior managers from the partner authorities Trade Union and Employee representatives were also provided with information on how the bidders have responded to workforce related questions. Some Trade Unions and some Employee Representatives did provide comments that were taken into account as part of the final assessment of the submissions against the established evaluation criteria. In addition, one of the Employee Representatives attended the programme board to share feedback.
- The evaluation has now been completed, with both bidders having been judged to have provided solutions to allow them to be invited to submit detailed proposals for the next stage.
What happens next?
- The Support Services project partner organisations will take the outline solutions from the bidders and the evaluation outcomes into a mid term review process. Each partner organisation will consider carefully the proposals and make a decision whether to move forward to the next phase of the procurement process. Council and executive meetings will take place where required during January 2010 and those partner organisations who so choose will then proceed with detailed dialogue with the bidders.
- At the end of January, the next Shared Support Services Forum will provide a further opportunity for Trade Union and Employee Representatives to receive briefings on the process. They will also be able to make representations to the Leaders of all 5 organisations at the Joint Committee on 26 January.
- The final decision on which company will be awarded a contract is expected in Autumn 2010. Further updates will continue to be provided as the procurement process progresses.
For more information call 01296 387072 or email sharedservices@buckspathfinder.gov.uk
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