Learning the principles of partnership

Author: Alex Thomson, Localis (in the MJ) - Sep 1, 2011

More for less is something of a mantra for the government. No-one would suggest creating better public services while reducing the cost of providing those services is an easy task, but there is plenty of evidence that sharing services between local authorities is one way to achieve this desirable double whammy.

Localis recently hosted a roundtable discussion on sharing services between district councils, in partnership with Breckland and South Holland DCs. William Nunn, leader of Breckland, chaired the discussion which drew both on existing partnerships that both local authorities have established and particularly on the experience of the implementation of a shared management team between the pair that went live in April this year and which will deliver savings of more than £500,000 per annum.

The discussion highlighted a number of lessons for making shared service partnerships work. It was agreed that a shared vision and a bond of trust between council leaders is absolutely vital but a number of other key principles were identified, of which two stand out.

The first is the importance of leadership from the top in effecting what is a significant culture change. While it is understandable that some elected members will be wary of shared services with the implication of a loss of control and sovereignty, the result is in fact greater empowerment of both councillors and staff.

For the latter, there are reinvigorating opportunities for an expanded remit and exposure to new professional approaches and techniques (with the result that service quality averages up to the standard of the best). For the former, when senior officers are not in the building, portfolio holders have a greater opportunity to be able to take on their new executive roles.

And underpinning both these arguments is the crucial message that, in order to build resilience into the organisation and allow for existing services to be protected, the council’s operating model has to change.

The second principle is commitment to the vision of a shared management team. Having appointed a joint chief executive and directors, it is essential that political leaders agree an open and transparent process for further appointments based on the agreed competencies needed to work in shared management. They need to back the professional judgement of the joint chief executive and allow them to create their own management team.

In this way, selection of staff can be seen to be independent and impartial, thus quelling fears that one council is “taking over” another council.

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