At the beginning of 2012, Capita's software services business hails a very successful 12 months in the previous year for sharing services across local authorities. Having announced new contract wins with Compass Point Business Services, six Staffordshire councils, Mid Kent Improvement Partnership, North West Leicestershire, East Herts & Stevenage and Worcestershire's The Hive project to support shared services, it has demonstrated that the appetite for this model of working spans a number of departments - from library management to revenues and benefits and payment management. It is increasingly seen as a viable way to achieve the cost savings required in the current economic climate.
Paul Millard, operations director at Capita's software services business, said: "Over the years, shared services has been accepted by the public sector as a workable model for driving cost savings and the climate in 2011 has seen a surge in authorities opting for this and other partnership-type models. There have been a number of examples of shared services success stories in the press, not least from amongst our own customers. And while some cautious authorities have waited to see the shared service promise being realised, the early adopters are now reaping these benefits and paving the way for the rest of the public sector."
In its first year, South Worcestershire's revenues and benefits shared services operation saved £1million within the revenues and benefits contact centre. And it is still saving £1million consistently year on year.
2011 also saw a live debate hosted by Capita in partnership with SOCITM which revealed that one of the key components essential to successful shared services, is buy-in from the top and effective communication of its aims and benefits. A survey supported this by revealing that the following are key to shared service success:
- Nearly 64% of respondents rated strong leadership as essential
- Over 57% agreed that buy-in from the top was necessary
- 49% stated that good communication across the organisations involved was vital
Paul Millard added, "No-one is denying that there is still a mountain of fiscal challenges ahead of us and we would anticipate that, as we all become more used to 'doing more for less', shared services will become the norm. It will be a common and expected method of service delivery, therefore crucial in meeting the challenge but will consequently potentially disappear from the media limelight."
For those councils who are yet to embark on a shared service journey, there are still a number of question marks about where to begin and taking the first step is always the hardest. However, the Capita and SOCITM survey also revealed that between 20% and 34% of respondents are actively considering or planning a shared services implementation (across waste/recycling/street cleansing, ICT technical support, infrastructure and applications, or HR & payroll).
Capita also recently launched a new technical-focused shared services white paper advising organisations on how to get started, what pitfalls to avoid and how other shared services achieved their savings. Read the new technical-focused shared services white paper.