Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire merge services

Cambridgeshire CC said the shared service arrangement is part of a plan to make major cost savings, including a 27% reduction in IT expenditure. A joint committee will be set up to oversee the creation of joint back office services, which also includes legal, finance and property. It will have delegated authority to implement the new officer structures which will be put in place under shared services arrangements. "Annual savings of £1.3m are certain, and a further £1.1m are probable. In terms of both savings, it means a cost reduction on like for like services of some 28%," said John Reynolds, cabinet member for resources and performance at Cambridgeshire. "We believe 9% of savings will be at director level, 39% from professional sharing, 29% from transactional improvements, and 27% from reduced IT costs." Work to "transform" back office services will begin almost immediately and is expected to take two and half years to complete. Reynolds said the "ultimate vision" for the local government shared service arrangement would see it operating across four or five county areas. He added that there had been an interest in the project from district councils and other public service organisations. "Northamptonshire and Cambridgeshire have now finally sealed the deal which will help us save millions of pounds and provide services to our residents in a more efficient way," said Jim Harker, Conservative leader of Northamptonshire. "Our partnership is the biggest of its kind and is a key component for our shared agenda to tackle the financial challenges of the future." The councils have a history of working together and have shared an Oracle ERP system since March 2008, which was initially set up for accounting and recruitment functions. In April, Northamptonshire published a £60m framework agreement in the Official Journal of the European Union on behalf of itself, Cambridgeshire and 33 other councils for services including consulting, software development and internet and support. Northamptonshire told GC News at the time that the deal would also enable the extension of the shared ERP system to other local authorities. Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire and shadow unitary authority Northumberland CC also carried out a soft market test for the joint procurement of a range of office functions in May 2008. The tender issued by the partnership was worth up to £200m over a decade. At the time the council said that the point of the test was to see if its shared Oracle system could be extended. The partnership expressed an interest in working with other authorities on similar procurement initiatives by writing to all county councils about the joint venture.