More than half (51%) of delegates at the Capita Local Government and Social Housing Conference held earlier this week believe central government will force local government to introduce shared services – 41 per cent believe local government will take the lead. Delegates also stated that on a scale of one to five - five being a major problem - the greatest barrier to implementing shared services are political (3.7) and cultural (3.5).

Delegates expressed their views by interactive voting throughout the conference as speakers including Stephen Hughes, chief executive of Birmingham City Council; Glyn Evans for Service Birmingham; Donna Hall, chief executive of Chorley Borough Council; and Simon Reay, director of Consultas talked about the future of local government, business transformation, shared services, service improvement and technology. The survey revealed:

• According to 53% of delegates, improving efficiency is the greatest pressure at work
• There will be a unitary government in 10 years said 34% while 28% said not at all, it won’t happen
• There is a strong momentum towards the merger of local authority back offices said 67%
• The primary source of funding (54%) for a shared service comes from existing reallocated budget from the organisation or partner
• 43% see sharing corporate services with other organisations as an integral part of their transformation strategy. 33% see it as a good starting point for developing further shared services
• 44% of the audience were in talks with potential shared services partners and over a quarter (26%) had clear plans, committed partners and agreed timescales.

Launching the CIPFA publication: Local Authority Financial Administration – emerging trends in the context of shared services’ the author, John Thornton told delegates ‘you are better off finding others with the same vision rather than geography. Location is always going to be an issue for shared services’. When delegates were asked what the single most important outcome for an effective shared service partnership was 77 per cent said improved services.

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