PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
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John Hutton, programme director at Practicus, reports from a recent roundtable discussion covering all aspects of local authority service transformation.
A recent local authority round- table discussion, chaired by Dr Carlton Brand, corporate direc- tor at Wiltshire Council, threw up interesting points of relevance to the whole public sector.
John Hutton of organisers Practicus, who was at the debate, takes PSE through some of the ar- eas discussed.
Transformation
One of the key points raised was that transformation as a whole is not well understood by employ- ees and this can hinder efforts to embed change culturally. Many in councils see it as another name for cost cutting, and simply see interim managers come in and deliver ‘something’; there is a lan- guage issue, and it’s not easy to win support when people don’t really understand the process. For transformation to be truly sus- tainable it’s important to focus on the softer side of communication and cultural change. It would be useful to disseminate a concrete defi nition of transformation that includes aspects such as custom- er improvement and new ways of working.
60 | public sector executive Mar/Apr 11
Historically there has been under- performance in contract manage- ment and negotiation, and this will need to be urgently addressed. Many people see outsourcing as a key strategy to meet cost saving targets, but unnecessarily blame their outsourcing partners for bad service. There are a number of causes for poor performance, including understanding shared outcomes, contract negotiation, specifi cation, and subsequent monitoring.
There is a feeling that contract management isn’t a full-time role and is not given the prominence it deserves. There are plenty of CIPS-qualifi ed people in many councils but it’s not their day job and so do not get enough time to
There is an issue of timing when looking to collaborate and inno- vate with neighbouring authori- ties. Local authorities immediately surrounding your own may be at a different stage of policy imple- mentation, reserves or effi ciency measures, so it is not always easy to align strategies.
Contract management and pro- curement
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