UK local government:progress in shared services

In the light of current financial pressures, local councils are giving increasingly strong consideration to sharing services with other authorities or other government organisations in order to cut costs. Shared services activity is increasing, but the approach remains piecemeal with authorities carefully considering the potential of sharing on a process by process basis. Working with the private sector to develop shared services has its advantages, but the types and size of contracts being let to SITS suppliers reflect the cautious approach being taken. While in many cases there is the potential for deals to expand in size to cover additional public sector organisations, there are no guarantees and suppliers must ask if they are willing to take the gamble.

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