Councils save a third of a billion pounds through sharing
Author: Heather Jameson, MJ |
A total of 95% of council are now sharing services, saving more than a third of a billion pounds so far, the Local Government Association (LGA) has revealed.
According to the latest shared services map, produced by the association, there are now 337 councils engaged in sharing 383 shared services – resulting in £357m efficiency savings.
This year alone, more than £11m has been saved – especially from healthcare.
According to the LGA, shared services are growing fastest in London and the south-east, and most in the areas of adult services, and culture, leisure and tourism.
Chair of the LGA’s improvement and innovation board, Cllr Peter Fleming, said it was positive to see so many councils saving money in this way. ‘The interactive map demonstrates the range and scale of service sharing by councils, and this year shows services shared with other public sector bodies too. ‘
However, he added: ‘While savings from sharing services are now worth more than a third of a billion pounds, they do not match the scale of the 40% cuts to local government during the life of this Parliament.’