By David Scott in Edinburgh
27 November 2009
Scotland’s Finance Secretary, John Swinney, has told councils and the public sector that if progress on shared services doesn’t improve he might be forced to take action.
He welcomed radical plans announced this week for eight councils in the west of the country to share services. This followed last week’s decision by Edinburgh and other eastern councils to pool various services to save millions of pounds.
Speaking at a conference attended by senior local government and public sector figures in Edinburgh on November 17, Swinney said public bodies had not fully confronted issues such as shared services. The pace of reform had to increase at a time of spending restraint, he said.
‘Unless we deliver more impetus on shared services, we will be unable to meet the challenge of the public spending pressures, and as a consequence some of the impact is likely to be felt on core services.’
The finance secretary was asked whether he might need to direct councils to implement the sharing of services. He emphasised that local partners were best placed to take forward sharing but added: ‘If I don’t see that happening I may have to take recourse to the type of action you suggest. But that’s definitely not my preference.’
Swinney’s warning that there was ‘simply no alternative in the economic climate’ came as Sir John Arbuthnott, a former university principal, announced plans for eight councils in the Clyde Valley to share offices and merge services such as health, social care, roads maintenance, transport, property management and waste management.
The councils – Glasgow, East and West Dunbartonshire, North and South Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire and Inverclyde – have a combined budget of about £6.5bn a year and a payroll of 76,000. They provide services for about a third of Scotland’s population.
Arbuthnott said early action on the sharing of services was vital because of the ‘huge challenge’ of budget cuts of up to 15% over the next four years.
The Scottish convener of Unison, Mike Kirby, said: ‘Sharing services can also mean centralising services and that can remove jobs and accountability from local people.’
27 November 2009
Scotland’s Finance Secretary, John Swinney, has told councils and the public sector that if progress on shared services doesn’t improve he might be forced to take action.
He welcomed radical plans announced this week for eight councils in the west of the country to share services. This followed last week’s decision by Edinburgh and other eastern councils to pool various services to save millions of pounds.
Speaking at a conference attended by senior local government and public sector figures in Edinburgh on November 17, Swinney said public bodies had not fully confronted issues such as shared services. The pace of reform had to increase at a time of spending restraint, he said.
‘Unless we deliver more impetus on shared services, we will be unable to meet the challenge of the public spending pressures, and as a consequence some of the impact is likely to be felt on core services.’
The finance secretary was asked whether he might need to direct councils to implement the sharing of services. He emphasised that local partners were best placed to take forward sharing but added: ‘If I don’t see that happening I may have to take recourse to the type of action you suggest. But that’s definitely not my preference.’
Swinney’s warning that there was ‘simply no alternative in the economic climate’ came as Sir John Arbuthnott, a former university principal, announced plans for eight councils in the Clyde Valley to share offices and merge services such as health, social care, roads maintenance, transport, property management and waste management.
The councils – Glasgow, East and West Dunbartonshire, North and South Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire and Inverclyde – have a combined budget of about £6.5bn a year and a payroll of 76,000. They provide services for about a third of Scotland’s population.
Arbuthnott said early action on the sharing of services was vital because of the ‘huge challenge’ of budget cuts of up to 15% over the next four years.
The Scottish convener of Unison, Mike Kirby, said: ‘Sharing services can also mean centralising services and that can remove jobs and accountability from local people.’
