In Surrey, a new partnership is bringing together county, district, police and health services to focus on sharing services and strategy. One of the district chief executives involved, Stephen Weigel, describes the process
Many councils are considering how to make savings, while still maintaining frontline services within their areas of responsibility.
Over 12 months ago, an initiative known as Surrey First was created, focusing on shared services, collaboration, co-delivery and innovation, to achieve significant savings, while protecting frontline services.
Unlike similar initiatives I have been involved in, Surrey First is more innovative, with greater potential. It involves a larger number of partners which gives the project more flexibility and scope, but also makes it a far greater challenge to achieve.
Surrey First involves Surrey CC, all 11 district and borough councils across the county, Surrey police and, potentially,NHS Surrey – a total of 14.
There have been numerous meetings between chief executives and councillors to develop initial views on the shape, scope and governance arrangements, plus outcomes. And this has resulted in three main strands of work:
l five core work streams – assets, human resources, information and communication technology, procurement and waste management
l a number of other areas identified as cluster partnerships, eg, legal services, audit, revenues and benefits, etc
l an area defined as smarter working – eg, strategic partnerships and forums.
A small task group was set up, comprising senior councillors from the county council, district/borough councils and the police, together with officers from each organisation, to oversee the initial work programme.
This group has now been replaced by a joint committee, which has one representative from each partner organisation. The inaugural meeting of the Surrey First joint committee took place on 28 June, and focused on overall progress to date and future work programme
The five core work streams have progressed to the initial work programme stage, through chief executive sponsors working with professional and technical groups from across the whole of Surrey.
Councillors on the task group have kept the other councillors informed to ensure that the pace and challenge for the chief executive sponsors and the project as a whole is appropriate.
The task group has ensured the principles and governance arrangements have been agreed by all partners, and this has been formally taken through their individual political processes.
This in itself is a significant achievement. All 13 organisations have agreed a memorandum of understanding and the initial financial contribution to ensure Surrey First moves forward in a collective and collaborative way. They have also agreed to recruit a programme manager to support chief executive sponsors and the joint committee.
The task ahead is extremely exciting but, without doubt, is the most challenging programme of activity to have taken place in Surrey and perhaps nationally. Having been involved in partnership and shared-service programmes before, I personally understand how difficult it can be to secure true partnership, or shared service delivery, which also achieves the financial and service outcomes.
The complex and difficult nature of partnerships is perhaps demonstrated by the very few successful national partnerships in place. There have been a number of successful initiatives, but none, to my knowledge, involving as many partners across local government, the police and health services.
I was recently waiting in the reception area of a hospital in Kent. A TV in the reception area was showing a game show called Divided. The show gives contestants thousands of pounds, but only if they can work together and agree on absolutely everything.
In this game, three strangers have to answer up to 15 general knowledge questions unanimously to win a major cash prize. The clock is ticking and for each second that goes by without an agreed answer, money is lost.
They only end up with the money at the end of the game, if they can agree on the final split of the prize fund. If not, the money reduces and finally they lose the lot. But the twist is that the prize fund is split into three uneven shares – large, medium and small – and the contestants have to decide who gets which share. A difficult decision as all will feel they deserve the largest amount.
In the programme I watched, the contestants argued, attacked one another and bickered over who deserved what. It brought out the worst in human nature and was pretty awful to watch.
In the end, they lost the lot because they couldn’t agree who should get which amount of money within the time limit.
I am sure that participants in Surrey First will be able to discuss, debate, compromise and finally agree within the deadline, so it does not end up the same way as the TV show.
Stephen Weigel is chief executive at Tandridge DC
