The trend for councils to join forces and share backroom services appears to be 'unstoppable' and will continue for the next decade, according to ICT managers.
Public sector ICT body Socitm says the adoption of shared services is no longer just about saving money but now also focuses on information use, resilience, capability, local leadership and solving difficult problems.
Its report, ICT shared services: Learning from success and failure, says local government will continue to be the ‘exemplar’ for sharing services in the public sector.
It is set to produce a series of guides and other material by industry experts over the next six months to help public sector organisations develop or extend local shared services arrangements.
Martin Ferguson, Socitm's director of policy and research, said: 'It’s now standard practice for public sector bodies to use shared service models to improve services, increase resilience and save money in times of significant change.
'This new resource shows what has and hasn’t worked since the publication of our last guide and is a rich source of advice for those contemplating a shared service, or for ICT managers who will be asked to initiate sharing by their senior management teams.'
