A new £1m fund has been launched to enable local to develop new delivery models to transform public services.
The Delivering Differently programme will support ten local authorities to develop and implement new models such as mutuals, partnering and other commercial models. The funding will cover the cost of bespoke professional support to explore new options for delivering services, guidance from an expert panel and network opportunities.
Local government secretary, Eric Pickles, said: ‘Across the country dozens of councils are already doing more with less, cutting back office bureaucracy and focussing on providing the high quality frontline services that people expect, which has contributed to levels of satisfaction with councils going up nationally.
‘Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster for instance have teamed up to share their services more effectively whilst at the same time freezing or even cutting council tax.
‘We are now going further still, helping ten more councils take the initiative and find better more innovative ways of delivering local services for their residents, supported by £1m of government funding.’
The fund is a joint programme between the Cabinet Office, Department for Communities and Local Government, the Local Government Association (LGA), and the Society for Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE).
Local authorities are being encouraged to complete an Expression of Interest by 10th February 2014.