Despite the budget deficit, the Government has agreed a third year of funding for the regional improvement and efficiency partnerships. David Parsons believes the reason is that RIEPs have been delivering real efficiency savings

Given the bonfire of quangos and public bodies we have witnessed in recent weeks, the coalition government’s decision to agree funding for a third year to the RIEP scheme is a remarkable vote of confidence.

The reason RIEPs were spared is, I believe, the fact that they deliver solid value for money – almost £321m, in fact – returned to the taxpayer in efficiency savings. For those unfamiliar with the acronym... a brief history.

Established as part of the ‘National improvement and efficiency strategy’ in April 2008, RIEPs are partnerships of councils, fire, rescue authorities and other public bodies which work together to support efficiency and improve services at the local level.

RIEPS have been pioneers of Total Place and joint working. They do solid, sensible things – from allowing councils to club together to buy goods and services more cheaply to helping struggling councils to improve and arranging area-wide schemes to combat recession and promote social inclusion.

The RIEPs’ strength is the fact that they are led by democratically-elected councillors, and so are at the heart of local government – uniquely positioned to promote collaboration and innovation between authorities and other public bodies at local levels. 

And this approach has worked even in the biggest areas. Capital Ambition – the London RIEP – has, for example, allowed the 33 London boroughs to share data on performance, value for money and area statistics.

All this information is now benchmarked by the London Performance Office, and builds self-sufficiency into the way local government challenges and supports itself. 

Helping authorities find savings has never been a more critical priority for the RIEPs – and they have an impressive record of delivery. The RIEPs’ support for collaborative procurement, asset management and change programmes will help authorities deliver savings of £950m by March 2011 – or a return of four pounds for every one pound invested in the RIEP programme.

Let me give you a local example. In my own region, the East Midlands Improvement and Efficiency Partnership (EM IEP) has delivered £35m worth of savings within two years, as well as improving services.

The Midlands Highways Alliance – supported by EM IEP and made up of 12 authorities and the Highways Agency – is set to make savings of more than £30m over five years, as well as improving the design of large-scale capital schemes.

Most RIEPs have adopted a ‘hub’ model which allows councils and other public bodies to make big savings by joining together to buy goods and services. For instance, every sub-region in the North West has now signed up to ‘the chest’, which has saved authorities £1.2m by rationalising tendering processes, and which now offers access to a wider range of suppliers.

The chest helps authorities to engage with the voluntary sector and local business, and is supported by Business Link and local chambers of commerce.

RIEPs use their unique position to understand emerging needs and broker swift support from the sector’s improvement bodies.

They have really driven the concept of area-based working, and have gone beyond the Government’s original investment in the Total Place pilots to deliver a range of place-based activity. 

Building on the nationally-funded pilot in Dorset, Bournemouth and Poole, the South West RIEP has invested £1.75m to roll out its own area-based initiative on a sub-regional basis across the remaining 32 authorities in the region. Six sub-regional projects are focusing on topics such as families in crisis, economic inclusion and neighbourhood management.

The idea here is that a ‘whole area’ approach will generate efficiencies and offer the opportunity to transform local public services.

I have tried here to give readers a flavour of what the RIEPs have achieved. And, given the immense challenge facing the public sector, it can only make sense to find new ways of sustaining and extending this collaborative approach.

To that end, the RIEPs are working closely with the Local Government Group to develop a national productivity and efficiency programme.

But let me give the last word to Joyce Redfearn, chair of the chief executives’ task group – which oversees the RIEPs – and chief executive of Wigan MBC, who says: ‘There is a wealth of evidence to show that RIEPs are supporting the sector in difficult times. But we are not complacent. 

‘Local government must continue to provide a significant return on investment – in efficiency terms certainly – and by working together and with our partners to improve outcomes.’

For more information about the RIEPs’ achievements to date, see our publication, RIEPs: Key achievements – two years on by logging on to at www.local.gov.uk/rieps

Cllr David Parsons is chairman of the LGA improvement board and leader, Leicestershire CC