The biweekly efficiency and improvement bulletin is produced by the South West Centre of Excellence (SWCoE) on behalf of the LIFT SW Partnership (GOSW, IDeA, SWLGA, SWCoE).
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If you wish to include efficiency or improvement articles in the next bulletin, or add your name to the circulation list please email swce@dorsetcc.gov.uk.
Green light for Cornwall and Wiltshire Unitary Status
Local Government Minister John Healey announced final decisions on re-structuring taking forward five successful proposals put forward by councils for unitary status, alongside a timetable for first elections and a package of measures to ensure that they are all up and running effectively on 1 April 2009. The announcement was made in a written statement to Parliament on 5th December 2007.
Whole county unitaries in Cornwall, Durham, Northumberland, Shropshire and Wiltshire will proceed.
All the successful proposals have demonstrated they will deliver strong, effective and accountable leadership, community empowerment, value for money and improved public services. They have also shown how the change to unitary structures will be affordable and supported by a broad cross section of partners and stakeholders.
Download additional information from the following link:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/575159
Performance Improvement Programme
LIFT SW has funding to offer to authorities who would be interested in putting forward a team of up to 5 people for this innovative new programme run by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Worth £15k per team this is a significant opportunity for authorities to take advantage of a proven national capacity building programme.
The programme will help your authority to drive sustainable improvements in performance by:
- Addressing your current improvement priorities in real time
- Changing behaviours and cultures, as well as performance systems
- Building a team of performance champions within your authority
- Fostering improvement networks between authorities.
Download additional information from the following link:
To register your authority’s interest email:
Ann Penwell at a.penwell@dorsetcc.gov.uk by 14th December 2007.
How to be successful guides
A new set of guides to help councils raise standards and deliver efficiencies in key areas of their activity has been published by the Regional Centres of Excellence.
The five How to be Successful guides bring together local government innovation, industry insights and technical know-how in Commissioning Consultants, Insurance Services, Buying Energy, Running e-Auctions and Procuring social housing products.
The expert guides are the latest in a range of products and services produced by the Regional Centres of Excellence Procurement Programme which aims to transform local authority procurement and raise standards of service delivery. Further How to be Successful guides will be published early in the new year covering commissioning of children’s services, construction frameworks and joint waste services.
Download the guides from the following link:
http://www.swce.gov.uk/workstreams/procurement/nationalrequirementsandguidance.htm
Local government workforce strategy 2007
The local government workforce strategy 2007 was launched on 28 November 2007. 'Local government: the place to be, the place to work' builds on the previous strategies. It pinpoints the challenges facing the sector over the coming years, and suggests a 'direction of travel' for councils so they can meet these challenges and continuously improve.
Download additional information from the following link:
http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=7630921
LM3 Sustainable Procurement Update
An update report on the success and progress of the LM3 project in the North East is available to download
https://www.nece.gov.uk/nece/news.nsf/vNewsDisplay/806EE29A4251FB548025739C0040A2C7?
Work on the project has been recognised not only in the North East but nationally and internationally. LM3 was quoted as an exemplar study by Sir Neville Simms in the 2006 Sustainable Procurement Action Plan and analysts and economists from Sweden and the Czech Republic have visited to learn about the benefits and workings of LM3.
For further information contact:
Barry Mitchell, Project Manager bamitchell@northumberland.gov.uk
Government Opportunities (GO) Magazine Awards 2008
The 2008 Excellence in Public Procurement Awards have been launched and include two new categories – Collaborative Procurement and Improved Delivery Through Greater Third Sector Involvement (sponsored by the National Programme for Third Sector Commissioning).
Previous winners in the South West include Melanie Walsh (South West Fire and Rescue Services) and Mel Jones (Exeter City Council) who were both successfully awarded the Individual Procurement Exellence Award in the 2007 and 2006.
The full list of categories and registration for those wishing to submit an entry can be found at http://www.n3pd.com/
The closing date for entries is 31/03/08 and winners of the Awards will be announced on 5 June at the Institution of Civil Engineers at One Great George Street, London.
24th January 2008 Consultancy Discussion
The West Midlands Centre of Excellence propose to hold a meeting for anyone who is interested in Consultancy. The meeting will be held in Birmingham at 10.30am on the 24th January 2008 at the Regional Partnership Centre (Room Five) (15 minutes walk from the station).
The objective of the meeting would look at scoping out a piece of work looking at the large spending areas and explore collaboration etc.
For further information contact:
Jonathan Jones (West Midlands Centre of Excellence) - jjones@wmcoe.gov.uk
Government Connect
Is your authority working on any Government Connect initiatives? If you are Gillian would be interested in hearing about your projects.
Please email any information to:
Gillian Brindle - g.brindle@dorsetcc.gov.uk
