Councils are being urged to see the bigger picture if they want to take advantage of opportunities to save £1.2 billion over the next five years.
A booklet just published by the Regional Centres of Excellence (RCEs), called Delivering Efficiency Now…Laying Foundations for the Future, reveals their groundbreaking research, which, for the first time ever, paints a national picture of local authorities’ spending.
The research, the largest of its kind ever undertaken, shows that councils spend a staggering £42 billion on external contracts, and 80 per cent of this goes to just 8 per cent of suppliers. It also highlights huge inconsistencies in prices across the country, with one council paying as much as twenty times more than another for exactly the same item.
It provides the RCEs with strong evidence to challenge current procurement practices and to encourage the development of new strategies for major areas of spend to ensure public money is not being wasted.
The booklet also gives practical examples of how just some of the 400 innovative projects being funded by the RCEs are not only delivering hard cash savings, but helping to transform and improve the way services are delivered.
Many of these projects demonstrate how local authorities by working together, sharing best practice and expertise, are creating savings opportunities of £1.2 billion, money which can be ploughed back into frontline services.
Rob Sykes, Chair of the Chief Executives Task Force says: “Times are tough for local government. It is facing calls for greater efficiency and better services against a backdrop of rising demands and a tightening of the public purse. This booklet shows that the nine Regional Centres of Excellence are playing a crucial part in helping them rise to the challenge. The research provides a strong argument for councils to change their current procurement habits and seek better ways of working.
“The RCEs are leading the way by funding and promoting the wealth of good practice that exists nationally to highlight what can be achieved. I have no doubt, as they merge with the Regional Improvement Partnerships, this legacy will be invaluable to the continued transformation of local government.”
